Politics & Government

Letter to the Editor: Candidate Should Defend the Rights of Others to Speak Their Mind

Resident Chris Tallerico discusses an email concerning the waterfront by City Council candidate Gerard Boulanger.

By Chris Tallerico

Dear Editor,

I awoke this morning to the sounds of chirping birds and the smell of Peet's Coffee—it looked like it was going to be another great day in Hercules!  I crawled out of bed, poured myself a cup of coffee and settled on to the couch in front of the fireplace eager to read the morning news and email.

One of the first emails I opened had a letter attached to it written by a local guy running for City Council, Gerard Boulanger.  I enjoy local politics and Mr. Boulanger always seems well spoken, let's see what he has to say.

The letter was addressed to our interim City Manager, Fred Deltorcio. It seems Mr. Boulanger was upset with Detective Abetkov, president of the Hercules Police Union, over his stated views of the waterfront project at a recent City Council meeting.  Mr. Boulanger described them as "thoughtless, unacceptable and potentially dangerous
for our City." He went on to say, "Such a public statement by a Hercules Police Department employee reflects badly on the City of Hercules.." Okay...a little dramatic but no line crossed at this point.

Here's where things go south.  Mr. Boulanger writes, and I quote, "Any ordinary citizen has the right to express his/her opinion, however, Mr. Abetkov is not an ordinary citizen."

Thats where the birds stopped chirping and my cup of Peet's started to taste like day-old 7-Eleven coffee.  I'm incredulous; how could a man running for office say something like that, let alone put it in writing to the city manager? Has he never heard of or read that widely circulated document called the Bill of Rights? Is the First Amendment really not important in our little town?

Let me answer my own question; yes, the First Amendment is important in Hercules and Mr. Boulanger needs to take note.  Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without Freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as Wisdom; and no such thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of speech.”

Public debate is a good thing—you don't need to agree with everything that's being said but you should always encourage and defend the rights of others to speak their mind.

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