How this works, in full.
Every city has a mailbox for complaints. Almost none has one for the other direction, where a neighborhood can say what it's dealing with, and what it loves, and somebody has to write back. Dear Alhambra is that mailbox, run by the people who live here. Somewhere along the way we got busy, and then we got loud, and I just want us to slow down and get to know each other again. This is a place for that: for this community to speak to its city in its own words and be answered, to know what its city is deciding, and to know its neighbors. It starts small, with District 1 writing to whoever is about to represent it.
Who runs this
Just one person: Jason Protacio. I live on N. Stoneman Avenue in District 1. In 2025 I organized neighbors on my street around a traffic and safety problem on our block. Along the way I learned how few of us know how to get the City to act on anything, and how much more we can do when we compare notes. This site is the next step: the same idea, opened up to the whole district and to the two people who want to represent it. It puts the community first, on purpose: the district speaks, then the candidates answer, then whoever wins starts the job already knowing what the district asked for.
I'm not affiliated with, coordinated with, or funded by any candidate or campaign. I haven't endorsed anyone and I won't. The only money involved is the domain and the hosting, which I pay for myself. Nobody else has access to the letters.
What happens to your letter
- Your address is checked once against the City of Alhambra's public address records, to confirm you live in District 1 and which part of it you're in. After that it is stored privately, never shared with anyone including the candidates, and never published anywhere.
- Letters are sorted by area and topic. The concerns that come up most often become one clear question each, written in neutral language, with real neighbor letters quoted alongside so the candidates hear it the way you said it. Letters about what is working on your block are sorted the same way and passed along too, so the candidates hear what to protect, not only what to fix. Names are never attached unless you told me they could be.
- Some of what you send is not the council's to fix: schools, county roads, the bus company. It goes in the pile anyway, marked that way, because whoever wins should know what the district is worried about even when the honest answer is "that belongs to the school board."
- Letters from outside District 1 are kept and read with care, but they don't go into the candidate questions, since this seat is not on those neighbors' ballots.
- Your email, if you gave one and ticked the box, goes on one list: the same "stay in the loop" list anyone can join from the bottom of any page. It is used to tell you when answers are posted, when a forum is scheduled, and what this becomes after the election. It is never shared or sold, and every email carries a one-click unsubscribe.
- I count visits, with a cookie-free counter from the company that hosts the site: how many people came, from where, and which pages they read. No cookies, no ads, nothing that follows you anywhere else.
The rules both candidates agreed to
I met with both candidates in person and walked them through this. Both agreed to these rules, and both said they want to read what comes in. The rules apply to both, identically, with no exceptions.
- Same questions, same treatment. Both candidates get identical questions, whether live or in writing. In writing, that means the same day, the same deadline, and the same word limit.
- Verbatim. Written answers are published exactly as submitted, typos and all, with no commentary from me. A forum is posted as a full recording with a transcript.
- Alphabetical. Candidates are always listed by last name. Nobody gets top billing, on any page.
- Non-response is published. If a campaign doesn't answer, the page says so plainly, with the date the questions were sent.
The live forum
A live online forum, planned for the second week of October, happens only if enough District 1 residents take part through this site, and only if both campaigns agree to the format. The bar is a specific number, and it will be posted here before questions close, so that whether the forum happens is never a judgment call made after the fact.
- The questions come from your letters, grouped by theme and ranked by how often they came up across the district.
- Both candidates get the list of themes a few days ahead. Neither sees the actual questions in advance.
- Equal time for both. Answer order alternates, and a coin flip decides who goes first.
- No live audience questions, and chat is off. The questions are the ones you already sent, so the evening stays about the district rather than about whoever shows up loudest.
- The forum is recorded, and the recording and a transcript are posted here within a couple of days.
- If the forum doesn't happen, the same theme questions go to both campaigns in writing, under the rules above.
After November 3, and where this goes
Whoever wins gets the whole sorted pile, with names removed, as a pulse check on the district they now represent: which areas wrote, about what, how often, and what people said they love. That is phase one, and it is the whole job until November 3.
After that, the letters keep coming and the sorting keeps happening, and Dear Alhambra becomes a standing place for the community to speak to the city in its own words. Some of what is planned, in rough order:
- Updates you actually want. Plain-language summaries of what is on the council and commission agendas that touch your part of town, and why it matters, sent only to people who ask for them.
- The people who live here, in their own words. Neighbors, and the people behind the counters on Main and Valley, telling their own story with a photo, and not a word changed. No rankings, no reviews, no press releases.
- Wins and concerns, citywide. The same letter idea, opened past District 1.
Further out, if the trust is there, a safe way for neighbors to help each other directly. None of that happens unless this first part works, and this first part only works if you write.