Dear fellow citizen,
As the creators of the black and white 'I Like Eureka.' sticker campaign, we wanted to speak out about the co-opting and attempted monetizing of the sticker. In our effort to remain anonymous, we have sent you a letter addressed to Neighborhood Watch and ask that you publish it to start a public conversation about the co-opting. Our anonymity is key to this entire endeavor-that's part of the charm that Neighborhood Watch, Jeannie Breslin in particular, has utterly failed to grasp.
There has been questioning on social media whether we copied the campaign from previous buttons or stickers with a similar message from decades past. The answer is no. We are not natives of Eureka and had no knowledge these existed. We started this project a few years ago in reaction to seeing so many negative posts about Eureka within social media, often by people who don't even live in Eureka, and likely have never seen much more than the 101 corridor. We really enjoy living here and find there are many, many positive attributes to Eureka. We concede Eureka has problems, just like every single town and city in the United States, but, hey, we still like Eureka.
Sincerely,
Westside Sanguine Society
Dear Neighborhood Watch,
You are very concerned with people taking what does not belong to them. Basically, this is a good concern. But it seems you do not realize you have taken something from the citizens of Eureka.
There was a sticker that was fun and mysterious. It would just show up places—on street signs, on garbage cans, in mail boxes, at businesses, and it said "I like Eureka." It made people smile. It was a gift. It got some press and radio time. It was a cheerful mystery. It created hope and fun.
But you took the design from the sticker. The slogan belonged to no one, but the design was specific. It was very specific. And you took that design. You took a positive, grass-roots, civicminded effort from your fellow citizens. You wanted to ride the coattails of the underground campaign. You wanted to co-opt the spirit of the underground campaign. Now you're trying to monetize it. Have you ever thought of your sticker-copying this way? Have you thought about how much time was spent hoofing it around the city to distribute these stickers? Have you thought about the money that was willingly poured into this project? To actually give people something for nothing?
One of Neighborhood Watch's main concerns is the level of theft in Eureka. How ironic that Neighborhood Watch has stolen someone else's work and creation. Someone took the time to create that mystery and fun. Someone understood that if the sticker belongs to no one, it belongs to EVERYONE.
There are thousands of fonts and thousands of colors. Pick some and start your own campaign. We like Eureka, but we don't like theft in any form.
—Westside Sanguine Society
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