Readers’ comments: May 26, 2023

Look into safety of active and abandoned water wells
Dear editor:
Like the flash flooding in Claremont this past April that caused substantial damage to various homes, the debate of water and environment seems to have evaporated now that the 2022 election for Three Valleys Municipal Water district is over and CADIZ water foes have packed up and left town.
In 2020 the Chino Basin Watermaster, one of the largest water basins in California,  were developing the Optimum Basin Water Management Plan when the topic of abandoned and active water wells was brought forward.
Like Chino Basin, the Six Basins Water Master area is home to multiple abandoned and active water wells.
Six Basins consultants have charts of all active water wells, including but not limited to those under the auspices of the City of Pomona, Golden State Water, Three Valleys Municipal Water District, and others.
Abandoned wells no longer used and not properly sealed may have slipped through the cracks of Six Basins consultants and San Antonio Dam operations.
Unofficial reports indicate the water released from San Antonio Dam by operations may have filled the many wells abandoned that were not properly sealed according to state laws, and subsequently flooded homes in Claremont. The connection between Six Basins and dam operations may have faltered.
With climate change patterns affecting our environment it’s time that Six Basins and dam operations communicate about investing revenue to prevent future water disasters. I encourage readers to contact the California Water Resources Division in Sacramento to learn about laws governing wells.’
John Mendoza
Pomona

CMC: stand up and be counted on Kesler
Dear editor:
Courier readers may be aware of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ hostile takeover of New College, a highly ranked and diverse public honors college, by appointing six new far right trustees and charging them with a radical makeover in the image of Hillsdale College. The newly appointed trustees include Christopher Rufo, the godfather of Critical Race Theory outrage.
But I believe most readers will be surprised to learn that Claremont McKenna College is connected to DeSantis’ war on public higher education via the involvement of Charles Kesler, its “Dengler-Dykema Distinguished Professor of Government” as another of the newly appointed trustees.
Recently Kesler joined the other new trustees in denying tenure to five faculty members who had met the expectations specified at their hiring and who had been recommended at all stages of the review process. The blanket denial was accompanied by not a single expressed reservation about their achievements or qualifications. (See https://bit.ly/New_College for the details.)
It may further concern readers to learn that Kesler is also a Fellow at the disgraced Claremont Institute (in Upland), home of John Eastman who was a chief architect of the scheme to overturn the 2020 election and illegitimately reinstall Donald Trump in the White House.
It is my hope in writing this letter that others may be moved to express their concerns, as I have, to the administration at CMC, making clear that its association with Kesler is a black spot on its reputation.
I accept there is nothing CMC can — or even should — do to sanction Kesler because it properly adheres to the principles of academic freedom that govern all respectable institutions of higher education, the very principles that Kesler is attempting to deny the faculty at New College. But it can make its position on this matter known and, in fact, does make that position known if it remains silent.
John Mallinckrodt
Claremont

Make your voice heard on debt ceiling negotiations
Dear editor:
I contacted my representative, Judy Chu, and Senators Feinstein and Padilla about the current budget and debt ceiling negotiations and hope others will do so as well. They need to hear from their constituents about this important issue.
I asked them to take a strong stand on preserving the important and essential federal programs which help those most in need such as Temporary Aid for Needy Families and Medicaid, which are being threatened by Republican proposals on the debt ceiling.
I recommended that the best way to reduce the deficit would be to enhance federal revenue through restoration of more just taxation on the wealthy and corporations and to reduce the unneeded and harmful spending on our outsized military. I hope others will also make themselves heard so that many deserving Americans will continue to get the help they need.
Wesley Mason
Claremont