City values

Dear Editor:

The city is planning to create a mission statement, vision statement and list of core values. Discussion of these will be the main feature of the January 29, 2019 council priorities workshop. Once they are adopted, they will guide development of city projects, programs and services, so they are important.

The city is currently asking citizens what they think these values should be. City staff will use input they receive by November 9 to begin drafting vision and mission statements, so there is still some time to put in your two cents before the council priorities workshop. You can write City Hall, 207 Harvard Ave., Claremont, CA 91711 or submit something online (put “core values” in the search box at ci.claremont.ca.us.) 

The more people who talk to the city, the more likely it will be that these documents represent what we truly value.

Sue Schenk

Claremont

Vote smart

Dear Editor:

On November 6, many men and women will be applying for jobs, just as you and I have done at some time in our lives. The difference is that they are seeking to become everything from council persons to senators and representatives. And they want our approval (votes).

Think of these candidates as job seekers, just as you and I were. We had to show that we were qualified for the positions we sought. Political jobs are no different, except that we voters constitute the human resources department.

I am sure we all know what happens when we hire (elect) candidates who are not qualified for the positions they seek. We then must live with their blunders for a number of years, as well as with the collateral damage they cause for many more years.

So please do not simply vote for the donkey or the elephant or, for that matter, a familiar name.

You are hiring employees. Check their resumes. Make sure that the persons you hire are well qualified for the jobs that they seek. If we all did that, we would be able to sleep better at night.

Jay B. Wiinderman

Claremont

A welcoming community

Dear Editor:

October is Down Syndrome Awareness month and as the mother of a child with Down syndrome I can tell you that the support of our community is nothing short of amazing. I feel fortunate to call Claremont our home.

My son Gabriel, “Gabe,” is a beloved member of our Sycamore School family where students, teachers and staff welcome and include Gabe every day. He has the amazing support of incredible educators that go above and beyond to meet his needs daily. Sycamore even has an American Sign Language club that is facilitated by the fabulous Leslie Roberts just to help other students be able to communicate with Gabe. How amazing is that?

The support of our Claremont community doesn’t end there. With the leadership of Cub Master Matt Mori, Gabe has been welcomed and included in the Scouts. Pack 408 and more specifically Den 5-Arrow of Light Wolverines, with the guidance of Eagle Scout David Roth, have provided an inclusive environment that always includes Gabe.

I also must thank the Holstrom family for starting the Claremont Challenger Baseball League in 2017. The Challenger League gives kids with disabilities the opportunity to play baseball as part of the Little League. Susan Holstrom also happens to be one of the wonderful educators at Sycamore and a Claremont resident.

This October for Down Syndrome Awareness month, we are thankful to all the wonderful residents, organizations and businesses that make Claremont a wonderful place.

I hope you will join us for the Inland Valley Down Syndrome Association Buddy Walk this Sunday, October 21 at Memorial Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Our family welcomes you to come participate in this family friendly event and to promote awareness and celebrate individuals with Down syndrome like Gabe.

Please join our Gabe’s team today by visiting www.classy.org/team/179870.

Lourdes Jovel-Acock

Claremont

Throwing income to Upland

Dear Editor:

First the city refused to allow a 7- Eleven store within its limits. Now they want to stop a scooter rental business.  The 7-Eleven ended up locating, probably more conveniently for many customers (students) in Upland. And Upland, of course, reaps the sales taxes generated.

No doubt a scooter rental business will find a home in the same mini-mall and will be just as convenient for students who are likely to make up a good proportion of their customers.

If speed limits can’t be mandated to that of electric wheelchairs, or unless the council passes an ordinance preventing outright the use of electric scooters within the city limits, I fail to see the logic of throwing more good tax monies from clean businesses to Upland.

In this day and age with all the debt Claremont residents have to shoulder, can we afford to be so elitist?

Enid Eckert

Claremont

California’s homeless crisis

Dear Editor:

Do we want to attract more homeless to California? According to the “Official Voter Information Guide” for the upcoming general election, “California is home to nearly a quarter of the nation’s total homeless population…”

You have to ask, why is our homeless population so disproportionally high when compared to California’s general population, which is only 12 percent? It’s not just “the weather.”

Other states have warm climates but much lower ratios of homelessness. If California has nearly 25 percent of the US homeless population, yet only 12 percent of the US total population, long-term debt proposals to attract more homeless don’t seem a good solution, except, perhaps, for building contractors.

It seems we have our priorities mixed up. If we’re going to increase debt, that money would best be spent on improving our educational systems and providing children and young adults with more opportunity to achieve their potential and thereby contribute to a more healthy economy.

Instead we’re continually asking our schools to rely on charitable contributions and bake sales to provide needed resources, and saddling young adults who pursue post-secondary education with crushing student loan debt.

Arguments for Propositions 1 and 2 infer they will help solve homelessness. This is simply magical thinking. Many of our homeless come from other states and California doesn’t have the resources to “solve” homelessness, no matter how well intentioned the propositions sound. And diverting funds from the already existing mental health support into the building industry is highly questionable.

Propositions 1 and 2 provide money to the housing industry, but don’t deal with the higher-level foundational causes underlying homelessness—poor employability and mental health. Tell our legislators we want solid long-term solutions, not feel-good Band-Aids that enrich a select few.

John Roseman

Claremont

Grateful girl scouts

Dear Editor:

With chilly autumn weather and threats from cloudy skies, the Girl Scouts of Troop 1094 gathered with phantom seekers from near and far with hopes of engaging Claremont’s ghostly populace on the fifth annual Village Ghost Walk.

This year’s sell-out event could not have happened without the generous support of Claremont’s own ghost-story hunter Joan Bunte, the Village Marketing Group, and Bert and Rocky’s Cream Parlor. Our Gypsy Caravan was mystically led by our younger sister scouts from Troop 19354—Annalise and Amelia Centeno, and Nessa Henry.

The monies raised from events like this provide our troop with funds to participate in enriching activities and life-changing experiences such as our summer 2020 plan to travel to International Girl Scout Houses in both Switzerland and England to engage and learn with scouts from other countries.

It also provides funds so we can give back to our local community; as our troop works on a women’s health badge, we are able to support Claremont Police Department’s “Pink Patch Project” as well as provide self-care materials to patients at the Lewis Family Center at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

To all who faced the supernatural with us under stormy skies, we thank you.  For those missed it, we hope to spirit you away next October.

Girl Scout Troop 1094

Claremont

Freeway fiasco

Dear Editor:

A fellow resident has written what he thinks is a rebuttal to my warning that voting yes on Prop 6 means worse roads. However, it’s significant that he never denied my point that Prop 6 will reduce funding for road maintenance and repairs.

California’s state-maintained roads need work. Work requires money. Prop 6 will cut that money. Less work will be done. The roads will be in worse condition than if the work is done. That’s pretty obvious.

In addition, the mass transit portion of the money that Prop 6 would eliminate will get more people off the highways. Our highways are clogged, most of the day now. It takes longer to get anywhere. Our time is worth something to us, too.

If Prop 6 passes, our highways will be more crowded and slower, as well as rougher, than if it fails.

Bob Gerecke

Claremont

Chaosifyer

Dear Editor:

It was 1944. The tide of the allies over the axis despots was changing. We needed all the gumption we could muster. One estimate is that 72 percent of adult Americans were involved in the war effort, from Rosie the riveter to millions in the military. America waxed great, for sure.

Johnny Mercer with Harold Arlen came up with the right song: “You gotta accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and don’t mess with Mr. In-Between…” This song was medicine for our super-stressed war effort. It won number-one in the 1945 Hit Parade.

Times have changed. Oh, how they’ve changed! A new word in my lexicon is “chaosifyer.” To become a dictator one has to develop a frustrated base of voters who dwell in the maelstrom of chaos. Chaos is fertile ground for the ambitious wanna be dictator. The new song could be this, “You gotta accentuate the negative, eliminate the positive, and become helplessly confused by the in between.”

It seems to be working. Every new tweet adds to the daily chaos. In 1933 Germany voted for a dictator who twisted public opinion by rhetoric and fear.

I so want my new great-grandchildren to grow up participating in a democratic republic experiment. That desire on my part seems bleak at the moment. Born in 1933, I’m 85 (Yep! Amazing.) Most of today’s populace has been born since 1985.

With short memories and being seduced by the chaosifyers, those of us valuing freedom and wanting this country to lead toward better times are deeply challenged. In short, vote! Don’t be seduced by the political rhetoric. There’s hope if we accentuate the positive and eliminate government by chaotic daily tweets.

Chris Rubel

Claremont