Re: 'Making California great again', [Village News, Maynard letter, 3/ 07/24]

I will refer to Mr. Maynard as “He” in the following text.

His latest diatribe is unbelievable: literally. He asks you to disbelieve your own eyes when he says: "California has been hollowed out, ravaged beyond recognition, by a rabid pack of Democrat Party demagogues who have orchestrated a seismic shift in our culture."

What I see is a state with a dynamic economy recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic is technically over, but Covid-19 is still with us: many of us are still picking up the pieces, grieving lost loved ones and friends, and many are among the walking wounded, suffering the ill effects of Long Covid.

So, is California OK now? Of course not. But blaming the Democratic Party for the Pandemic does not comport with reality. Compare California's recovery to that in the traditionally Republican (red) states of the Southeast. We have fared better by any metric one might choose.

He cites an uptick in crime in California. That is the case, a slight rise, but in context, both violent crime and property crime rates now are actually at historic lows. For source, search on: “PPIC Crime Trends in California”.

Regarding purported Democratic Party incivility: Has he not seen or heard Trump, the grand master of insult and defamation? Trump gives insulting nicknames to his opponents, like “Birdbrain” for Nikki Haley, and he further defames them on his social network. It’s Trump who has set the bar for incivility.

He takes exception to California as a sanctuary state for abortion seekers, suggesting being a sanctuary state for adoptions instead. I can assure him if Republican states decide to declare adoption illegal, California will be among the first to step up to provide sanctuary.

And as a parting shot, he decries the $73 billion short fall in the latest budget. That is a large number, But California’s Legislative Analyst’s office assures us that “While addressing a deficit of this scope will be challenging, the Legislature has a number of options available to do so.” For source, search on: “CA LAO report 4819”. Regardless, California remains an economic powerhouse that would rank as the fifth largest global economy if it were a country.

John H. Terrell