By Jean Eaton, mayor

City hall was busy last week with the arrival of our new City Manager Victoria Simonsen. Victoria moved into former city manager Paul Spark’s office a couple weeks ago. Paul’s office is now in the Business Development Center. With this move, Paul now only wears one hat for our community &045; that of the executive director of our newly created economic development agency.

Victoria’s first week on the job has been filled with non-stop events. Her first two days were filled by touring city hall and meeting the staff as well as greeting the many community members who stopped by to say hello. Wednesday was our &uot;traveling coffee&uot; designed to introduce her to other important staff members located away from city hall at sites including the city garage, waste water treatment plant and the police department. Thursday was busy with preparing for her first pre-agenda meeting that evening and Friday included more meetings and additional tours of our facilities.

Victoria’s first impression of Albert Lea is that everyone is very friendly and she already feels at home here. She is overwhelmed of the number of people who are eager to have her get started with city business. Victoria’s top priority will be working with the city council at the second annual retreat on May 7 to set goals and strategies for the year. This year, city department heads will be joining the city council for part of the retreat and Victoria will meet with each department to help them create a vision and develop strategies.

I asked Victoria what sparked her interest in applying for the city manager position in Albert Lea. Victoria’s response was that it was a comfortable fit both professionally and personally. The career advantage was the opportunity to move from a community of 12,000 where she was a city superintendent to progress to a larger community. Also, her move brought this Iowa native closer to home. Victoria comes from a large family and has some eldercare issues that will require her support. Probably the most important issue for Victoria was the reputation of the educational system in Minnesota for her two little girls, ages 4 and 5.

Among the strengths that Victoria will bring to Albert Lea include a desire to build partnerships and also to see our community with a fresh perspective. Her people skills and willingness to get involved in the community create high hopes for many community leaders. Victoria notes she has an open door policy for both her staff and her community.

Victoria stated, “I’m excited to be joining the community as well as being part of the leadership for Albert Lea.” The public is invited to attend a welcome coffee for Victoria at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29, in the multi-purpose room in city hall.

I also invite you to contact me with any questions or concerns. I can be reached at 377-4330.

(Jean Eaton is the mayor of Albert Lea.)