To My Friends -

To my friends – yes it’s true I have the urge to speak and speak loud. Dealing with the pressures within me and communicating with others has created a need to communicate and say what’s on my mind. Is it a little more expressive than before? Yes. It is. The challenge has been how to channel my thoughts constructively and truthfully.

I have been dealing with things in the background that make me sick because of the nasty things I have been learning about recent events and the deception behind these attempts to not reveal the true nature of the problem. People are getting hurt and hurt badly. Should I say what’s on my mind? Not likely, criticism and being politically correct usually demands you leave things best unsaid.

However, I am not worried about criticism and not politically correct – I don’t gossip and go around rumors the best I can. I don’t always express myself elegantly or eloquently. That’s for those that know the language better than I do. I basically tell it like it is and let you make up your own minds.

What is the plan you ask? The plan is simple – I will continue to criticize and report to lawmakers, media and other sources the problems that exist and that makes working inside these Arizona prisons unsafe. In the past I did this effectively with others that joined the cause to make things safer and it worked for a while as time took its toll on the memories of those involved in the change. The OSHA project was a successful event and brought things back into compliance for a short while.

I want to draw the ADOC into a smart reaction – I want them to step out of their circle of denial and combine an action plan to make things safe again. I want them to be proactive and not reactive in their decision making. These wrong reactions can be disastrous and some of that is currently showing up in Lewis. How we get this done is important and we need press coverage. However, I can’t get anyone to speak up or out for fear of repercussions or other negative disciplinary actions pending.

I don’t want to take anyone down. I don’t want anyone’s job. I want to exercise my right to free speech and criticize what I know to be legitimate problems and concerns. The election is near – there will be campaigning and I would want a chance to talk to all the candidates for governor – this is how change is made. I have to think how to approach this from a position of credibility, strength, and be unapologetic in nature for the recent ADOC’s stupidity in the execution of their policies.

I can’t be bought or brought into silence and neither should you. We could face the issues and concerns together or I can try to do this alone. Needless to say, the more who choose to stand united, the stronger the criticism and the more coverage we get to express our concerns to the public, the lawmakers and the administration.