Hidden costs

Dear Editor:

The expensive 12-page glossy-paper spring edition of the Claremont City Letter is, once again, hiding the true cost of the proposed new police station.

It is not a $50 million public safety facility. By the time the parcel tax bond is paid off, as I recall, some $119 million will be received from local property owners. You would think that the over-whelming rejection of this “nothing-is-too-good-for-Claremont” project would finally cause the city to be a bit more open about its actual cost.

E. Milton Wilson

Claremont

Karl would like it

Dear Editor:

It has taken me a long time to write this letter, since I have significant friends in Claremont who make good cases for the placement of the museum on both sides of College Avenue.

I grew up in Claremont but have only been back in town since 2010, so my relationship with changes here is a bit more tentative than some who have been living here for longer. Changes are always difficult in beloved places. I am fond of that block on South College the way it is; in fact, I always imagined living in one of those little bungalows. But sometimes change is worth it.

After much consideration, I think the plan to place the new Pomona College Museum of Art on the site that the college has proposed is a change worth making. It is a great location for a vibrant and engaging facility in appropriate scale to both city hall and library, which will enrich our community; and siting it behind the library will improve that part of town.

Rather than worrying about the Colleges encroaching on the town, we could applaud the willingness and desire of a private entity to share its resources with the Claremont public. The Colleges are an undeniable factor of why Claremont is such a valued place to live and work. More, rather than less, integration is desirable. Changing parking patterns to timed usage will go far in dealing with automotive congestion. They could increase handicap-accessible parking and others can walk a bit if necessary from nearby parking lots. I appreciated President David Oxtoby’s pledge that no more houses would be moved after Renwick House.

I trust that with Pomona College’s resources and careful attention to community concerns, the new museum will be a credit and a valuable boon to Claremont.  The new museum will have enough space to adequately house and fulfill a true museum’s function—display, education and storage—so much of which will be offered to the local citizens at no cost to them. I hope the zoning change, master plan and EIR are approved to allow Pomona College to continue and expand its legacy of excellence in the arts.

As the daughter and wife of an esteemed artist and Pomona faculty member, we believe Karl Benjamin would have been excited to see the museum project underway at last.

Beth and Beverly Benjamin

Claremont

Stay alert, Claremont

Dear Editor:

I have been following the Claremont water drama in the COURIER. I am happy that Claremont is trying to take control of residents’ water rights. While following this story in the COURIER, I neglected to follow my own Cucamonga Water District’s sleight-of-hand.

I received an itty-bitty, looks-like-junk-mail postcard from the Registrar of Voters with a note that the San Bernardino board of supervisors approved the Cucamonga Water District board members’ decision to change their election years to odd-numbered years, thereby lengthening each board members’ term in office.  Strange.

As a resident voter, I had not received notice of this proposed move, but it was a done deal; as the itty-bitty postcard stated. In checking the agenda for this October 2015 board decision, I found no public comments. Why was the public (me) not informed of this proposed decision in the water district newsletter mailed to residents? My vote had been changed!

On further investigation, I found out that in 2005 the Cucamonga Water District board members decided to change their election to even-numbered years effective in 2008, thereby lengthening their terms. Then I discovered that several current water district board members and the manager have served long enough that they have given themselves this term extension twice by changing election years twice!

So, the motto is for Claremont residents: It will be good to control your water district but do not fall asleep at the wheel. Cucamonga Water District board members appear to have invented a system to extend their term limits while keeping a low profile out of the view of voters. It appears that the newsletter to resident voters is more PR than what is really news.

JoAnn Henkel

Rancho Cucamonga