Letters to the Editor

Editor:

A shout out to the kind person who turned in my remote key fob and keys on Nov. 27.

I lost the set while walking down the south side of Main Street the day before Thanksgiving. I knew it was going to be a burden.

On my way to the dealer Friday, where I was anticipating a three-hour wait and a $480 payment for a replacement, I thought to stop by the Seal Beach Police Department substation at the Seal Beach Pier.

Luckily, someone had found them and turned them in to lost and found. Much gratitude and many, many thanks for that kindness and thoughtfulness.

Barbara Abby Stevens Mutual 2 Editor:

In response to Earick Ward's letter (Nov. 28), let me point out that virtually all (more than 95%) of the forest lands in California are federal lands (national forests) over which the state has no control, so you can't blame Newsom or the state government for any mismanagement.

John McCay Mutual 14 Editor:

I am pleased to read your Board Recap in the Dec. 5 issue of LW Weekly. After your lengthy coverage about disasters triggering uncontrolled increases to premiums, there are two very important sentences on page 2 in which you disclose that higher court awards and settlements also have a part to play in the increased premiums we at LW are experiencing.

These are the costs that I referred to in my letter to the editor (Nov. 14): “Are claims generated by faulty decisions at both the GRF and Mutual levels triggering some of the increased premium costs? Are unsettled insurance claims generated by any one Mutual driving up premiums for all due to linkages among insurance policies?”

The justice system determines an award or settlement based upon the unique facts of each case.

I question the decisions by boards that factor into the origin of litigation and the ultimate award or settlement.

Further, if the Mutual and GRF policies are linked, triggering increases for all by the results of litigation in any particular Mutual, for example, then it would seem to follow that we all have a vested interest in the litigation involving each Mutual, as well as the GRF.

To what degree are premium increases driven by decisions of boards, Mutual or GRF?

What responsibility do they bear? It seems that litigation results for an individual board would not be as parochial as a board might argue. Perhaps more transparency would be helpful.

Jeffrey Mulqueen Mutual 1 Editor:

For the Thanksgiving issue, I was remiss in not mentioning how grateful we are for the care and service of our pool and fitness relief attendants: Roman Zavala, Chris Mayne, John Musko, Julia Mackin, Chris Abel, Jeff Burnett, Nancy Jordan, Shery Wells, Paul Jo and Ed Ewald. They look out for us and maintain the pool/spa areas.

We are blessed to have access to this luxury and be in the presence of people who really care. Many thanks to you all.

Syl Schiada Mutual 1 Editor:

The recent incidents involving an exhibitionist show that Leisure World is not an isolated community.

If this was possible, it is also possible for people with other bad intentions to gain access to our community and cause more harm. To increase the safety of our community, deter ill-intentioned people and maximize the success of future investigations, I suggest the following simple security measure: restrict access to non-residents through one entrance lane at the Main Gate only and install a camera that records the license plates and faces of all non-residents such as deliverers and service providers; store this data for 48 hours or as long as legally possible, then delete it to comply with data protection regulations.

For the professional security company that we pay, such a security measure should be easy to implement and inexpensive to maintain.

I believe that the entry of residents is logged via RFID stickers on headlights of their cars, so why are service providers and deliverers able to enter freely without being logged? Tom Mielke Mutual 4 Editor’s Note: All gates have license plate readers. Plus, residents and non-residents alike must have RFID tags or passes to enter Leisure World, which allows Security to track all who enter the community. In the cases referenced, an unknown male exposed himself to two female residents in separate incidents Dec. 4 and 5. He was not in, or associated with, a vehicle, so RFID tracking was not an option. An investigation is ongoing, and it is possible that the suspect is a resident of Leisure World.