The saga of Jim Norman, former Albert Lea City Manager, goes on and on and on. A good man destroyed. What he supposedly did didn’t cost the city one cent. It is easy to understand how someone in a new city on a new job could forget a few details. If someone in City Hall would have gently tapped him on the shoulder and explained to him that his city credit card was not to be used for personal expenses (as is alleged), that would have been the end of the story.

Unfortunately our holier than thou city council made a big thing of it. It has cost us thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. No one can even guess what the final cost will be. That money could have been used to build more sidewalks we don’t need or it could have been used to lower our taxes. For some a few extra dollars in taxes in no big deal. Our new sheriff sued the county commissioners because they only wanted to pay him $75,000. How many people in Albert Lea would be happy if they made half that?

I thought the council and Norman had agreed on a settlement. I do not understand how Mower County District Court Judge Fred Wellman fits into the picture. He probably knows it will be easy money and will be easy to collect. If there is a jury trial, what will that cost us? If Norman is sent to prison, who will pay for that? Iowa has a law so voters can vote a judge out of office. Maybe Minnesota needs such a law so voters could vote an overly zealous judge out of office instead of being stuck with him for life.

If you think I am soft on crime, ask me about my views on capital punishment and castration of sex offenders. Our laws on dealing with sex offenders are costly and will keep increasing to a point where they will lower our standards of living. Everyone should be familiar with the effect castration has on males, whether they be dogs, cats, horses, cattle or hogs. It changes a male who can’t control his passions into one who is gentle and lovable.

Roger Fink

Albert Lea