by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

The Claremont City Council voted on 140 consent calendar items, four ordinances, addressed nine council items and 20 administrative items, and held seven public hearings in 2024.

Concerns ranged from a Lewis Park playground update, e-bike program funding, housing, and where the council stood on the Israel-Hamas War. Here’s a look back at some of the highlights.

Council declines to take position on war in Gaza

The council voted unanimously, 5-0, to uphold its longstanding practice of not taking positions on issues outside the scope of Claremont in a tense, seven hour session that ended after midnight February 28. Several ceasefire advocates bemoaned the decision hoping the council would change course.

Dozens of protesters, activists and a robust police presence were part of the February City Council meeting at which it decided not to take a stand on the war in Gaza. Courier photo/Peter Weinberger

“The mood in council chambers was charged all evening. Public comment from both sides of the complex issue, both pro-Israel/anti-cease-fire resolution, and pro-Palestinian/pro-cease-fire resolution, was pointedly emotional,” the Courier reported. “Some members of the Jewish community said just the fact that the council had placed the item on the agenda had caused them to feel unsafe. Pro-cease-fire activists countered that a lack of commitment to a cease-fire proclamation put the council ‘on the wrong side of history.’”

Before the vote, Mayor Sal Medina had to call for a recess as several attendees began chanting over City Clerk Shelley Desautels as she attempted to read the ordinance into the record. After Claremont Police Department officers cleared the room and tensions eased, the council returned to vote.

E-bike subsidies kept afloat

The council voted twice this year to keep its e-bike subsidy program funded using American Rescue Plan Act funding. The subsidy program is facilitated through Go San Gabriel Valley and allows Claremont residents to check out a class one commuter or cargo e-bike for monthly use after paying a refundable deposit.

On July 23 the council voted 5-0 to allocate $41,250 in ARPA funds to continue the program with the caveat that city and ActiveSGV staff survey users to measure the program’s effectiveness

Data was collected and presented during the November 26 City Council meeting, where a second round of ARPA funding, up to $90,000, was approved. Like the July vote, the November approval came with add-ons in order to push the item through.

“Conditions of the vote included ARPA funding from another program [the Claremont Police Department’s women’s locker room project] be sourced for this subsidy initiative, certain [income-qualified] participants be shifted to a different e-bike program, and Claremont e-bike program users be required to provide odometer and bike usage data in upcoming surveys,” the Courier reported. “The measure also specified that the reallocated $90,000 be replenished if alternate funding is subsequently found for other ARPA projects.”

Participants will be asked to provide quarterly odometer readings and complete surveys about their e-bike usage with respect to public transit connections.

While $45,000 for the first year is guaranteed, funding for the second year of the program at $45,000 is not. It will be reevaluated by the end of 2025.

Playground concerns addressed

Following months of advocacy by a group of Claremont parents and children, the council greenlit a project to revamp the playground at Lewis Park on October 8.

“The council voted, 5-0, to approve about $550,000 from the city’s park dedication fund to cover the installation of new equipment,” the Courier reported. Recreation equipment designers and manufacturers Kompan are tasked with supplying the new playground, which will be made of robinia wood with amenities for children ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12. The new playground is projected to open in spring 2025.

Asher Jacobsen explains his choice for a new playground at Lewis Park to his mother, Anna Jacobsen, a member of Better Claremont Playgrounds, in August at Alexander Hughes Community Center. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

The decision came after two summer workshops which helped inform city staff about what the community wanted at the site. The city also conducted a survey about residents’ city park and playground usage.

The push for an upgraded Lewis Park playground began in early 2024 when a group of parents established Better Claremont Playgrounds.

La Puerta

The La Puerta saga was in the news again this year.

At its November 12 meeting, the City Council voted, 5-0, to approve developer Trumark Homes’ La Puerta Site Specific Plan, the developer’s tentative tract map plan to build 55 single-family, two-story detached homes on the 9.58-acre site, the plan’s final environmental impact report, and a request from Trumark to pay a $1.7 million fee in-lieu of reserving nine homes for low-and moderate-income buyers.

The council also moved to ban short-term rentals at the site along Forbes Avenue and remove an October recommendation by the planning commission.

“The Planning Commission recommended a condition (C-14) to require the pocket park on Lot 40 be open to the public and prohibit the HOA from gating the pocket park,” City Manager Adam Pirrie wrote in an email. “The City Council declined to impose this condition, so it will be up to the applicant/HOA whether to gate the entrance to the pocket park or otherwise close off public access to the pocket park.”

The decision came after months of updated plans by Trumark.

In April, Trumark sent a letter to city officials that stated its intention to pursue an updated builder’s remedy plan to build 91 housing units on the lot, up four from its previous 87-unit builder’s remedy plan submitted a year prior. The April 2024 plan was also 35 units more than a 2021 proposal of 56 single family homes.

All was quiet until August. Then, Trumark sent another letter to city officials that stated it was going back to its 56-unit project. That plan remained in place until one unit was dropped following the October 1 planning commission meeting, leading to the City Council to adopt the latest 55-unit plan. Design issues will now be considered by the city’s architectural and preservation commission, presumably in 2025.

Other headlines

• Cahuilla Park was officially renamed to Joāt Park in May.

• The council approved its 2024-2026 budget in June, which will funding its set of seven priorities and objectives through the next two fiscal years.

• In July, the council voted 4-1 to boost their monthly stipends from $400 to $1,275. Corey Calaycay voted against the measure.

• City officials were told by the California Department of Housing and Community Development that its sixth cycle adopted housing element was in compliance with Housing Element Law in September. The city submitted its updated paperwork following a 3-2 vote in June. Council members Ed Reece and Calaycay were the no votes.

• On October 2, the city held a parade for Claremont High School alumna Brittany Brown, who took bronze in the women’s 200 meter race at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Claremont High graduate Brittany Brown makes her way through a line of enthusiastic supporters at CHS in October, following a parade in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games bronze medalist’s honor. Courier photo/Peter Weinberger

• At its October 8 meeting, the council recognized Paralympic cyclist Samantha Bosco. The Claremont resident won a gold medal in the C4 individual time trial race at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

• Corey Calaycay and Sal Medina were reelected November 5. In 2025, the Claremont City Council will be led by Calaycay as mayor, and Jennifer Stark as mayor pro tem/vice mayor.