I was saddened to see that Richard Benjamin, Gary Petersen, Maggie Steenrod, and Don Wasson were awarded $90,000 in legal fees by the city of Des Moines, but I realize that in order to put the last disastrous four years behind us, it had to be done.

Our city has been negatively impacted in so many ways by these former council members, not to mention the costs they incurred in firing former City Manager Bob Olander.

It is time to move forward and seize all opportunities to make Des Moines the truly dynamic city it can be. There are challenges ahead, but now we have the kind of city council members with vision to help make that happen.

We, as citizens, also have a responsibility to remember the names above and make sure that they, nor anyone like them, are ever in that position again.

Madge A. Hanson

Des Moines