Submitted by Brad Gerbel
In a Letter to the Editor, published in the Coronado Times on June 2nd, Mrs. Kathryn Blitt requested that I retract my statement that opponents to the transitional home for victims of sex trafficking have threatened to picket the home of the Coronado family that purchased the Coronado home that will be used as a transitional home. I will not retract this statement because it is a true statement.
While Mrs. Blitt, the author of the June 2nd Letter to the Editor, did not say those words, [REDACTED], one of the organizers, did say those exact words and referenced the Blitts and the Andersons. Neither the Blitts nor the Andersons, who were present, denied that you were “considering picketing the owners” when [REDACTED] referred to you. Instead you all insisted you must “start local” to “stop this.”
It is time for the venom and vitriol, that Mrs. Blitt and and others have created, to stop. It is time for our community to put its best foot forward and be accepting of crime victims starting their lives anew in our city. Everybody deserves a second chance. Everybody deserves to live a happy life. Everybody deserves to be treated with kindness.
I truly hope that Mrs. Blitt is willing to start the community healing process and she can start by answering the following questions:
Do you think the six women, who were crime victims, have a right to live in our community or do you still believe the city should ban them?
Will you denounce those who have referred to the women as “criminals” and suggestions that the women “have criminal backgrounds?”
Lastly, will you volunteer your time to help these women?
  Brad Gerbel
Editor’s Note: This article was edited to redact content on August 3, 2020.
