This is an open letter to Sen. Ernie Lopez.
I read with much interest your response regarding the unanswered email from one of your constituents trying to explain why you did not respond to him (letter to the editor May 17). I am wondering if maybe that clears up the mystery as to why you did not respond to my letter as well? When I spoke to you on the Senate chamber floor April 30 about my email you stated that you were running about 10 days behind on responses. I explained that it was more than two weeks since I wrote to you. A few days later after still not receiving a response, I sent you a twitter message and you did not respond to that either. I know the twitter post went through because others saw it on your twitter page.
I am disappointed that you want to continue the debate by making lame excuses as to why you are not answering your constituents' communications. I am also very disappointed in your lame excuses as to why you could not support marriage equality, especially considering the large numbers of members of the LGBT community and our supporters within your home district. I was in the Senate chambers the day of the final vote and I heard your impassioned and emotional speech which had little or no bearing whatsoever on the matter being debated before you. It is quite evident from the content and tone of your speech that you have contempt for members of the LGBT community due to what you referred to as "dirty politics" during your successful campaign for the seat.
What you failed to mention is the dirty politics played on your behalf and what many believe got you voted into office. The robo calls from outside sources campaigning on your behalf from North Carolina and South Carolina that we and many others received multiple times; the misinformation being spread around that the Democratic candidate was going to somehow influence the Cape Henlopen School District to add the so-called LGBT "agenda" and teach curriculum to our "innocent" and "vulnerable" children; and the list goes on and on.
You sir, were elected to serve all the people in your district - not just those who voted you into office and those outside special interest sources who have you in their pocket and who, it is quite evident you are now a lap dog for! You did a great injustice to me and my family and chose to ignore the impassioned pleas of families and individuals like mine who just want to be treated like everyone else and to have the same dignity and respect that your family is afforded.
To make the comment in your speech that "you just weren't there yet" or that you were raised to believe that marriage is between one man and one woman is a big slap in the face of a large part of your district and an affront to the Constitution of the United States of America which guarantees equal protections under the law for all citizens! Many of your fellow elected officials in the General Assembly took the bold step forward and voted for the rights of all Delawareans. Thank God and bless them for it! Me and my family certainly thank all of them from the bottom of our hearts! You too could have been a part of that, but you chose the easy way out.
I wish you well for the rest of your term. I hope and pray that the folks that helped get you elected into office are ready to use all their resources to get you re-elected should you choose to run for a second term. One thing you can be guaranteed, there will be many people in your district campaigning hard against you and for your removal from office. Oh, and by the way, just to be sure that you get all my communications to you, I will resend my original email, my testimony from the House and Senate committees which I attached to the email and a copy of this letter to you via hard copy and maybe even go as far as sending it as a certified registered letter through the U.S. Postal Service. Because, after all, we don't want it to get "lost" again in cyber space now do we?
Jon J. Rania
Rehoboth Beach
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
