In response to several letters in last week’s Phoenix, the Bristol County Concerned Citizens (BCCC) would like to clarify our values to ensure they are not misrepresented. Such misinformed letters on the eve of Independence Day, a holiday which is meant to bring people together, demonstrate a high degree of tone deafness.

These letters are an attack on the American way of life. If the authors of these letters are representatives of Bristol’s Democratic Party, it has become a party unmoored from its own traditional values.

The Bristol County Concerned Citizens (BCCC) has been in existence since January of this year, and we do focus on “traditional values and common sense solutions.” Our foundation is built on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The authors of these letters misrepresent the values and goals of the BCCC. While we support traditional American values, we make no claim at all to oppose others who may have differing value systems. We see people who may have different value systems as good Americans and as contributing members of our community.

We believe in freedom of speech for all views. We simply hold dear the values that made America great and that apply to every American without exception. These values are freedom, equality, justice, rule of law, opportunity, self-reliance, competition, hard work, discipline, individual responsibility and free enterprise.

Our BCCC values are not codes for any distortions contained in these letters. Traditional America values are not only BCCC’s values, they are the values of every American. We believe these are the values that have made America great.

Tony Rego
Bristol

Mr. Rego is chairman of the Bristol County Concerned Citizens and is a former chairman of the Bristol Democratic Town Committee.