Editor:
Mr. Martin Rubin's Letter to the Editor on April 28 looks to be copied directly from publicity material from Mr. Ted Lieu's campaign. Of course, Mr. Rubin and his cohort of airport-haters would elect Godzilla if they thought that he would assist them in their (Santa Monica Airport)-closing agenda.
Bill Bauer in his recent column exposed Mr. Lieu when he called him out for targeting Santa Monica Airport (SMO) in a California Senate investigation of pollution (recall that Santa Monica was not at that time even in Mr. Lieu's district). Mr. Lieu, as was pointed out in Bill Bauer's column, totally ignored LAX or Torrance airport in his so-called investigation; he targeted only SMO. Blatant pandering to a group that he thought might vote for him at some point! Bill Bauer also called out Mr. Lieu for not backing a bill in the Senate that would have stopped shark hunters from cutting off shark fins from caught sharks (and then dumping the still-living sharks back into the ocean). Also blatant pandering to those people who eat shark fin soup for its alleged assistance in sexual potency. Way to be a conservationist, Mr. Lieu!
RegardingSMO, I guess Mr. Lieu forgot that while there are over 90,000 people in Santa Monica (with perhaps 65,000 voters) pandering to a few hundred people who want to close the airport might be totally alienating the 64,000-plus people who might vote to keep this valuable asset.
No, when it comes to rating local politicians I will trust Bill Bauer who has been a longtime observer of local politics. He "calls them as he sees them." I can't give Mr. Rubin's views any credence since all he wants is someone (whatever his/her record) who will vote against the airport. I will not vote for Mr. Lieu.
We need to support the airport not only for the airport itself and all that it provides to the city but also to keep the developers' hands off that property. I don't trust the City Council an inch. We know from articles and columns in the Daily Press that City Council members have accepted money for years from developers to pay their re-election costs. Now that I think of it, I wonder how much monetary support the developers are giving to CRAAP, the organization with which Mr. Rubin is associated? Might be interesting to know the truth.
Reynold Dacon
Santa Monica
