It would seem that the roles of mayor and city councilor can be, and usually are, just what the incumbents make of them. We have heard it said that the mayor’s role is only ceremonial. We elect mayors to cut ribbons and represent the city on ceremonial occasions. As for the city council, once again, their respective roles are just what the incumbents make of them.

The mayor is the elected official in our city who is chosen by all of the people. Presumably, we elect this person because this person has demonstrated leadership skills and because he/she has a vision for the city’s present and future that the majority of us can support. Although the city charter allocates most of the day-to-day administrative duties of running our fair city to the city manager, the manager serves at the will and pleasure of the city council. Furthermore, the mayor and council have a responsibility to assure that the administrative service is carrying out the wishes of the people of Albert Lea.

We should never forget that the administrative service exists to serve our needs. We do not exist to provide them with secure jobs. To the extent that city departments fail to meet our needs, we needn’t blame them. The ultimate responsibility lies with our elected officials. It is their obligation to make certain that the city is being administered in the manner that they deem appropriate. We need to hold their feet to the fire and make them live up to their responsibilities. If they are unwilling or unable to do so, then we need to find people who can and will.

For years, our mayors and councilors have hidden behind our city charter. They complain that they just don’t have the &uot;power&uot; to make the city do what they want. A careful reading of the charter will quickly reveal that this is a red herring. It just isn’t so. The mayor is the official head of the city and leads the city council. This official has more power than anyone else in the city. Of utmost importance, the mayor has the &uot;power of the bully pulpit.&uot; In other words, the mayor has the ear of the people, the council and the administration. When this person speaks, we all listen. If the mayor exercises true leadership, then this person will have all the power he or she needs to accomplish the goals of the city. A few minor adjustments to the city charter would make the powers and responsibilities of the mayor and council even more clear to everyone.

At this point one might ask just &uot;what are the goals of the city of Albert Lea?&uot; If the city does have goals, who knows what they are? How are the city departments and the private sector organized to achieve those goals? With limited budgets and personnel, have we organized in the most effective way to achieve those goals? How do we know if the goals are being realized? If not, what do we plan to do about it?

The fact is that neither the city nor the county has a strategic plan for the future. There are some loose ideas being bandied about but nobody really knows what we want our future to be or how we plan to get there. Fortunately, our leaders are beginning to realize that a community without such a plan merely twists in the wind fighting fires and trying to grab whatever may come its way. An even more important realization is that an effective plan must attempt to achieve the hopes and dreams of the widest possible range of our citizens. We have tried top-down planning before and it didn’t work. Now, apparently, we are going to try it the other way. Community leaders plan to ask all of our citizens to help develop the plan. When this is done, we must all be prepared to buy into the plan and to make it happen.

It goes without saying that we must also organize to make this plan a reality. This will mean that we need to take a hard look at how we are organized as a community. If we don’t have the organizations and structures in place to carry out this plan, then we must make certain that they are created. A plan without follow-through is nothing but a dream. Dreams become reality when they are translated into goals and objectives that are clearly stated, properly funded, have a timeline for achievement, and progress is tracked and reported. Can Albert Lea do it right this time? Do we have the will to make our dreams happen? I think we do!

Tony Trow is an Albert Lea resident and president of Destination: Albert Lea. His column appears Mondays.