ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260013
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
YOUR JULY 20 editorial (``Let them eat mousse'') regarding the party for Elizabeth Bowles completely missed the mark. Very few citizens will deny that Bowles deserved recognition for her years of dedication and faithful service. Very few would object to using City Council's ``gratuities'' account to pay for her meal.
The concern was using that account to subsidize the other invited guests. It's most appropriate, and the usual custom in such affairs with government workers, to require other invited guests to pay their share of the cost. In this situation, the invitation list could have been expanded to allow others who have known Bowles the opportunity to express their appreciation and best wishes on her retirement. I am sure many would have been willing to attend and pay their own way.
When the issue concerns the expenditure of public funds, we expect our elected officials to be more prudent in how they use the tax dollars. This $3,100 could have been used to help fund the bollards for Highland Park that a citizens group was promised last year. City Council recently bypassed this project in the approved financial plan, ordering the city manager to ``find the funds.''
A fine gesture of citizenship and responsible civic action would be for all those other invited guests to reimburse the taxpayers for their share of this affair.
|THOMAS J. DALZELL |ROANOKE
Deputy who lied|
should be fired|
IN RESPONSE to your July 17 editorial (``The deputy who didn't tell the truth") and your article (``Cleared sheriff's deputies return to jobs at Roanoke jail"):
I couldn't agree more with your comments concerning Deputy Larry Neighbors and his blatant lie to his superiors. Why is a man allowed to return to work after lying in an internal investigation by the Sheriff's Department? Impeding a criminal investigation should be grounds for dismissal.
Sheriff Hudson believes this man has been punished by loss of work and the embarrassment it caused. The sheriff shouldn't condone his deputy's lies, and should dismiss Neighbors. The integrity of the sheriff and the department are at stake.
|MIKE LINDSEY |SALEM
Missing the point|
of the VMI decision|
REGARDING John P. Ryan's July 15 letter to the editor, ``Give the little girls a taste of VMI'':
This little girl would like to point out that the Supreme Court can hardly be considered liberal, and that Ryan missed the point of the court's decision.
The question wasn't whether same-sex education is better or worse, or whether military men need to learn respect for women in the military with whom they will be working above, with and under. The question was whether it's constitutional for government funding to go to an institution that accepts only one sex. And the answer was no.
This patronizing letter is the perfect example of the misogynist minds these same-sex military institutions create. However, VMI is more than welcome to go private.
|LEMON HILEMAN |RADFORD
Health plans should|
cover mental illness|
CURRENTLY, many insurance policies exclude or limit benefits for mental illness. Symptoms of mental illness are often more recognizable and treatable than other chronic illness.
That is why Congress should pass the Domenici-Wellstone amendment to the Kennedy-Kassebaum health-insurance bill.
Let us move out of the dark ages of snake pits, and stop discriminating against one segment of the population.
|JOYCE BOWLES |BLUE RIDGE
Too much time|
to go shopping|
IN RESPONSE to Anne K. Metcalfe's July 21 letter to the editor, "Roanoke Valley is a cultural wasteland":
She sounds like a "Valley Girl" with too much free time on her hands, roaming Roanoke's streets in search of more and better exclusive women's shops. Indeed, why should she have to drive to Charlottesville to shop and gain culture?
It's obvious that the University of Virginia made her read T.S. Eliot's poem. And it's equally obvious that she wasn't an economics major.
|SANDY JACKSON |ROANOKE
LENGTH: Medium: 99 linesby CNB