Dear Editor:

I was taken aback by Mr. Christon’s recent piece, “Reinventing the Wheel.” 

While I agree with many of the points he makes regarding the “art scene” or lack thereof in Downey, I was really bothered by his personal attacks on Mayor Frometa. I don’t know either Mr. Christon or Ms. Frometa personally, but what I do know is that Mr. Christon’s comments about Mayor Frometa’s grammar, “These claims are as flimsy as her grammar,” reeked of the worst kind of highfalutin ignorance.

As the daughter of an immigrant, and indeed an immigrant myself, I was often embarrassed by my father’s grammar faux pas’. Among the phrases my sister and I teased him regularly were, “I has a brother in Cuba” and “I won’t order any more paper toilet from you.” The latter was spoken as he negotiated pricing on a deal with Proctor and Gamble for truckloads of toilet paper. It still makes me laugh. 

I worked with my father for many years and often saw how many natural-born Americans discounted his intelligence because of his poor command of the English language, often to their peril. My father, now in his ninetieth year on earth, still speaks “broken English.” Broken English notwithstanding, he built businesses, bought property, sent his daughters to college, vacationed lavishly, and retired comfortably. I have come to admire anyone I hear who speaks with an accent or makes grammatical mistakes.

So, to Mayor Frometa, I may not always agree with your decisions or views about what Downey needs but I will always admire the fact that you are out there “daring greatly.” Don’t listen to the critic's personal attacks as they are a reflection of their own prejudices and not the work at hand.

Alida Fernandez-Chacon
Downey