Unjustly Suspended W/o Pay

I feel my first ammendment right to free speech has been violated by my employer. I wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper in which i expressed my opinion that i had been treated unfairly by some of the officials etc. After the paper came out my city administrator suspended me for 3 days w/o pay because he said i was being insubordinate, campaigning, and that i was "performing actions which did not meed the level of harassment as defined in the city's 'harassment-free workplace' plicy but that nonetheless is inapproriate in the workplace". The city's personnel policy clearly states what campaigning constitutes which is this: "The personnel policy also states what is considered inappropriate but not harrassment. which is this:
" and quite frankly i just don't believe that what was done is in any way insubordinate as no matter my feelings or personnal opinion i still do my work and perform my job in a respectable manner and do everything i am asked and never say anything about my job duties etc. even the administrator said he thought i was a good employee who had alot of potential.
I work for the city of Hico in Texas i'm aware of the free will employment rule in texas but it seems that my civil rights have been impeded on in this situation and i should not be punished for speaking my mind in any situation or forum. It would also seem to fall under the no retaliation Law in Texas but i am a lamen in this area so if anyone here has any suggestions or comments they would be well appreciated. below is a copy of the letter which was sent to the editor please read it and see if i did go overboard:
Jerry,
I have lived and worked in this area for several years now, and i have worked in the State Cookoff both years it has been held. On several occasions I suggested to key people that the cookoff be held during the Hico Reunion simply because it made sense to have activities for the adults in town as well as the carnival in the park for the kids. However every time I would suggest this I was met with "no I don't think it would work" or the like. Now imagine my surprise when i read the paper last week and there it is that someone has suggested that the two events be combined and now it's a fantastic idea WOW imagine that. I'm sorry people but this is the most blatant example of snobery that i have ever had the dis-fortune to witness. It"s a sad day when a regular person can make a suggestion and it's no good but when one of the 'big-wigs" of the town makes the same suggestion it's a great idea. The majority of the citizens of Hico are below the poverty rate Yet a small group of elites and wealthy people run the whole show and decide on everything no matter what the population thinks I am disgusted at the way the politics are run in this town. I do occasionally go to the council meetings and i specifically remember one comment made before the Dollar General was considering coming here I heard one "un-named" person say 'we should consider what type of businesses we want in our town", that is the most absurd thing i had ever heard at the time. One could probobly assume that the C.E.O. of Dollar General probobly makes more in a week than anyone in this town makes in a year, also yes we should consider what type of businesses we let in this town we should suggest businesses that are willing to help out the lower income citizens in the town wouldn't ya think? I just thought that the people of the town would like to know what's going on in town and i would like to suggest that everyone come to vote in the may 13th elections make your voices heard and perhaps things will change around here