Letters

Nobody's Purrfect
Regarding the March 27 Off Limits:
C'mon--leave Natalie alone. Pujo explained the red dress by saying she had just come from an affair (the Denver Film Society's Academy Awards party) where that dress was appropriate.

Meow!
Dorsey Hudson
Denver

Rail Storm
In Alan Prendergast's "It's the Rail Thing," in the March 13 issue, the encouragement of the Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) perspective disappoints. What a myopic, self-centered perspective--that residential neighborhoods owe nothing to a community while they take from that community road maintenance, sewers, electricity, etc. Why should neighborhood committees have such a sacred say regarding what happens in their neighborhood when they take so much? If a city has a plan that is necessary for the community's survival, why should bureaucracy impede it so greatly? What is the fear of "introducing an industrial element into a residential area"? Is it a fear that the undesirables will now have a way to walk through the neighborhood? Even if I could conceive of affording a car, I would choose not to own one--but I may be forced to if the NIMBY people continue pushing for residential autonomy at such a high price to the rest of the community.

Name withheld on request

I'm always elated to read that our great "We'll save your tax dollars" legislature is benevolently considering the RTD rider's tax dollar. Case in point: HB 1264-Privatize the RTD. Our legislature is currently snapping at the carrot, which is held just outside the reach of their jowls by RTD's general manager, Cal Marsella.

Marsella's record for saving your tax dollars is impeccable. Just take a squint at his own salary and allowances. Marsella was hired by our frugal RTD board on an undisclosed "still under negotiation" agreement, then given an $11,520 raise that brought his total annual salary to $119,020. In addition, according to the Denver Post, those penny-pinching directors gave Marsella $2,500 a month in moving benefits for "up to eight months" to augment an earlier moving allowance of $30,000. Now, that's real cost-cutting! (Did he move the swimming pool?)

A salary of $119,020 plus a $50,000 moving benefit. My lightning calculation figures show that Marsella received about $169,000 for about seventeen months of work. That's saving!

If our legislators really want to save money by "privatizing," they should start with Marsella and his entourage of $80,000-a-year top managers.

N.H. Colvin
Denver

Westword: "We reserve the right to edit [letters] for libel, length and clarity."

Dave Bishop (Letters, March 20): "That a core group..." and "..." and "..." Ad nauseam. One sentence. Eighty-one words. And one small, argumentative point.

I know: Length, great length, is a cherished icon at Westword. But. You should have exercised your right here. Or did you want to give the public a sample of what goes on at RTD board meetings (even without Mr. Bishop)?

Bob Smith
Denver

Pop Goes the Punk
Regarding your story on LD-50 ("Lethal Dose," March 13): It's nice to see Westword take notice of the "other than punk" music of Denver. It seems that if you don't have the pop-punk sound, you get overlooked in this town. Thank you, James Mayo, for letting us know it's not all 1980s rock and roll in Denver. The sold-out Seven South LD-50 show is proof that there is an interest in this type of music and that it deserves more coverage.

Suzy Miller
via the Internet

The Plane Truth
Regarding Patricia Calhoun's "Soar Winner," in the February 6 issue:
On February 28, 1997, we suffered our two-year anniversary of being held noise hostages by the City of Denver and the FAA. The noise problem has not been solved!

Fiction: DIA officials will tell you the noise problem has been fixed, since complaints are down. Fact: Hundreds have called for two years with little or no results. Do we have to call at the same rate for the next two years or beyond?

You say we don't have a problem? Then move the planes over Denver, where they belong, and Denver residents won't have a problem, either.

Denver's politicians pushed for, and its residents voted for, the airport. The City and County of Denver must share the majority of the planes. Most city people are oblivious to airplanes, since they already have a high background-noise level.

We worked hard to achieve our rural lifestyle. We did not get a chance to vote on the airport.

When are you going to free us, Mayor Webb? Is this fair? Reasonable? Prudent? Ethical? Responsible? You judge: I think you know how we and hundreds of families in Douglas, Elbert, Adams and Boulder counties feel.

Kendall and Sharon Haag
Parker

Missouri Breaks
I agree with most of Michael Roberts's review of Iris DeMent's last CD, The Way... (Playlist, November 21, 1996). But I really am not sure about some of his comments on specific tunes except for the first two, since after listening to half of the album, I called the record store and made a deal to return the CD for a full refund.

I used to listen to a lot of traditional, folk and country rock in the Seventies (note my extinct terminology), and when I discovered DeMent's first CD a few weeks ago, I was actually euphoric--what a pure and unusual talent. I even adored the somewhat high-school word "obliviously" in "Momma's Opry."