Editor:
I noted with interest that Mayor Richard Bloom successfully nominated Lael Rubin for a position on the Airport Commission ("New airport commissioner breaks mold," Aug. 31).
If I remember correctly, Lael Rubin was the chief prosecutor in the 1980's infamous McMartin pre-school case. Her zeal ruined the lives of seven people and started a nation-wide witch hunt for child molesters in pre-schools. She is credited with single-handedly eliminating males from pre-school employment.
In spite of having co-prosecutor Glenn Stevens leave the case in disgust after testifying that the prosecution team withheld evidence from the defense, Rubin pressed on. She still holds the nationwide record for the longest (seven years) and costliest trial (over $13 million) in history. Ultimately, after almost every shred of "evidence" was shown to be false or fabricated by the so-called experts testifying for the prosecution, no convictions were handed down by the jury. Rubin explained the lack of convictions as "jury fatigue" but everyone else called it long delayed justice.
During the trial, she revealed (just before a competing local paper did) that she was dating David Rosenzweig, L.A. Times metro desk editor. Some thought that this revelation explained why the L.A. Times gave such enthusiastic and unquestioned coverage to the prosecution's side of the case.
If you want to watch Mercedes Ruehl play Rubin, check your Netflix cue for "Indictment:The McMartin Trial."
Mayor Bloom praised her "analytical and legal skills" and said she "is not vested in any particular outcome at the airport." Then again, he said almost the same thing about David Goddard in March 2011 and Goddard immediately moved to close the airport and has led the commission in generating ideas about how to use the airport after closing. We can only imagine what Bloom has cooking with this appointment.
Maybe Lael Rubin truly doesn't know anything about aviation, but from all reports, she apparently knows a lot about railroading. Let's hope she can find a more balanced perspective this time.
John Noot
Venice
