Two very experienced leaders handed their seats over to newcomers on Jan 1. David McPherson and Ron Sorenson accounted for 24 years of service on the Albert Lea city council.

Many of their peers are sad to see them go.

“I really enjoyed working with those guys,” said Al Brooks, sixth ward councilman. “I learned a lot from both of them.”

McPherson had served the second ward for the past eight years. Sorenson had served the fourth ward for the past eight years and ward five from 1977-1985.

Brooks said that their combined experience provided a lot of leadership and knowledge for the council.

“Dave just did his homework on everything,” Brooks said. “I probably relied on Ron the most. He’d always talk to you. It was easy to work with him even if you had a different opinion, he’d just tell you to do what you needed to do, but he wouldn’t try to make you vote one way or the other.”

“I’ll miss working with both of them,” he said.

McPherson said he will miss the job.

“It’s something that I wanted to do and enjoyed being able to do it,” he reflected. “I learned a great deal about local government and also came to appreciate the hard work of the city employees such as John Bennett, Paul Sparks, Dave Olson, Bob Graham and all the department heads.”

McPherson felt he was a successful councilman.

“I think I did a good job of asking questions and representing the residents of this ward,” he said.

Though still interested in city politics, McPherson said he doesn’t plan on running again.

Ron Sorenson, the long standing veteran of the council, said he loved the opportunity that the voters gave him.

&uot;I considered it a privilege to be able to serve the community and I enjoyed it,&uot; he said.

In his many years of service he has seen the city over hills and through valleys. &uot;I guess the low obviously was the closing of Wilson’s and all of the problems that ensued after that it was devastating but the community really came together after that,&uot; he said. &uot;The high points are that we have a number of new industries and existing ones that have expanded. Also, the availability of the new industrial park and the creation of the Albert Lea Business Center were both god things.&uot;

Sorenson said he remains interested in city government and may look to see a few projects through.

&uot;I will be working on finishing up some things,&uot; he said. The city has land near Wedgwood park that is supposed to be developed into a housing project for low income families. Sorenson said he’d like to see that through.

He said he thinks the city has a bright future and that the citizens should be grateful for the city employees.

&uot;We’ve got a great community, there are some good people on the council and I know they’ve got the community itself at heart,&uot; he said. &uot;We’ve been very very fortunate to have the city employees we have because they’ve been excellent for our community. Also, I think people don’t realize the enormous contributions that Paul Sparks has been giving to the city, primarily in the area of industrial development.&uot;

City Manager Paul Sparks said that both McPherson and Sorenson were very good at what they did and served their constituents well.

“They were both very familiar with city and local government and what can and cannot be achieved through it,” he said. “They brought a lot of experience and knowledge to the table.”

Sparks commended them for their roles and said losing both of them isn’t easy.

“They helped the council to work well as a team,” Sparks said. “Their leadership will be missed.”