Airport Fees

* I read with chagrin Steven P. Erie’s severely critical “Riordan Beats the Airlines at City’s Long-Term Expense” (Opinion, Dec. 5).

The increased landing fee at Los Angeles International airport continues to be less than one-third that charged at New York City’s Kennedy Airport. Mayor Richard Riordan certainly has the business acumen requisite to measure the risk involved in any negotiation. The fact that Riordan brings such highly skilled and successful negotiation abilities to City Hall should be applauded. After all, when it comes to the revenue side, $28 million here and $28 million there could add up and become a real factor in meeting the future development costs of Los Angeles.

If, as Erie suggests, Riordan were to follow former Mayor Tom Bradley’s examples regarding the airport, Riordan would have to begin appointing friends and cronies to lucrative positions within the airport’s operation. Moreover, had Bradley done such an outstanding job on long-term planning and infrastructure improvement, and had Bradley in fact possessed such “global vision,” Riordan would not have inherited a “bogged down” Los Angeles master plan.

For the first time in nearly two decades, the leadership of Los Angeles rests in capable hands. While Riordan has been highly successful in meeting the challenges of business and the law, and is an achiever, Erie has been sheltered behind ivy-covered university walls. Erie’s illogical and unthinking article adds proof to the old adage, those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.

DONALD R. CLARK

Pasadena