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3 1 For those that are not familiar with the brand of Linda Sarsour- she traffics in some of the most 2 hateful ideas available in the public square — antisemitism, radical Islam, terrorism, and the 3 demonization of women that speak out for their rights. She is smart, well-spoken, engaging, 4 and dangerous to free people everywhere, particularly, Jews and Muslim women. Having said 5 this, Linda Sarsour does have a Right to Free Speech, and I support her Right to propagate her 6 hateful ideas through speech, media and print, but she has no such right to use Orange County 7 as her vehicle. You gave her that opportunity. What occurred was made possible only through 8 the actions of the Orange County Commissioners. 9 10 As I stand here today I still cannot fathom how our County decision-makers concluded that 11 extending this invitation was a good idea. One would have thought that somewhere in the chain 12 of approvals, authorizations, budget requests, cost estimates, invoices and check issues 13 someone, anyone would have said "... Wh000aaa! Maybe this is not such a good idea!" 14 However, if the Sarsour episode was in fact a well thought out event then we are all in serious 15 trouble as we have just witnessed the weaponizing of Orange County Government against its 16 own people. 17 18 Does it have to be this way? No! 19 If not, how do we fix it? 20 The answer lies within our nation's founding documents, legal traditions, history and culture. 21 Or, simply go with respect and logic: 22 23 First Respect—We should not turn the County treasury into a piggy bank for someone's ugly 24 propaganda. The Sarsour incident diminishes confidence that we will be treated fairly by the 25 government on other matters. Loss of trust in our government is the most damaging result of 26 disrespect. We start asking whose side is our government on? What do I need to do to protect 27 myself and my family? This makes us all more tribal! The glue that holds us together starts to 28 dissolve. People will start to seek resolution outside the political process. 29 30 Second Logic— Linda Sarsour is the radical Left's David Duke. Would you have permitted 31 David Duke to Speak? Of course not you say- the idea would be absurd. But why? The logic 32 of your actions regarding Sarsour suggests otherwise. The views of both Sarsour and Duke 33 are highly offensive and unacceptable to the majority of Orange County citizens? Please note, 34 many options exist for Sarsour's local fellow travelers to organize a nonprofit or use an existing 35 nonprofit to sponsor speakers with the most extreme ideas and beliefs. Just don't use our tax 36 dollars. 37 38 Conclusion 39 If your goal is to tear the social and political fabric of our County then you have succeeded. 40 You have used the power of government for a truly destructive purpose—to divide the people. 1 41 can assure you that going down this road will not end well, for you, for us, for our children, for 42 no one. 43 44 On the other hand, if your goal is to unify our citizens into a functioning body politic then agree 45 that the Sarsour incident was a terrible mistake and commit never to repeat it. Please don't 46 waste your most precious resource, OUR TRUST, on what I hope was just a bad idea that 47 somehow slipped through the system. 48 49 Kathy Zimmerman read the following email from Bob Randall, who was unable to 50 attend tonight's meeting: