Readers’ comments: June 27, 2025

Long-time reader has something more to say
Dear editor:
Over many years, this old man has often submitted letters to the editor on various subjects found in the Claremont Courier. Today I want to express more of my opinions:

• Our local property owners should be less greedy and not force so many of those who operate small businesses to leave the Village and the City of Claremont.
• Residents should not contrive to shelter themselves or us from new and sometimes different new neighbors who want to enjoy living in Claremont.
• Those who want to represent us on the City Council or on the school board should not contrive to limit our input.
• The Claremont Courier should take action to limit the endless feuds in print by which some individuals strive to use the Courier as their own private social media platform to tirelessly cast aspersions on each other about matters which do not interest the rest of us.
• The resident who, in the first issue of the Courier I can remember reading when I moved here almost 50 years ago, wrote a paean to what he referred to as “the people of quality” with whom he personally identified, was wrong in his belief that the rest of us were of lesser quality than those whose wealth means more to them than it does to us. And he was wrong, as well as rude and racist, to refer to the part of Claremont in which my neighbors and I reside as “baja Claremont.”

And so I will save my further thoughts for another time, and will end this now.
Don Fisher
Claremont

No Kings was encouraging, but not enough
Dear editor:
It was great seeing so much more diversity in people attending at the No Kings protests, and certainly the turnout was really encouraging. I especially enjoyed seeing the families with little ones carrying signs and the youth that showed up. We need more of that … maybe on July 17th?
More importantly though is what’s next? Working, productive, tax paying families are afraid to leave their homes, sending their kids out to get groceries. They’re afraid to go to work, but wanting to.
All the while these ICE raids continue, the Senate, House, and Trump are still working to pass the biggest transfer of wealth in our nation’s history from the poor to the rich. They are doing this and not addressing the looming disaster with Social Security while discussing raising the full retirement age so more people will die before seeing any benefits. Let’s not forget the wars and our country’s complicity with the wrong sides in these conflicts, even though Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine on day one and not get us involved in others.
Freedom of the Press is being attacked! This administration has stepped away from caring for its people here, and those around the world. It is this lack of leadership that is creating all of the destabilization.
These protests are certainly good, but if we are going to stop Trump and the GOP and hopefully have a midterm election, more has to be done. What about a nationwide strike? What about stronger boycotts of the businesses that are supporting these gross policies? Our window of opportunity to force change is closing. Our version of the gestapo is already on the streets racially profiling people of color in their stops. Trump has just stopped funding for LGBTQ+ suicide hotlines, so I guess we know who is next on the list.
Ron Jones
Claremont

Kudos to VMG for Craft Beer Walk
Dear editor:
Congratulations to the Claremont Village Marketing Group for producing a successful Craft Beer Walk! The event not only brought participants from near and far but it generated funds for activities throughout the year. Great job!
Vince Turner
Upland

Wilderness Park is accident waiting to happen
Dear editor:
“One dead, another paralyzed — bicycle collides with hiker in Claremont Wilderness Park”
I predict the Courier will be running that headline sometime in the next 10 years if the rules aren’t changed.
The Claremont Hills Wilderness Park has topography that makes for a particularly dangerous interaction between hikers and bicycles (let alone horses!).
When an accident happens, it will largely be attributable to just one factor: a bicyclist racing downhill around a blind turn without ringing their bell, who then encounters a group of hikers coming uphill. Maybe it will be one group of hikers attempting to pass another on the left.
No matter which side of the road they are on, groups of hikers who encounter each other will never collide. The problem is bicycles traveling at excessive speed combined with steep grades and curves with limited visibility. The rangers in their trucks are aware of this problem. They sound their horn gently at every blind turn.
The City of Claremont is also aware of this problem. It has erected new signage, sent out flyers to every household in the city detailing proper trail etiquette, made warning bells available at the park entrance and threatened to eject visitors who don’t obey the rules.
Despite these admonitions, some bicyclists continue to race downhill, around blind corners, without using a bell. It happened to me yesterday while walking in the park.
Having acknowledged the obvious potential for catastrophe, the city will bear considerable legal liability when the inevitable accident occurs.
Adding electric bicycles to the mix is the last straw!
Marc Merritt
Claremont

ICE raids terrorize, but also create opportunity
Dear editor:
I just read in the Los Angeles Times Sunday edition how ICE is raiding car washes in LA County in order to round up immigrants (you know, the gangsters, rapists and drug dealers who love to work in the blazing sun outdoors), and that some car washes have been forced to close down for lack of help. But I was quick to take action. This writer has had a long-term dream of working in that industry, second only to working in the fields picking crops in John Steinbeck country, Salinas. So the time was ripe to apply at a local car wash. When the owner told me he had a full time job for a person to dry and detail washed cars, I jumped at the opportunity. He asked what my expectations were, and I humbly told him, “At least $100,000 a year, no weekends, two days’ work at home, and a well-funded 401(k).” I feel everything went extremely well and that I’ll get a job offer very soon. If, sadly, that opportunity doesn’t pan out, I’ll drive up to Salinas and give that a shot.
Don Linde
La Verne

We are in an abusive relationship with our government
Dear editor:
Intimidation, emotional abuse, isolation, minimizing, denying and blaming, using children, male privilege, economic abuse, coercion and threats are all indicators of an abusive relationship. The indicators were named in the early 1980s and are just as relevant today. These indicators form the framework in our country’s efforts to reduce the incidents of domestic violence, both for the aggressor and for the recipient of the behaviors.
I bring this to light today because I have seen these same indicators in the way our current government officials are treating its citizens. I don’t think it takes a great deal of imagination to draw parallels of these indicators to the current climate in this country. I am confident that many readers have experienced this personally at some point in their life or know of someone who was traumatized.
What I have learned over the past 32 years investigating these crimes is the “public display” of violence had its roots set anywhere from three to five years in what I refer to as “private/hidden” abuse. The abuser gains enough confidence after years of practice to finally go public with their behavior. Think of it has the tip of an iceberg. It is what’s below the surface that is often overlooked or excused.
Ultimately, it is the victim’s choice on whether to leave (divorce) the violent relationship or wait until a lethal event occurs. The remedy is simple: Elect officials who abhor violence as the primary means of social control and break the cycle.
Larry Horowitz
Claremont