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.
