It's actually our money

According to the Dec. 6 "It's your money," the West Des Moines Police Department charged the taxpayers of this city the cost of a 4XL "Hi Vis Vest" for Cam Coppess who is an employed police officer. I'm guessing Coppess had a vest prior to this one. He just must have outgrown it. Of course, I doubt he got taller, so I can only assume he has gotten larger around. So not only did taxpayers here in West Des Moines pay for a vest, we were charged a 20 percent "oversize charge" for the item because this lard ass has probably consumed so many donuts he no longer fits into his old one. How about sending him to Jenny Craig so that if there actually is a crook he needs to catch he could do so without having a heart attack and costing the city and taxpayers even more.

Alan L. Kinsey
West Des Moines

Doesn't want to work at Cityview anymore

You listed yourself on the "Get Out of Town" awards (Dec. 15)? Do you really see yourself as lacking teeth? Why do you keep publishing? Why don't you clean house and bring in some young, fresh Des Moines talent? Or was including yourself a way to deflect all the mean things you said about the other people and entities? If so, then you really are lacking teeth, as you can't print these things without being self-depreciating. Really, I would like to know why. I was considering sending you my resume to write for your magazine, but after that, I have my doubts.

Jon Blackwell
Des Moines

Legislators, listen up

"Pigheaded" (Dec. 29) should be required reading for all state legislators - assuming these clowns can find somebody to read it to them. A dumber bunch of overpaid hypocrites just doesn't exist. Too bad there isn't some way to force feed the ideas in your article into that hole where their brain should be, and require action before adjournment.

Raymond Wright
Indianola

Not up to NCAA

In your "Losers" column on Dec. 29 (Winners and Losers), you state that the NCAA should, if possible, do something to prevent scholarship athletes from living in federal subsidized housing. It's not the NCAA that should control who lives in these residences, but rather the federal government agency that establishes the guidelines determining who is qualified to live there. The agency needs to review its income guidelines to include the value of scholarships and everything associated with the scholarships as income. This change should keep the athletes out and allow the truly needy to be residents.

Chris Henderson
Clive

Third world Des Moines

Jon Gaskell's putting on sackcloth and ashes to tell us with weeping and gnashing of teeth (both Biblical) our city's "filthy rich and our moderately rich and our well off aren't exactly multiplying" was a kick in a poor man's ass ("Just add rich people," Dec. 15). Are the rich too well-bred to breed? Are they all suffering from erectile dysfunction and/or frigidity? Perhaps they are just too busy counting their money to go forth and multiply? What the hell are we going to do? Who will fill those "half-million-dollar condos, and a few million-dollar ones too?" Iowa's teachers can't do it. Their pay is dropping so far they'll soon qualify for food stamps, bus tokens and forgivable loans from their students. Most people from Polk or Dallas counties won't be able to move into the condos. How can they "on the average $25,000 annual salary people in these two counties make." Damn it, Gaskell, there isn't going to be a "world-class city" without more good jobs at a living wage. You tell all them "big thinkers" just that. If enough people are unable to buy this city's goods and services, Des Moines won't be world-class, but third world.

Tom Kearney
Des Moines

Correction

In our Jan. 5 edition, we corrected a reader who had maintained that gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon has not received enough ink in this publication by stating that Mr. Fallon had been the subject of a cover story and the headline item in our Civic Skinny column three times. Mr. Fallon has indeed been the headline item in our Civic Skinny column three times, but the cover story we referred to was actually one done by Pointblank, the publication that merged with this one. We regret the error.

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