Editorial: Eaton gets the nod for mayor

Published 12:00 am Monday, October 11, 2004

Mayoral candidate Quincy Borland and incumbent Jean Eaton both have interesting visions for Albert Lea’s future. Though we applaud Borland’s interest in local politics, voters would do best to return Eaton to the post of Mayor for another four years.

Eaton’s experience, both in office and in life, give her an edge over her young challenger. One simply has to put in the years to gain the experience.

Eaton has demonstrated a knack for pulling people together to work on city projects. Her strength, when asking others for help, is in making clear each person’s importance to the project. Having gathered a roomful of people, Eaton has then built a diverse group of problem-solvers that eventually find the best course of action.

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That’s not to say we didn’t appreciate Borland’s perspectives, especially as they relate to young people growing up in Albert Lea. He has a number of ideas which his older counterparts would do well to heed. One of his ideas: Gather the mayors of surrounding communities, Albert Lea council members and Freeborn County commissioners for a roundtable on issues relevant to all. One which comes readily to mind is the meth problem. There’s no doubt that every community in the county is struggling with this epidemic.

Although we recommend voters choose Jean Eaton for mayor, we encourage Borland to get involved in local government at the committee level and gain a thorough understanding of all that goes into implementing city projects.