Mayor Riordan

Mayor Richard Riordan wasn’t doing any favors for serious bicyclists by being pictured riding without a helmet or stating that helmets were too hot for off-road riding (Aug. 6).

Please inform the mayor and your readers the helmet is intended to protect the skull when the bicyclist falls to the ground; one doesn’t wear the helmet to protect oneself from cars. Boulders and rocks are not only hard but usually sharper and more jagged than asphalt or concrete and therefore more dangerous to the rider; ergo , wearing a helmet off-road is probably more important than wearing one on-road.

KERMIT HEID, Moorpark

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An Aug. 4 article about mayoral campaign fund raising makes much ado about an absolutely false and reporter-created non-event! It suggests that our company made contributions to Mayor Richard Riordan’s campaign committee because of a business matter pending at City Hall. This is blatantly untrue. Hiuka did have a matter coming before the City Council; however, the issue did not require any review or action by the mayor, and written evidence thereof was faxed to the reporter prior to his finishing the article.

But this particular situation begs the point. The real issue is the democratic right, and, in our mind, responsibility to support candidates of your choice whether you are an individual, a business, a labor union, an environmentalist or any other entity. We supported Riordan because we believe he will do a superior job in leading our city out of a difficult time into a future containing promise and hope. It is an insult to us, the hundreds of thousands who believe in him, and to the mayor to suggest that support buys favor.

DAVID E. CREIGH, Executive Vice President, Hiuka America Corp., San Pedro