Readers’ comments: April 11, 2025

Thank you for your service
Dear editor:
A letter in last week’s Courier expressed concern over what our Representative Judy Chu has been doing. I certainly don’t know all of Chu’s recent contributions, but I can mention a few. In the aftermath of the Eaton Canyon and Pacific Palisades fires, she has been extremely busy.
On January 28th, Chu introduced the bipartisan bill, Fire Information and Reaction Enhancement Act of 2025, to improve wildfire detection.
On February 7, 2025, Chu reintroduced the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act, which would require the biggest polluters to begin paying their fair share to confront the climate crisis. Even though the bill has some 30 sponsors and endorsers in both the House and Senate, Chu is the only national legislator from California who has registered her support to date. Here’s hoping the other California representatives follow suit.
In March, Rep. Judy Chu led a bipartisan coalition that introduced the Hire Credit Act, a new tax relief measure designed to help victims of federally-declared disasters return to work.
In the beginning of April, the House passed HR 517, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, introduced by Chu. The bill passed by overwhelming bipartisan support.
On April 5th, Congressmember Judy Chu participated in the “Hands Off!” rally, protesting Trump and Elon Musk in both Pasadena and Claremont.
Thank you for your service, Representative Judy Chu!
Pamela Casey Nagler
Claremont

E-bikes at Wilderness Park
Dear editor:
It’s curious that our City Council is considering allowing e-Bikes in our Wilderness Park since they are not allowed in the wilderness areas in our own National Parks. The 1964 Wilderness Act specifically prohibits mechanized transportation in designated wilderness, and the US Forest Service and other federal agencies have interpreted this ban to include e-Bikes.
The prevailing concern is one of safety—particularly related to speed. Because e-Bikes (typically 50-60 pounds) weigh more than non-motorized trail bikes (typically 25-30 pounds), any collision carries a greater risk of serious injury to humans or animals, especially when traveling at a greater speed.
Disruption to wildlife and erosion are also concerns.
There is also an increased problem with fire. Lithium batteries can catch fire. Concerns over the possibility of ignition should be on our minds right now. Southern California has just experienced two of the worst fires in its history – in January – a season that historically has not experienced a major wildfire. Nearby Eaton Canyon was the 5th most deadly and the 2nd most structurally destructive in California’s history, and the Pacific Palisades was the 9th most deadly and the 3rd most structurally destructive.
Currently, the Trump administration is considering adopting a new policy that would open non-motorized trails on public lands to e-Bikes. In fashioning this new ordinance that would allow e-Bikes on Claremont’s Wilderness Trail, our local City Council is aligning with our current national administration, but completely out of touch with those of us who favor environmental protections.
It is a wilderness park, after all. A place where urban dwellers go for a period of time to commune with nature along our Wildland Urban Interface. It seems myopic and tone-deaf at the very least, but notably, also very dangerous.
Steven Nagler
Claremont

Meeting housing needs for everyone
Dear editor:
Since 1969, California has required every city and county in the state to create a plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community, regardless of income level. For decades, these plans—called Housing Elements—were rubber stamped with no mechanisms for enforcement. And for decades, our housing crisis grew un-checked as communities—including Claremont—delayed or denied new developments from moving forward. But voters have made it clear in recent years that solving our housing crisis is a top priority, and housing laws are now in place to fast track desperately needed housing—and hold communities accountable when they don’t meet their obligations.
Claremont is not meeting the challenge of our Housing Element, and we have both a moral and legal obligation to do so. We are four years into an eight-year plan, with only 15% of our total Reginal Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) met—these are units identified in our Housing Element to meet the needs of our community. We can and should celebrate the 264 new units created—including 165 for low, very-low, and extremely-low income households. But it’s not enough, and we continue to see efforts to delay and deny the development of new housing.
The Housing Element also requires Claremont to preserve the affordable housing stock we have and protect our many renters, so our lower-income neighbors aren’t pushed out of our community. Yet efforts like the upcoming short-term rental legislation would do precisely that, while the City Council’s recent denial of a rental registry would prevent us from truly understanding the impact.
Claremont’s stated values include inclusion, livability, and progress. Yet these values are not apparent in efforts to block new housing or put our renters at risk of being priced out of their homes. The housing crisis is only deepening, and we must double down on our efforts to meet this moment with the courage it requires. Everyone has a friend, family member, colleague, teacher, or service worker who is directly impacted by the housing crisis, and I urge all of us to speak up and tell City Council to fulfill the spirit of our Housing Element and our city’s values.
Ilsa Lund
Housing Claremont/Inland Abundant Housing

Trump regime ‘daffynitions’
Dear editor:
The Trump regime — Daffynitions:
Trump: In bridge, a suit chosen to rank above the others.
Musk: A strong-smelling substance that is secreted by a muskrat.
“Heard” mentality: They heard Trump and they followed his orders.
Jay B. Winderman
Claremont

Playground bullies
Dear editor:
Being short and socially awkward as a young boy, I was frequently the object of attention by several playground bullies. Mostly, I just took the abuse. I didn’t think I had any alternative unto one day. At a dodgeball game one began shoving me, when out of the blue one of the biggest girls in our class, Kathy, rushed into the center of the ring, grabbed him and decked him. “You leave him alone,” she kept shouting. I learned that day that friends make a difference. A big difference.
Right now, our nation is being run by a playground bully. No amount of shaming, apparently no court rulings, no union contracts, no degree of economic disaster, no sanction by our allies – nothing seems to stop him from perpetrating an unmitigated disaster on our nation. With a world-wide great depression looming, our future indeed looks bleak. No, we’re not better off than when this felon took over. The price of my coffee is skyrocketing. To buy eggs, a loan is needed.
Like all bullies, he picks on the most vulnerable. College students have their visas revoked in the dead of night and are shipped down to detention camps in Louisiana. Or summarily deported to a hell-hole of a prison in El Salvador. The LGBTQ community is harassed. Workers are abruptly fired by e-mail with little concern for their family’s security.
But, if we join together in mass action, in solidarity, a bully can be thwarted. This coming year, we might not eliminate him, but in 2026 we can rid ourselves of many of his toadies in Congress and say no to his outrages. America will not be bullied. Not forever.
John C. Forney
Claremont