I first met Sid Reams when we both ran for Manteca city council in 2002. He being a country cowboy, born in Montana, (a long-time resident of our little town that he said was "the best place in the whole world"); and I being a Bay Area refugee fleeing high rents, born in San Francisco; we really didn't have too much in common. However as time passed I developed a very high respect for Mr. Reams, a kindly, humble, very modest man who was dedicatedly outgoing and helpful to others; giving unflinchingly of his time and anything he had to benefit all in need or want. He didn't just work to help the homeless, he openned his home to many of them, actually taking a few in. Sid was not wise. He really walked in the steps of the Lord. His column in the Manteca Bulletin was boring and I rarely bothered to read it. But he was a man that never hesitated to do the right thing. So when the news that he was accused of an ignoble act with his adult step-daughter was splashed in the paper, I didn't believe it. This will not stand I thought, any decent lawyer will blow it out of the water! Show me the evidence, I thought; where's the proof? But a flimsy tissue of inuendo based on the word of a mentally deficient woman (who was, according to her mother, known to be given to making up stories) served in lieu of a "case" for arresting Mr. Reams. Sid was a heart patient and I am told that his access to medical care was impeded and that he was treated disrespectfully; instead of his Constitutional right of being considered innocent until proven guilty, this town collectively turned its back on Sid Reams. We all made the misstake of thinking that the truth would will out. We were wrong! Sid Reams died before he could get his day in court. When I met poor, pitiful widow Reams for the first time, at the memorial held at H. L. Fry funeral parlor, I asked if she was implementing a wrongful death suit (at least against Adult Protective Services and possibly naming others). She answered that she still can't find a lawyer to take it. My God! Is this the way Manteca treats its long-time, well known citizens that place service to the community first? There needs to be a civil suit, at least, to clear his good name, if not a wrongful death suit. Because, there is no doubt the stress of all this is what ended his life. Sid was a victim of a machine that once set in motion, chewed him up without true regard for the law. As I sat in my wheelchair at the back of the room listening to all the ulogies for Sid, it struck me that there was no one there from the Manteca Bulletin. Sid's collumn appeared in the Bulletin for years, yet there was no mention of the memorial in the paper the next day. This is as wrong as can be! It's almost as if the Manteca Bulletin has already tried and convicted poor Sid. But they never reported on the so called investigation, that got him arrested, at all. It has always been the power of the free press, to conduct independent investigations, which the Founding Fathers envisioned as an effective tool to insure justice for a free people in America. So, go buy your tickets to celebrate Independence on July 3rd, Manteca, because true freedom and liberty under the rule of law is already lost here, at least in the case of the shrill excoriation of Sid L. Reams; a modern martyr to anti-male extremism; Sid was a man who always gave from his heart until his heart finally gave out. Steven J. Catalano Manteca, USA 825 7281
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