RE: 'An open letter to Fallbrook Honorary Mayor Rhonda Reinke'

I understand both Mayor Reinke’s and Ms. Aguilar’s viewpoints but hope Ms. Aguilar understands that Mayor Reinke cannot help but get a little defensive when Tori’s tasteless program tends to mock the town and people. The Mayor is vocalizing the views of the townspeople she represents. I will guess she has gotten a lot a negative feedback and this is why she went out on a limb to make those viewpoints known. She works very hard for our town and for that she deserves a lot of credit.

Tori’s show is a joke. Anyone who has seen it will say that it accurately portrays the very boring happenings of two very shallow, self-absorbed individuals. So, let’s just make the best of it because they will leave soon enough.

Rhonda Fuller

I absolutely applaud the letter of Stefanie Aguilar [“An open letter to Fallbrook Honorary Mayor Rhonda Reinke,” Village News, Opinion, 4/12/07] published in response to a North County Times article by Mayor Rhonda Reinke. It totally mirrors my reaction to said article, which I sent to the ’Times (and which was not printed), albeit much more eloquently written than mine, which follows:

“Methinks perhaps Mayor Reinke doth protest too much. Perhaps she wants to be the only ‘princess’ in Fallbrook. If so, perhaps she should have chosen classier verbiage. Although Fallbrook was all a-twitter over Tori Spelling coming to town, it has become more of a laugh-out-loud situation. Ms. Spelling and her husband were grocery shopping one night and bemoaning the fact that there didn’t seem to be a place to eat in Fallbrook at that late hour. It was mentioned to her that Denny’s was probably open.”

Ann Harter

In reading the letters criticizing Mayor Reinke, I wonder how many have taken the time to thank her for all her hard work helping to make Fallbrook a better place to live.

Mrs. Reinke has a lot going on in her life and it must be difficult to hear only complaints. I would like to thank her for her ideas, hard work and energy. It seems to me after watching and reading what “Tori” has to say about Fallbrook that she has moved here to use Fallbrook, not become part of Fallbrook. She has a hard time even remembering if she lives here or Temecula and she should be able to put on an interesting show without making fun of the residents and how hard it is to find X-rated films and sex toys here.

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if she spent her energy wondering where their son will go to school or find a place of worship? I imagine her father would be ashamed of her show and her behavior.

Dale Kinnamon

Thank you, Stefanie Aguilar! You hit the nail on the head with your response to Mrs. Reinke’s comments [“An open letter to Fallbrook Honorary Mayor Rhonda Reinke,” Village News, Opinion, 4/12/07].

I was greatly chagrined in reading her opinion on Tori Spelling portraying Fallbrook in a negative light. It’s through Mrs. Reinke’s efforts that Ms. Spelling came to Fallbrook. All of the efforts of the chamber to turn our town into a tourist attraction have been fulfilled, but oh my, who would have ever thought there might be negative repercussions?

For those who have lived in this community for over 10 years, we’ve seen our rural Friendly Village quickly destroyed. Sidewalks, streetlights and housing developments have greatly diminished the rural small town atmosphere of Fallbrook. So when you want to further “city-ize” it by turning it into a tourist attraction for the arts, I suggest you prepare for the fallout. You reap what you sow.

I myself find Ms. Spelling’s observations of Fallbrook entertaining. Choosing to insult her in our paper was tactless, rude and “city” behavior.

Jana Scott

Wow! I was misled. I rarely read the North County Times, but after I read Ms. Aguilar’s letter I felt compelled to read the article that Rhonda Reinke wrote. I was expecting something juicy. Instead, the Honorary Mayor was doing her job. She was promoting and defending the downtown businesses.

For those of you who thought the Honorary Mayor was a publicly held seat, it’s not. The Honorary Mayor is a volunteer position who represents the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, which is a private company whose main job is to promote the local businesses to the public.

If you’ve ever been to a sundowner, Hot Summer Nights or the Avocado Festival, then you’ve been to a chamber event. In Mrs. Reinke’s letter she does mention her opinion about reality shows and Ms. Spelling, which she has the freedom to do, something her husband has personally been in combat to defend.

What I got out of Mrs. Reinke’s article is that Downtown Fallbrook is OPEN on Sundays. I thought Fallbrook was closed on Sundays like it was when I lived there for 18 years.

After watching Ms. Spelling’s show I figured Fallbrook hadn’t changed. Since Mrs. Reinke’s article I now know not only Fallbrook’s downtown is open, but I have a choice of restaurants to choose from within walking distance of downtown, and the cute little square is a Farmers Market!

I am going to tell my neighbors and friends about Fallbrook on Sundays and plan a trip. I can’t wait to eat breakfast at the Wayside, go to 10 o’clock mass, have lunch at Caffé Primo, walk around downtown and see what is behind the unique names of the stores, grab some dessert at the Lace Apron and then hit El Jardin for dinner on my way home. Thank you, Mrs. Reinke!

By the way, if Ms. Spelling’s show was about promoting her B&B, then she wouldn’t highlight the inconveniences of Fallbrook, she would promote it so people would want to stay at her B&B.

Furthermore, last I looked a princess is a helpless girl who has everything done for her, not a woman who works tirelessly for a group of businesses without any compensation.

Stephanie Mullen

Oceanside