Time to revisit Cityview’s annual issue of lists

By Jason Hancock, Jared Curtis and Michael Swanger

Sometimes unadulterated, factual information is all the reader wants, and we at Cityview can appreciate that mindset. Each week, for example, we give our readers pure statistics on government spending and crime on our “It’s Your Money” and “Rap Sheet” pages, respectively. Both fixtures are popular with our readers, so once a year we like to apply that concept to a cover story known as Records and Rankings.

This marks the third year Cityview has published its Records and Rankings issue, and we think it is the best yet. In the next few pages you can find interesting information ranging from state employee salaries, to crime trends, to telling statistics about how the Capital City and Iowa rank compared to other cities and states. It’s a short, easy read, but loaded with information that tells many stories.

20 of the Top Paid State Employees (Residing in Polk County)

1) Julia Goodin
Department of Public Health
State Medical Examiner
$239,581

2) Melissa Bruhl
Department of Veterans Affairs
Physician Supervisor
$211,604

3) Patricia Quinlisk
Department of Public Health
Physician
$209,998

4) Ann Touney
Department of Veterans Affairs
Physician
$200,723

5) Robert Pucelik
Department of Human Services – Woodward
Physician
$186,735

6) Dennis Klein
Department of Public Health
Physician
$184,386

7) Richard Spoth
Iowa State University
Scientist III
$182,694

8) James Oliver
Iowa State University
Professor
$177,951

9) Jack Ketterer
Inspections and Appeals
Administration Racing and Gaming
$175,005

10) Lawrence Staples
Education
Administration Consultant
$174,897

11) Jerri McLemore
Department of Public Health
Physician
$170,422

12) Mark Engelbrecht
Iowa State University
Dean
$167,471

13) Bret Alan McFarlin
University of Iowa
Associate
$166,685

14) Nicholas Galioto
University of Iowa
Associate
$163,561

15) Maury Hope
Iowa State University
Associate Chief Information Officer
$161,205

16) John Gillispie
Iowa Communications Network
Executive Director
$158,346

17) Lawrence Genalo
Iowa State University
Professor
$156,030

18) Udaya Kabadi
University of Iowa
Clinical Professor
$155,929

19) Gary Wells
Iowa State University
Distinguished Professor
$154,990

20) Donna Mueller
Iowa Public Employee’s Retirement System
CEO
$149,897

Other Notables:

Nancy Richardson
Department of Transportation
DOT Director
$139, 131

Judy Jeffrey
Department of Education
Director
$135,108

Anthony Alford
Iowa State University
Assistant Coach
$132,500

Steven Michael Cook
Department of Corrections – Mitchellville
Physician
$127,408

(Source: The Iowa Legislative Services Agency)

Top 10 Complaints Made to the Des Moines Better Business Bureau (between April 30, 2007, and April 30, 2008)

1) Magazine fulfillment services (627)
2) Mortgages (401)
3) Financial service companies (177)
4) Automobile dealers, new (126)
5) TV, cable and satellite companies (121)
6) Automobile dealers, used (117)
7) Telephone companies, cellular and land lines (97)
8) Mail order and catalog shopping (94)
9) Collection agencies (90)
10) Insurance companies (87)

(Source: Better Business Bureau serving Greater Iowa, Quad Cities and Souixland region, http://www.desmoines.bbb.org)

Contributions to Presidential Candidates by ZIP Code:

• 503xx (includes Des Moines, Urbandale, Clive and parts of West Des Moines):
All candidates — $456,855
Democrats — $324,856
Republicans — $132,029

• 502xx (includes a majority of West Des Moines, Norwalk, Newton, Osceola, Panora, Pella, Polk City, Story City, Waukee, Winterset and other communities):
All candidates — $302,639
Democrats — $160,657
Republicans — $141,982

• 501xx (includes Granger, Grimes, Guthrie Center, Huxley, Indianola, Jefferson, Knoxville, Menlo, Grinnell and other communities):
All candidates — $124,521
Democrats — $66,527
Republicans — $58,114

• 500xx (includes Ames, Adel, Ankeny, Bondurant, Boone, Dallas Center, Dexter, Elkhart and other communities):
All candidates — $205,461
Democrats — $130,160
Republicans — $75,301

(Source: Federal Election Commission, http://www.fec.gov)

Ten Most Common Crimes Reported to the Polk County Sheriff in 2006

1) Vandalism
2) All other larceny
3) Simple assault
4) Burglary/breaking and entering
5) Intimidation
6) Theft from motor vehicle
7) Drug/narcotic violations
8) Motor vehicle theft
9) Theft from building
10) Counterfeiting/forgery

(Source: Iowa Department of Public Safety)

Ten Most Common Crimes Reported to Des Moines Police Department in 2006

1) All other larceny
2) Vandalism
3) Simple assault
4) Burglary/breaking and entering
5) Theft from motor vehicle
6) Theft of motor vehicle parts
7) Shoplifting
8) Intimidation
9) Motor vehicle theft
10) Drug/narcotics violation

(Source: Iowa Department of Public Safety)

Circumstances for Homicides in Iowa (2006)

Domestic abuse situation
Murder/Suicide
Shooting
Alcohol/drug related
Altercation at bar/party
Stabbing
Child abuse
Mental illness
Prostitution

(Source: Iowa Department of Public Safety)

Weapons used in homicides in Iowa (2006)

Handgun, 11
Rifle, 2
Shotgun, 7
Unspecified firearm, 9
Knife/cutting instrument, 12
Blunt object, 1
Motor vehicle, 6
Hands, feet, etc., 10
Asphyxiation, 1
Multiple weapons (not firearms), 4
Other, 1
Unknown, 2

(Source: Iowa Department of Public Safety)

General Facts About Iowa:

• Population: 2,944,062
• Largest county: Polk, 408,888
• Smallest county: Adams, 4,192
• 2006 housing units: 1,208,765
• 2006 median home value: $112,600
• 2006 median monthly rent: $584
• Labor Force: 1,675,000 (October 2007)
• Unemployment rate: 3.9 percent or 65,500 (October 2007)
• 2006 gross domestic product (in millions): $123,970
• Iowa ranks 41st in relative government burden on small businesses
• Iowa ranks 37th nationally in federal pork per capita (2006 - $24.34)
• 2006 number of farms: 88,600
• Acres of farmland: 31.5 million
• Families with children under 6 with both parents in labor force: 72 percent
• Mean travel time to work: 18.4 minutes
• 2005 births, 39,275; deaths, 27,770; marriages, 20,419; divorces, 8,148
• 2006 race: white alone, 93 percent; Hispanic or Latino, 3.8 percent; black or African American alone, 2.3 percent; Asian alone, 1.5 percent; two or more races, 1.4 percent; American Indian or Alaska native alone, 0.3 percent.
• 2006 ancestry: German, 41 percent; Irish, 15.7 percent; other, 43.3 percent.
• 2006 educational attainment: high school graduate or higher, 88.9 percent; bachelor’s degree or higher, 24 percent.
• 2006 median household income: $44,491
• 2006 per capita income: $23,115
• 2006 average income of local government employees, $42,766
• Patents issued in 2006: 629
• 2006 consumer fraud complaints (47th nationally) and identity theft (48th nationally) victims
• State ranking of liability and litigation system 2005: Fourth (Source: U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform)
• Welfare recipients as percent of population: 1.38 percent (23rd nationally)
• Percent of people without health insurance for entire year 2004-2005: 9.1 percent (50th nationally)
• Teen birth rate per 1,000 people in 2004: 31.6 (39th nationally) (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)
• State and local police and fire spending per capita in 2003-2004: $167 (42nd nationally)
• Ranking of relative health in 2006: 11th nationally

(Source: Iowa Department of Transportation, http://www.dot.state.ia.us and U.S. Census Bureau)

Top 10 Leading Causes of Death in Iowa in 2006

1) Heart Disease — 7,138
2) Cancer — 6,344
3) Cerebrovascular Disease — 1,713
4) Chronic Lower Respiratory
Diseases — 1,652
5) Unintentional Injuries — 1,185
6) Influenza and Pneumonia — 765
7) Alzheimer’s Disease — 1,118
8) Diabetes Mellitus — 803
9) All Infective and Parasitic
Disease — 424
10) Suicide — 330

(Source: Iowa Department of Public Health, http://www.idph.state.ia.us)

The Baby Names of Iowans in 2006

Girls:
Emma (311)
Ava (269)
Olivia (228)
Madison (217)
Hannah (199)
Addison (193)
Abigail (182)
Grace (181)
Emily (168
Elizabeth (159)

Boys:
Ethan (250)
Jacob (242)
Noah (215)
Carter (211)
Logan (203)
Andrew (199)
William (185),
Jackson (178)
Tyler (173
Caleb (172)

(Source: Iowa Department of Public Health, http://www.idph.state.ia.us)

Iowa travel statistics

Busiest spot on Iowa’ roadways:

Miles traveled:
• Motor vehicles on Iowa’s public roads traveled an estimated 31.73 billion miles in 2006.
• Iowa ranks 13th in the nation in number of miles of roadway.

Licensed drivers (2007):
• Licensed drivers: 2.1 million (2004). 22.6 percent or 484,483 are 60 and older.
• Expired licenses: 96,887
• Suspended licenses: 33,202
• Revoked licenses: 5,373
• Barred: 1,433
• Denied a license: 346
• Total number of vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, etc.) registered in Iowa in 2006: 4,097,867.
• Motorists purchased about 55 million gallons of gasoline and 1 billion gallons of gasohol in 2004.

Taxes on fuel:
• Federal tax (2007), cents per gallon, on gasoline (18.4), gasohol (18.4), diesel (24.4) and liquid propane (13.6)
• State tax (2007), cents per gallon, on gasoline (20.7), gasohol (19), diesel (22.5), liquid propane (20) and E85 (19).

Highway safety:
• 439 people died and 26,050 were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2006.
• One in 25 drivers was involved in a crash in 2006.
• 106 fatalities were the result of alcohol-related crashes in 2006.
• 25 pedestrians were killed and 487 were injured in traffic crashes in 2006.
• Seatbelt violations in 2007: 48,316.

Iowa’s aviation system:
• Iowa has 111 public-owned airports; eight offer commercial air service.
• There are 125 privately owned helicopters and 3,979 aircraft registered with the Federal Aviation Administration — 1,300 of which are registered to Iowa businesses.
• In 2006, more than 3.2 million people traveled through commercial service airports in Iowa. That same year, more than 258 million pounds of cargo were transported.
• Iowa has 5,723 active licensed pilots (2007).
• In 2007, Iowa collected $818,000 in registration fees for aircrafts and $3.3 million in use tax on aircraft bought for use in Iowa.

(Source: Iowa Department of Transportation, http://www.dot.state.ia.us)

How Iowa ranks nationally in gambling:

• 12th in state pari-mutuel revenue per capita ($1,470)
• 28th in state lottery sales per capita ($114)
• Fourth in lottery administration expenses as percent of ticket sales (14.8 percent)
• 13th in state casino gaming revenues (2005) in millions ($1,106 gross gaming revenue and $265 in tax revenue)

(Sources: The North America Association of State and Provincial Lotteries and American Gaming Association)

Iowa’s education:
• Public school expenditure per pupil in 2005-2006: $7,807 (37th nationally)
• Estimated average salaries of public school teachers 2005-2006: $40,877 (40th nationally)
• Student-teacher ratio in K-12 public schools: 13.8 (13th nationally)
• Average ACT scores of 2006 tested graduates: 11th nationally

(Source: National Education Association)

Average Salaries for Full-Time Teachers in Central Iowa*

Adel-DeSoto-Minburn — $42,234
Ankeny — $50,218
Bondurant-Farrar — $42,677
Dallas Center-Grimes — $42,970
Des Moines Independent — $48,523
Earlham — $36,570
Indianola — $51,107
Interstate 35 — $37,113
Johnston — $48,820
Martensdale-St.Marys — $35,061
North Polk — $42,323
Orient-Macksburg — $36,530
Saydel — $40,135
Southeast Polk — $49,135
Southeast Warren — $40,544
Urbandale — $44,101
Van Meter — $39,379
Waukee — $45,216
West Central Valley — $41,382
West Des Moines — $49,987
Winterset — $44,267
Woodward-Granger — $39,355

(Source: Iowa Department of Education, http://www.iowa.gov/educate)

*Figures represent average total salaries for staff by position. Some staff (5,058 teachers) may be reported in multiple positions. For example, a teacher may also be employed as a principal or superintendent.

Central Iowa High School Graduation Rates for the Class of 2007

Adel-DeSoto-Minburn — 90.9 percent
Ankeny — 96.9 percent
Bondurant-Farrar — 96 percent
Dallas Center-Grimes — 96.9 percent
Des Moines Independent — 73.9 percent
Earlham — 97.9 percent
Indianola — 97 percent
Interstate 35 — 100 percent
Johnston — 98.6 percent
Martensdale-St.Marys — 100 percent
North Polk — 98.6 percent
Orient-Macksburg — 89.3 percent
Saydel — 94.6 percent
Southeast Polk — 93.9 percent
Southeast Warren — 93.8 percent
Urbandale — 96.2 percent
Van Meter — 100 percent
Waukee — 97.3 percent
West Central Valley — 100 percent
West Des Moines — 92.9 percent
Winterset — 96.2 percent
Woodward-Granger — 91.7 percent

(Source: Iowa Department of Education, http://www.iowa.gov/educate)

Iowa’s 10 most purchased spirits, by cases, as of March 2008

1) Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey, 23,356
2) Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, 17,621
3) Hawkeye Vodka, 15,766
4) Five O’Clock Vodka, 8,668
5) Jack Daniels Black Label Tennessee Whiskey, 7,948
6) Bacardi Light Dry Rum, 6,887
7) Barton Vodka, 6,564
8) Jagermeister, 6,517
9) Smirnoff Vodka, 5,659
10) Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey, 5,503

(Source: Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division)

Estimated cost of an OWI:

$5,738
• Vehicle towing and storage: $57
• Driver license reinstatement fee: $20
• New driver’s license: $23
• Driver’s license civil penalty: $200
• Car insurance premium increase: $900
• Interlock or “blow & go” device: $393
• OWI penalty fee (first offense): $1,250
• OWI classes: $115
• OWI substance abuse evaluation: $50
• Probation administration fee: $300
• Attorney fees: $2,000
• Missed wages (5 work days): $430

(Source: Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division)

Arrests Made by Iowa’s Law Enforcement Agencies in 2006

Total arrests made in Iowa in 2006:
45,784

Arrests by race and gender:
Male, 34,016
Female, 11,768
White, 36,532
African American, 7,996
Native American, 604
Asian, 307
Unknown, 346

(Source: Iowa Department of Public Safety, http://www.dps.state.ia.us.)

Iowa Prison Industries

Iowa Prison Industries (IPI) is a branch of the Iowa Department of Corrections and consists of manufacturing, farming and private sector work programs. More than 700 offenders are employed daily by IPI.

Top 10 customers of IPI in fiscal year 2007:
1) University of Iowa — $1,501,861
2) Iowa State University — 498,883
3) Des Moines Independent Community School — $364,950
4) North Carolina Department of — $168,256
5) Various Surplus Custom (Regtx) —
$166,376
6) Morningside College— $145,708
7) Davenport School Administration Service Center — $127,554
8) Minncor Industries — $123,110
9) University Northern Iowa — $118,004
10) Wartburg College — $101,147

IPI plant location and top selling items in 2007:
Anamosa, license plates ($1,102,363 in sales)
Fort Madison, furniture ($2,229,030 in sales)
Mitchellville, panels and seating ($1,414,459 in sales)

(Source: Iowa Department of Corrections, http://www.doc.state.ia.us.)

The basis for discrimination in non-housing cases reported to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in 2006-07

Sex: 597
Retaliation: 408
Religion: 54
Race: 649
Pregnancy: 70
National Origin: 166
Disability: 487
Creed: 9
Color: 329
Age: 383

(Source: The Iowa Civil Rights Commission Annual Reports)

The basis for discrimination in housing cases reported to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in 2006-07

Sex: 16
Retaliation: 13
Religion: 1
Race: 45
National Origin: 14
Marital Status: 1
Familial Status: 15
Disability: 45
Creed: 0
Color: 1

(Source: The Iowa Civil Rights Commission Annual Reports)

Ten of the top 2007 salaries in the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs

1) Cyndi Pederson
Director
$83,794
 
2) Mary Jane Olney
Deputy Director
$90,630.40 (IDALS- $63,705.60; DCA $26,924.80)
 
3) Jerome Thompson
Public Service Executive
$79,936
 
4) Gordon Hendrickson
Public Service Executive
$79,233
 
5) Lowell Soike
Public Service Executive
$67,624
 
6) Jerry Brown
Historical Program Specialist
$66,517
 
7) Michael Smith
Historical Program Specialist
$66,517
 
8) William Johnson
Historical Program Specialist
$63,808
 
9) Mary Jones
Public Service Executive
$62,297
 
10) Walter Ladd
Info Tech Specialists 3
$62,095

(Source: The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs)

Top Ten Grossing Films in 2007 (USA)

1) “Spider-Man 3,” $336,530,303
2) “Shrek the Third,” $320,706,665
3) “Transformers,” $319,014,499
4) “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” $309,404,152
5) “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” $292,000,866
6) “I Am Legend,” $256,386,216
7) “The Bourne Ultimatum,” $227,137,090
8) “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” $219,191,729
9) “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” $217,172,612
10) “Ratatouille,” $206,435,493

(Source: Internet Movie Data Base)

Top Ten Best Selling Albums of 2007

1) “Daughtry,” Daughtry 
2) “Konvicted,” Akon
3) “The Dutchess,” Fergie
4) “Hannah Montana,” Soundtrack
5) “Some Hearts,” Carrie Underwood
6) “All The Right Reasons,” Nickelback
7) “Futuresex/Lovesounds,” Justin Timberlake
8) “High School Musical 2,” Soundtrack
9) “Now 23,” Various Artists
10) “Minutes To Midnight,” Linkin Park

(Source: Billboard.com)

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