Yes pickleball

Dear Editor:

Reference is made to a letter to the editor published September 2 by Robert Smith. His letter is a clear statement of a request, convincing justification for such request, and a CLEAR outline of what the city of Claremont should do.

My husband Elliott and I, residents of Claremont, urge the?COURIER?to get behind Dr. Smith’s efforts to encourage the city of Claremont to take action on his proposals regarding pickleball.

Thank you for your consideration.

Leatrice Lynne Latts

Claremont

School bond measure

Dear Editor:

In this morning’s paper, I spotted an article about a $58 million bond for Claremont schools that was “approved” by the school board in August, but which I had previously heard nothing about.

The proposal involves 11 campuses and consists of replacing portable classrooms with modular ones, new roofs, upgraded heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, new windows, cabinets, lights, flooring, upgraded electrical systems and additional security cameras. This list of “needs” sounds more like a list of “wants” and is obviously extremely extensive and expensive to say the least.

The board claims that they haven’t had a bond issue in 16 years, but that is due in large part to the fact that it took that long to pay off most of the old bond issue.

Now the average homeowner in Claremont is being asked to accept AN annual additional tax of $280 per year for who knows how many years. This without an in-depth study by an independent agency other than the school board. And no opportunity to rebut this proposal in the literature on the election, which is already overdue to the voters.

Could it be that the board and many other government agencies are delaying full disclosure of the many propositions, measures, etc. in order to keep the voting public uninformed and hope that they will blindly vote yes on so many inane issues?

It is past time for all eligible voters to take a much more active role in the political process, truly study the issues and vote responsibly.

Hayden Lening

Claremont

[Editor’s note: The COURIER has written about the bond measure so many times over the last year, I can’t even give you an accurate number. Additionally, the school district held as many as 37 community meetings relating to the November bond measure. I urge anyone interested in learning about it to visit claremont-courier.com. —KD]