Wake-up call: Return to sender

Yesterday, a reader sent me this note: The other day I got a letter in my mail box from Governor Bill Ritter about Long Term Care. It is great to see him helping out Coloradans with a very important life experience issue. I applaud his efforts. However, it pained me...

By Patricia Calhoun

July 17, 2009

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Yesterday, a reader sent me this note: The other day I got a letter in my mail box from Governor Bill Ritter about Long Term Care. It is great to see him helping out Coloradans with a very important life experience issue. I applaud his efforts. However, it pained me to see the postage permit on the envelope was from PA. Working for the print and mail industry, it made me very sad to know that while print and mail shops are struggling to stay open it appears, at least on the surface, that this mailing (and probably the printing) was done in another state. Perhaps the Governor had no choice, but it would have been great if this mailing could have been produced and mailed in Colorado. I forwarded her query to Ritter's office, and spokesman Evan Dreyer sent this explanation: The feds produced and sent the materials to households in 18 states. We had no choice or authority over the printing and distribution of the materials. Totally agree - would have been great if it could have been produced in and mailed from Colorado. Which leaves just one more question: Why these eighteen states? I've got to reach the feds to get the answer to that.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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