In her Aug. 3 letter, ex-Judge Burrage implied that the motivation behind the city's towing contract was a "liberal conspiracy" designed solely to force Gary Petersen off the council.

This is totally inaccurate and is purely political fiction intended to divide our community.

As a lawyer, she must understand that the absence of a "written contract" created a liability exposure for the taxpayers of Des Moines. And, as soon as this liability exposure was identified, the city manager would have been grossly negligent if he did not take the necessary steps to protect the interests of the taxpayers.

The city manager was taking the appropriate actions to minimize the liability risks when Wasson, Steenrod, Benjamin and Petersen fired him on March 13, 2002.

They voted to protect Mr. Petersen's financial interest in city-initiated towing which netted his company $100,000 per year, or $274 per day, on annual gross receipts of $250,000. Any city or business that generated that much money for any of their service providers would be negligent not to have a written contract for the services.

There was no "liberal conspiracy" against Mr. Petersen. The reasoning behind awarding a written towing contract was neither "liberal" nor "conservative;" it was merely "prudent public policy" designed to protect taxpayers' interests.

Stan Scarvie

Des Moines