On Tuesday, March 26 at 9am, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger met with Claremont City Council to discuss issues that affect Claremont citizens. Barger brought some twenty to twenty-five Los Angeles County staff - firefighters, transportation workers, etc. to attend the meeting. Here is my public comment:

I’m Pamela Casey Nagler, a longtime resident of Claremont, Pomona Valley and San Gabriel Valley.

I’d like to thank you, Los Angeles Supervisor Kathryn Barger, for attending this special meeting.

I am here today to ask you if you plan to join your fellow Supervisor Holly Mitchell in calling for an immediate and lasting bilateral ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all captives, including Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas and Palestinians detained unlawfully by the Israeli government, and the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid.

As you well know, momentum for ceasefire and return of the hostages is building.

On March 4th, Vice-President Harris and President Biden called for ceasefire, and in the last couple of weeks, the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, the biggest county club in the country, working with pro-Palestinian groups and pro-Israeli groups, unanimously adopted a permanent ceasefire resolution. Yesterday, the UN Security Council called for a ceasefire. And last night, Alhambra City Council adopted a ceasefire resolution. 80 people spoke in favor with none dissenting. Vice Mayor Sasha Renée Pérez said she had received 900 emails about this one agenda item.

Also, last night, in our own hometown, the Democratic Club of Claremont passed a ceasefire resolution.

At the end of February, Claremont City Council did not pass its ceasefire resolution, instead favoring a resolution against all resolutions that are not local. It was an unpopular decision, the vast majority of speakers and letter-writers supported ceasefire.

At this point, people do not want to see people being starved, more people driven out of their homes, more people killed and maimed. This is a human-caused crisis that we can avert.

Pamela Casey Nagler is currently finishing her book, A Century of Disgrace: The Removal, Enslavement, and Massacre of California’s Indigenous People 1769 - 1869.

By Veronica Cabrera
Published 11/14/2023 8:07 Am PST

The purpose of the ARP (American Rescue Plan) federal economic aid was to help the families most affected by COVID. Its intent was not to provide government institutions with general funding. It appears that our elected officials were not content enough with already-allotted public revenue, so they grabbed funds that should have been given to the poorest. Pomona has 150,000 residents with the current income per capita of $2000 per month. The poverty rate in Pomona is 17.9% of the population, that translates into 27,000 people living in poverty. The city was allocated 45.37 million in ARP funds and the unacceptable use of those funds has been the following:

1.5 million was allocated to the mayor.
750,000 to each council member to be used in their respective districts.
630,750 of the ARP funds went to the Latino and Latina Round Table to create jobs. It will only create two jobs because it will play the role of an employment agency.
400,000 was approved for concerts like the one of the Tigres del Norte, which the mayor announced here that it was a free concert. But the truth is that the city paid $160,000 for that concert.
7.2 million was for replacement of public restrooms, construction in the park, rehabilitation of streets. About half a million approximately was for city related Pandemic support.
$600,000 for real time crime center which includes live feed cameras.
1,000,000 for technology and efficient operation.
400 families will receive $500 per month for two years, a total of 12,000 per family, or 4.8 million.

40 million will be used for everything but its original purpose, which is to help the families most affected by COVID. So how are the rest of the 26,500 poor families supposed to cope with the effects of the Pandemic on them? How are they being helped by the new public toilets, fixed rates or high technology and the government offices? Thank you.

The city meeting documents related to the American Rescue Plan can be found in the city meeting link provided. click here to find the meetings links.

Español

El Federal entrego dinero para la gente mas vulnerable y afectada por el COVID. El Proposito era para ayudar a la gente, no a las instituciones gubernamentales. No contentos suficientes con todo el ingreso público que recibe la ciudad, se atreven a agarrar fondos entregados para los más pobres.

Pomona tiene 150,000 habitantes. Los ingresos de per cápita es de 2000 dolares por mes. El porcentaje de pobreza en Pomona es del 17.9, que son 27000 habitantes.

A la ciudad se le asignaron 45 Millone para ese proposito pero el uso inaceptable es:

1.5 millones al City Mayor
750,000 a cada consejo para que sean utilizados en sus respectivos distritos conforme lo consideren.
630,000 fueron entregados al a la institución latino o latina round table para crear realmente 2 empleos, porque los demás fueron gastos para-altos funcionarios.
400,000 dolares fueron aprobados para conciertos y eventos como los del Tigre del Norte para un término de 4 años, El cual el City Mayor dijo aquí, que la ciudad no había pagado nada por ese concierto, pero si se pagaron 160,000 dolares de los fondos del América Rescue Plan.
7.2 millones se usaron para reemplazar a construcciones de baños y parques, calles.
$544.100 apoyos a la ciudad a la ciudad una o sea la institución a las oficinas.
$600,000 fueron para cámaras y 1000000 para tecnología y operación.
400 familias fueron beneficiadas con 500 USD al mes por 2 años en un total de 12000 dolares. En total se dieron a la gente menos de 5M.
40M se usaron para todo menos para su objetivo principal.

Yo me pregunto, en que les beneficia al resto de las 26.500 personas pobres los baños públicos nuevos, calles arregladas. y alta tecnología en los aparatos gubernamentales?

Para encontra documentos oficiales relacionados con la informacion mencionada, haz click here.