Mailbag: Courtesy needs to be extended by all on multi-use paths

Re. “Mailbag: How Back Bay bicyclists ruined my day,” March 3:

I was sorry to read of Graham Jones’ accident with a cyclist on the Back Bay bike path. It sounds like he was treated rudely by the people he encountered and that is regrettable.

As both a walker and cyclist, I would observe that a “multi-use path” like this should be able to safely accommodate both cyclists and pedestrians. Bad behavior is certainly not confined to cyclists. If everyone would behave predictably and keep to the right, there would be many fewer conflicts.

On my bike I have been placed in danger many times by walkers or runners who suddenly decide to turn into my path without looking, or someone behaving erratically because they are deafened by music, or drunk, or many other dangerous behaviors.

All users have responsibility for safety on a multi-use path. We live in a crowded urban area, and this is not a place to let your guard down to “get away from it all.” The path is shared by bikes, pedestrians, dogs, children, skateboarders, skaters and all sorts of other users. Conflict is not the fault of any one type of user. Please, let’s be careful out there.

Fred Clements

Costa Mesa

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Enough with the Hubbard coverage

Re. “Hubbard breaks his silence,” March 7:

Really, Daily Pilot? You’re still putting Jeffrey Hubbard on the front page? Isn’t there anything else going on in the community to write about? He was tried and convicted. Game over. Let’s move on, please!

Krista Jajonie

Newport Beach

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Visit Tampa for Poseidon truth

Poseidon Resources’ only desalination project, in Tampa Bay, was completed by Tampa Bay Water after Poseidon encountered financial problems before completing that task. Tampa Bay finished building the plant according to Poseidon’s design.

Initial testing revealed substantial design problems. Millions were spent redesigning the plant only to end up with a desalination facility that still could not meet its 25-million-gallons-a-day promise and water that was too expensive to produce except in the darkest days of Tampa’s water needs.

Poseidon fled the East Coast and prayed that people in California would not know what was going on in Florida. Unfortunately, for California residents, their gamble may pay off. With the Independent covering the story locally, people will never know about Poseidon’s financial woes and their lobbying of public officials. The public will be fed only an endless blather of Poseidon’s press releases mixed with minimal and selected quotes from those with opposing views.

John Scott

Huntington Beach