Calaycay most qualified

Dear Editor:

Thank you for your recent publication of the Q&A by District 1 city council candidates. The answers revealed exactly who was qualified to fill that seat.

Corey Calaycay provided a clear understanding of the issues and a well thought out course of action for each of the scenarios presented by the COURIER. 

The other candidates, who I’m sure are fine people with fine credentials, did not address the questions with specificity nor with a clear understanding of the community’s dynamics.

With examples of real-life Claremont issues that are sticky, complicated, and rife with trade-offs, Mr. Calaycay spoke of his experience navigating decisions about housing, land use, the budget and public safety.

He did not speak conceptually, he didn’t evoke decisions from past jobs in other communities unrelated to Claremont, and he didn’t speak conceptually about lofty theories that sound grand in academic white papers, but don’t pencil out in real life. Instead, he spoke with detail about decisions that are currently at play, helping the community negotiate a broad swath of issues, embracing the commission system, and delivering a track record of votes that accurately represent our diverse, active community on tough issues.

Claremont is at a critical point, where experience and practical knowledge is a must.  I encourage my friends and neighbors to support Corey Calaycay during this November 3 election.

Valerie Martinez

Claremont

Ceraso cares about people

Dear Editor:

Mike Ceraso called me a month or two ago, presumably a random potential constituent call. I was immediately struck by his eagerness to hear what issues were important to me. We talked race, policing, affordable housing, education, small and local businesses.

I was impressed by his willingness to not only share his experiences, but to listen to mine. He shows a true concern for the people he seeks to represent.

Furthermore, I was impressed by his background and experience working on campaigns, both national and local. He is clearly one who not only has dreams or visions, but actual experience in how to make those dreams become reality.

When I hung up from my call with him, my two multi-racial, pre-teen/teenaged, boys asked “who were you talking to?” They clearly heard the weight of the issues we were discussing. I have since, unequivocally, done everything in my power to support Mike Ceraso’s bid for city council representative for District 5.

His views are mine, he hears me, and he has the experience needed to make them a reality.

Lea Harper

Claremont

Margiotta is needed now

Dear Editor:

Christine Margiotta is the person who we need on our city council during these challenging times. We need council members who have experience in solving complex social issues and who have financial, leadership, homelessness and human service experience. Christine has over 20 years in these fields.

She will listen to the citizens of Claremont. She has years of experience working with county and state organizations and representatives.

Her first priority is to “equip our human services department to meet the most urgent needs of our residents.” Claremont is unique because of our human services department, which oversees all our programs for seniors, teens in high school, teens at El Roble, all sports, the committee on human relations, the Fourth of July events and Easter egg hunt, concerts in the park, Halloween, and holiday celebrations, etc. Human services touch all of us here in Claremont.

Let’s elect Christine to the best city council in Claremont to move us forward into the future.

Nancy J Brower

Claremont

Christine not for Claremont

Dear Editor,

In a recent publication posted by Christine Margiotta on Medium.com, she makes the following statements. “Last year, police murdered over 1,000 people in the US” and “In LA County, police murder someone every 6-7 days.” Yes, it is an unfortunate reality that police use deadly force. In most cases it is justified and the public is grateful that they do.

For example, on December 11, 2019, police shot and killed David Anderson and Francine Graham after the two murdered four people, including one police officer, in New Jersey.

On August 4, 2019, (just 13 hours after 20 people were murdered in a Walmart in El Paso, TX), police shot and killed Connor Betts after he murdered nine people outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio.

On May 31, 2019, police shot and killed DeWayne Craddock after he murdered 12 people at a public works building in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

If Christine would prefer that police officers kindly ask mass-murderers to put down their shiny toys while bullets are flying over their heads, perhaps she should apply for the job.

Christine wants us to believe that what these police officers did was murder. To quote Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.” Defending the public from lunatics, hell-bent on creating death is not murder, no matter how many times you might utter it.

In the end, Christine has deliberately chosen to vilify an entire group of people based on the criminal actions of a few. And, sadly, this puts her in the same company as Donald Trump who based his 2016 campaigned largely on the notion that Mexican immigrants are rapists and murderers.

I don’t buy what either of them are peddling and neither should you.

Matt Magilke

Claremont

Courser will get the job done

Dear Editor:

Shortly after I moved to Claremont in February, the pandemic came into all our lives, so I haven’t yet been able to get acquainted with beautiful Claremont as much as I want to.

My reason for moving here was to explore if it’s the right place for doing what I love—writing, making another documentary and spending more time portrait painting along with enjoying nature. I look forward to when the Claremont Colleges open so I can take classes, connect with other writers, filmmakers and artists.

Since I moved to Claremont, I’ve wanted to attend a city council meeting and learn more about and become a part of my community. I want to learn more about and meet people on council and the candidates running at this time.

Recently, I found a letter taped to my door introducing one of the people running in District 1, where I live. Immediately, I read Zach Courser’s letter of introduction. 

It’s obvious Zach cares about everyone in our community. He believes education empowers people and communities and I believe that too. I like that Zach is a professor of public policy at Claremont McKenna College and co-directs the CMC Policy Lab and has years of experience in a variety of areas he’ll bring to the city council.

He cares about seniors in our community and is actively involved in making life better for us—for all people who live here—because he believes we’re all connected. I love Zach’s philosophy and that he’s an active member of our community.

In Zach’s introductory letter he wrote, “How can I help you?” and offered his cell phone, email address and Facebook messenger to contact him if anyone needed help. Immediately, I wrote to him to find out where to go for specific help in our community. Thank you Zach for your quick response to what I needed as a new resident in the city. You helped me!

I like that Zach wants to deal with the city budget deficit to provide services all residents need and “help our city live up to its core values of inclusiveness, respect and equality.” That’s important to me, too.

I already can tell he’s a good listener, an excellent communicator, organizer and persuader. I feel Zach is the kind of person we need on the council.

Now I know a quality person running for city council, someone who is there to get the job done and cares about our community and all people who live in Claremont. Thank you Zach for the time and energy you already give to all of us in our beautiful city.

I’m positive Zach Courser is exactly the right person for the job and that’s why I endorse him for Claremont City Council District 1 and will vote for him in the upcoming election.

Kathryn Mora

Claremont

Bollinger best suited for Citrus

Dear Editor,

As a life-long educator who is passionate about issues specific to students at any level of education, I thought it important to highlight some of the reasons I believe Laura Bollinger is the best choice for trustee of the Citrus College board.

Laura is passionate about equity for learners and strongly believes in the values of Citrus College: student success and completion, excellence, collaboration, diversity, life-long learning, integrity, and technological advancement.

Through her past community service and support to the Citrus community, she has worked to ensure Citrus College continues to provide numerous and varied opportunities to its diverse student population.

Many students struggle to complete their academic program at Citrus because of food or housing insecurity or other obstacles that make it hard for students to succeed. Laura believes that the robust student services at Citrus are crucial to helping students achieve their goals. As a trustee, she will continue to support and grow these programs at Citrus.

Laura also believes that teachers are central to student success. Remote learning has been a sudden challenge for faculty, staff and students alike. 

As Citrus works to address these challenges, Laura knows that the board of trustees and administration must address the needs of all. She will pursue answers to questions most on the minds of faculty, staff and students: Do teachers have the proper technological resources (hardware and connectivity) to teach from home? Will faculty and staff have the safety equipment needed to come back to campus? Do they need access to childcare?  Will the procedures implemented to address these challenges achieve the educational priorities for students that Citrus has always worked so hard to preserve?

Teachers are the face of the college to students, and addressing their needs is paramount to student success.

This kind of forward thinking and planning are just some of the reasons why I am supporting Laura Bollinger. She has been, and will continue to be, a strong advocate of Citrus College and the community it serves. I hope you will join me in voting for her on November 3.

Frank D’Emilio

Claremont