My home is Sutter Creek. I was raised there, went to school there, and have lived the last several years there. Today I write to the Ledger Dispatch from China, another place I know well. When in China I understand fully what it means to be an American citizen - to enjoy the right to elect public officials, the right to organize in dissent, the right to express personal views in public forums and the media. Constitutionally guaranteed civil rights distinguish our experience as Americans from many people in the world. It is with great respect, therefore, I have watched a group of concerned citizens in Sutter Creek draw together to exercise their rights in pursuit of a simple ideal: preservation of a place and life they hold dear. In Beijing, I have seen whole neighborhoods lost to Big Development, evicted residents looking on helplessly as skyscrapers are erected on the dust of their former lives. I have seen petitioners for historical preservation waved aside by the hand of government. These people - like you or I - loved their homes and their community, but they had no power to affect the combined force of government and Big Business. In Sutter Creek, we have that power. Not only do we have that power, but we have the responsibility to our democratic tradition to exercise our rights in defense of our beliefs. For the last year, concerned citizens in Sutter Creek have attended meeting after public meeting, expressing their views on the proposed Gold Rush development. They have written letter after letter to the newspaper and to members of local government, asking questions, pointing out problems, calling for proper procedure. The only reimbursement for their time and commitment is the knowing that one day they may - unlike citizens in Beijing - keep what they love. Change will come, but as citizens of this nation, this town, we are free, yes free, to determine what our community will look like, who will sit as our public officials, and what kind of future we will offer our children. It is both our right and our responsibility.