Claremont man accused of weapon's smuggling

First there was the donut shop ivory smugglers. Now Claremont has another accused smuggler, this time in heavy weaponry.

Joseph O'Toole, 79, is accused by federal prosecutors in Florida of attempting to broker a deal that would send as many as 2000 AK-47s to Somalia, a country with a UN-imposed arms embargo since 1992.

Today, Somalia is known for its lawlessness that has allowed piracy to flourish in the waters off its coast.

O'Toole and a co-conspirator, Israeli national Chanoch Miller, were both arrested in June in Florida. According to the indictment, the men unknowingly communicated their flight and payment plans for the weapons deal with an undercover agent from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Many in the community know O'Toole as a friendly man who is active and involved in the community. He ran for city council in 1997 and has been a vocal opponent of the Base Line affordable housing project in recent years. I even wrote about O'Toole a couple months back on an unrelated topic here.

His arraignment hearing is tentatively scheduled for July 9 in Ft. Lauderdale. A more detailed report of Mr. O'Toole's alleged crimes will appear in Saturday's edition of the COURIER.

Freeway pollution flip flop

One of the biggest issues in Claremont in recent years was the affordable housing project on Base Line Road.

Dozens upon dozens of residents came out against the project, mostly citing studies that say children living near freeways can develop serious health problems from the air pollution.

But when the city council on Tuesday night approved the sale of that land to a private residential developer, there was one lone voice in the audience who addressed the council.

Former city council candidate Opanyi Nasiali said, "I still want to be on the record as saying that the city should not be allowing any new residential developments adjacent to the freeway."

And what about the other residents and groups who came out so fiercely against the affordable housing project being built in their neighborhood? The ones who denied being NIMBYs (not in my backyard) and were only concerned about the welfare of children who would end up living there?

At the March 23 council meeting, Joseph O'Toole chimed in. His group, Citizens for the American Dream, strongly opposed the affordable housing project and relied upon the freeway pollution argument.

"I agree to the market-priced housing on the area next to the strawberry patch," O'Toole said. "We went through many years of fighting [the affordable housing project] and we're very happy with market-based housing."

I guess his argument goes that poor people don't have a choice on where to live and would be stuck living by the freeway. But people with money are free to live where they want and can choose to buy a home by the freeway at their own risk.

But the truth is that all children, rich or poor, do not have a choice on where they live. Their parents are the ones who ultimately make those decisions. And those studies cited by Citizens for the American Dream and others show that children up to the age of 18 and the elderly are the ones most likely to be harmed by freeway pollution.

So if O'Toole and other former opponents of the affordable housing project were genuinely concerned about children's health, they would not support any residential development along freeways in Claremont.

The fact that O'Toole and other former opponents are now supporting "market-based housing" just screams of hypocrisy to me.