As a military member, I believe in respecting others and treating people with dignity. In the military, we’re taught that even when you don’t agree with someone, you still respect their position, you salute the uniform. There’s a standard for how we treat people, even when we have differences.
In recent years, political respect has been fading. That’s why I’ve always been proud of Santa Clarita. We usually treat each other with care and respect, even when we don’t see eye to eye. I’ve seen Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo work with leaders like former Sen. Scott Wilk, and most of her bills have support from both sides.
Since we’re a purple district with a mix of Democrats, Republicans, and independents, disagreements are normal. That makes respect even more important. So I was very upset by a recent Signal editorial that used offensive language, calling lawmakers “liars and perverts.” While it didn’t name Schiavo directly, it tied her to those words by criticizing her vote and saying she was defending the indefensible.
That kind of language wasn’t a mistake. It was a choice. The Signal knew what it was doing. Attacks like this are meant to stir anger, not honest discussion. And that hurts our trust in local news, the same news we rely on to understand what’s happening around us.
We can disagree without name calling. We should expect better from our media and from each other.
Chris Werthe
Valencia
