Readers’ comments: September 30, 2022

Get involved with city council race, here’s a map
Dear editor:
I see the candidate signs in the yards, I see the signs at the corner of Foothill and Indian Hill. The questions in my mind are who am I voting for and what district do I live in? Some time back the COURIER published a map showing the council seat districts, but the map was a black and white reprint of the City of Claremont Redistricting Map 203. As a black and white map the image has little or no meaning. The original map is laid out in colors giving detail in full and vivid color as the NBC network peacock would say.

I went to city hall and asked for a districting map and again I received a black and white image.  I am submitting a redistricting map 2022 in full color to be printed in the COURIER. I also found a very interesting table with the names of all city council candidates  and their associated districts. I am happy to support local news by volunteering my very valuable retirement time.

I suggest Claremont residents go to candidate meet and greet, even if it involves throwing a basketball through a hoop, or tasting fine bluegrass bourbon. The hangover should be over by Election Day. Take along a list of thought provoking questions; it may be the only time to get a prospective city councilmember’s attention other than at city council open forum, and then they may not be listening with their hearing aids turned off.
Gerald “Jerry” Collier
Claremont resident since 1968

Not sure what city council district you live in? As a supplement to the COURIER’s 2022 election candidate profiles, here is a map — courtesy of reader Gerald “Jerry” Collier — that lays out Claremont’s five districts. Check out Candidates’ Corner, on page 7, for upcoming candidate events. Reminder that Election Day is November 8.

How about a ban on Trump coverage?
Dear editor:
In the September 16th and 23rd issues of the COURIER, there were around a half dozen letters going back and forth about former President Trump. May I suggest we add one item to the growing list of things being banned in addition to books and abortion rights in some red states? How about an immediate time-out on all things Trump.

There’s an expression about individuals like him who “suck all the air out of the room” because everything is always about them and nothing else. Narcissism, front and center. And it is here, sadly, that we find ourselves. The pro-Trump faction will rarely confront the various scandals and controversies that have plagued him long before he became president and which seem only to be intensifying as he finds himself in multiple pots of hot water these days.

He once said something along the lines that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not suffer in the polls. Do we need any more evidence that he was absolutely right? If I did half the things he is documented as having done, I’d be given a one-way, all-expense-paid trip to Rikers Island. Meanwhile, we see his rallies, his interviews on Fox News, coverage in other news media, and political cartoons about him. On and on. No respite ever. Since America seems to have an ongoing problem learning from history, check out Ken Burns’ amazing three-part documentary on PBS, “The U.S. and the Holocaust.” From immigration issues to antisemitism and scapegoating, to political division, this documentary shows us that “everything old is new again,” with, of course, modern variations on old themes. Even “Make America Great Again” was a recycled slogan.  It appeared a few times in the past, including in some Ronald Reagan campaigns. Please let us focus all our attention right now on whatever it will take to save our democracy and its precious institutions.
Don Linda
La Verne

Tap immigrants for pipeline labor
Dear editor:
Some more on the pipeline by Maria J. Andrade [Readers’ Comments, Sept. 16]. A lot of people are going to ask where are we going to get the workers. The answer is simple. Start the CCC’s like President Roosevelt did and use the immigrants to build it. I am sure they will appreciate the work, the pay and the housing. Now all we need is someone in the government smart enough to start it.
Frederick D. Williams
Claremont

Vote for Hanlon for TVMWD Board
Dear editor:
This November, Claremont voters can choose a forward-looking representative for our local water district board by voting for Jeff Hanlon. Jeff recognizes that when it comes to water in our region, supporting the status quo does not mean that things will stay the same; supporting the status quo means things will get worse.

For years, the current board of our local Three Valleys Municipal Water District — including Jeff’s opponent, incumbent Brian Bowcock — has supported a highly questionable study by Cadiz, a private Los Angeles-based corporation that promotes water mining our local desert.

Cadiz has proposed an unsustainable outflow of 16 billion gallons of water a year near the protected lands of Mojave National Monument, Mojave National Preserve, and various indigenous sacred sites, and would affect the springs that sustain hundreds of species including bighorn sheep, desert tortoises, and migrating birds.

Pomona College’s Professor of Environmental Analysis Char Miller called the Cadiz study “another corporate-sponsored PR campaign masquerading as objective science.” And yet, so far, TVMWD has accepted over one million dollars from Cadiz for this study, being conducted with “in-house” scientists hired by Cadiz with an eye on the enormous profits they stand to gain.

Just this month, a federal court ruled to scrap a pipeline permit for the Cadiz project, citing a lack of proper environmental review and tribal consultations.

This potentially disastrous project of water mining our local desert, ultimately stopped by federal courts, is representative of the status quo for Claremont’s current water district.

Elections matter. TVMWD incumbent Brian Bowcock, who is seeking re-election, supported the Cadiz-funded study. His opponent, Jeff Hanlon, knows that water mining the desert would be an environmental disaster and nothing but a short-term fix. He is looking at long-term water solutions by emphasizing stormwater, groundwater, and water recycling that will help ensure we have water for years to come.

Vote Jeff Hanlon for the TVMWD this November.
Julie Medero, Elise Ferree
Claremont

Pilgrims doing their part for future water consumers
Dear editor:
In response to Peter Weinberger’s well thought out article, “Farewell to our grassy front yard of 60 years,” [COURIER Water & Garden, Sept. 16, 2022] where he describes replacing his grass with water-wise plants, irrigation on a timer and other options, with the aim reducing water usage by 35% to 40%: we at Pilgrim Place started an initiative two or more years ago called landscape conversion. Water in our aquafers is critical to humans’ and the earth’s health. Pilgrim Place has committed in its five year strategic plan to replace grass with indigenous water-wise plants.

Along with educational programs for all residents, and a monthly update on water use on each of the 187 separate households at Pilgrim Place, we held a contest for the “best brown lawn” with all residential yards. This was held before the brief rain a few weeks ago. The winner received a bottle of dry wine.

We have restricted irrigation to eight minutes per week. Pilgrim Place has already converted more than 20 lawns and is a work in progress. For those interested in seeing these new landscapes, take a drive along Eighth Street from Mountain to Berkeley. Many ideas can be gleaned from these homes. Southern California will likely continue with cycles of drought. This is a community-wide effort to afford water for all in the future and be a small part in protecting our earth.
Sally Timmel
Pilgrim Place Environmental Concerns Committee
Claremont