Strike Two

 Rolled over: I want to say a hearty thanks to all the voters who thought the teams were really going to leave Kansas City (KC Strip, April 13). Your votes on April 4 allowed the rest of us who voted no to get copulated out of our money. Thanks for nothing.

I am appalled that the majority of the people who voted to tax themselves for the next 25 years will not even get to go to a game at the Chiefs stadium. Furthermore, why are we showing support to a baseball owner who is committed to breaking even rather than putting a winning product on the field? Again, it was the voters who voted for the tax that got us into that predicament. Even organizations like Freedom Inc. came out in support of this boondoggle.

This is to all the voters who want to really save tax money: Please vote no on the rolling-roof proposal whenever that issue comes before us on the ballot again. Keep in mind that it is possible that in a few years the voters of Kansas City, Missouri, will be asked to vote on money to update our crumbling sewer system. I do not want to hear any whining from the supporters of the stadium tax at that time. The voters should have bypassed this tax and prepared themselves to vote for the sewer tax.

Next time you want to placate the team owners, please pay more per ticket. Do not ask the rest of us to go along with this 25-year copulation.

Rudolph Pieters
Kansas City, Missouri

Party Platform
Stan's his man: I thought some of the things Stan Glazer said in Nadia Pflaum's article ("Six-Gun Stan," April 20) were a little outrageous, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the guy.

This guy tells it like it is. It seems all the things he worked on back in the '70s and '80s were on the right track to get this city off its ass. I am so sick of listening to City Hall politicians who promise a lot and deliver nothing. This town is not even on the map. I am not sure what we are known for. People say barbecue, but when I travel around the country, I never hear anything about that. It would be cool to have a guy like Stan promoting the city, because from what I read here, the guy would get us a lot of attention. I mean, Alvin Brooks is a nice guy, but I don't think people in high places are going to be too impressed with what he has to say or how he says it. This Glazer guy has some baggage, but maybe that is a good thing. He sounds like someone whom regular people can relate to.

I go through Westport today, and it is pretty dead. When the Glazers had Stanford & Sons, it seemed to make Westport a happening spot. Maybe this guy can do that for our city. With all the new stuff going on downtown, I think we need an exciting mayor. Six-Gun Stan is my new man.

By the way, I am an African-American.

Wayne Boyd
Kansas City, Kansas

Grave Mistake
Dearly departed: I found Alan Scherstuhl's reference to the death of Peter Tomarken to be in terribly bad taste (Stage Capsules, March 30).

I do not recall any obituary writers ever engaging in comedy by writing jokes about the departed. It's a solemn job, and one that most obit writers (hopefully) carry on with respect. Maybe in his distorted mind, Scherstuhl crafted his own "whammy" jokes about Tomarken's passing, but I assure you, Tomarken's family and friends who read this reference do not take it lightly.

As a personal friend of the Tomarkens, I find your blurb to be bizarre and cruel. I think the "thousand giggling obit writers" is actually just one insensitive ______. I'll let you fill in the blank, Alan. Put yourself in place of a member of Peter's family, and I think you might begin to understand the gravity of their tragedy.

I understand the desire of insensitive and immature bloggers to crack a joke or two at this bizarre tragedy, but a more sophisticated Web site like the Pitch publishing such ill will is beyond the pale.