Leisure World is in crisis. Since the appointment of a new executive director in 2022, spending has reached an all-time high. New hires for newly created, unnecessary positions have increased dramatically, while documented, specious expenditures continue at unprecedented rates. There are poorly qualified leaders in positions of great responsibility. Calls for transparency go unheeded. Many, if not most, residents are on fixed incomes and are at risk of losing their homes at their most vulnerable time of life.
There’s a reason residents are picketing almost daily at various locations in Leisure World. All they want is to be listened to (not just heard), and have their questions and suggestions acted upon. Having managers and directors pad their resumes, go on travel junkets and enjoy the good life at the expense of residents, while crime within the complex grows, facilities are shuttered, and services are curtailed are not what residents signed up for. It’s hoped that our governing board will take the appropriate measures to ensure that our quality of life is maintained.
Mark Scott
Seal Beach
The Year of Biking Dangerously
About two years ago, I attended a bike safety class with my 10-year-old son, in Carlsbad. It was a requirement by the school district for him to be able to ride his e-bike to school. There had been some bicycle casualties and even deaths, mainly kids, who were on their bikes at the time. There were only a few kids and parents there, but I was impressed by the city’s response to the problem. In attendance were several local police o?cers, a special liaison from the City Council, who I sat next to, and a long-time biker who taught the class and answered questions. My son learned a lot and so did I.
What I remember most about the presenter was his comment about bikers. He said people rode bikes for many reasons, citing ?tness and recreation as top reasons but he rode his bike because it was his transportation. He noted that bikes had a legal right to be on the city streets just like any car.
This hit me hard because last year, I became “car-less” for about a year due to ?nancial constraints, and subsequently required that I rely on my bike and bus, as my primary modes of transportation. During this period, I easily put 4000 miles on my bike as will be attested to by the local bike repair shop who saw me often. Great local shop by the way! Kevin, who often worked on my bike remarked one-day that “I ride the heck out of my bike”.
What I noticed in that time period with respect to Seal Beach is it is a biking community. People are on their bikes often with the more hard-core riders on the weekend. I have always ridden for recreation and felt fortunate that I had the bike I did when I found myself without a car for so long and could still easily ride 30 or more miles a day on a bike when needed or wanted. So, here’s what I noted about drivers during this period.
Most recognize you’re on the road with rights to be there but there are those who don’t! So, when you’re on a bike passing parked cars on a two-lane street (e.g., PCH) there are drivers who don’t want to allow you room, honking, as if you have somewhere else you can ride. Or they pass, sometimes leaving only inches between you and their side view mirror. Those or similar incidents left me so anxious I couldn’t ride, but still needed to in order to get to work in Anaheim, pick-up prescription re?lls, or otherwise run a local errand.
I had understood that the law required a 3-foot clearance when passing, but then learned that more recently the governor had signed into a law an ordinance requiring a “whole lane” for bikers, when passed by motor vehicles. Drivers may ask what they are supposed to do when travelling maybe 45 mph and your speed is closer to 18 or 20 mph? The answer is the same as passing any slow traveling vehicle in front. Slow down, and wait for an opening to move to the left before passing.
I am writing this as someone who depended on this mode of transportation for so long, and now wants to be able to ride their bike on any given weekend or weekday when whether permits. Bikes have as much right to be on the road as you do, in your $60,000 vehicle!
Zoey Evans
Seal Beach
