Communications is key for District 5
Published 9:40 am Thursday, August 28, 2008
Candidates for Freeborn County Commissioner District 5 want to make educated and wise decisions if they make it to the county board. And they all said communication is the key.
U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector Tony Pestorious, former Farmland meatpacking plant worker Mike Lee, business manager Chad Severtson, local business owner Curtis Smith and former County Recorder Linda Tuttle gathered Wednesday at Albert Lea City Hall to debate issues important to the county and its residents.
The race does not have an incumbent. Commissioner Mark Behrends announced in January that he will not seek re-election.
“We have to listen to what the constituency has to say,” Pestorious said, adding people should feel welcome at county meetings.
One way for them to feel welcome or informed, Lee said, is for county meetings to be broadcast on the government access channel, on the radio or online.
“People need to hear the issues and be involved in all government,” he said.
Tuttle said she brings a unique perspective to the table as she runs for county commissioner. As a former county recorder and now a local business owner, she sees both sides of issues and has attacked problems from many angles.
The five mayoral candidates debate at 7 p.m. today at Albert Lea City Hall.
It’s a hard job, she said, but she can bring the best of both worlds to the county board.
One question at the debate asked candidates if the meetings should be broadcast, and if so, how soon.
“The more you can keep things in the open, the better off you are,” Pestorious said.
All the seats in the City Council Chambers were full Wednesday night, and Pestorious said he couldn’t believe it. He said he thinks there could be more attendees at county meetings, and residents could be more informed if they could watch on cable television.
Being involved with the county is an educational experience, Tuttle said. Many residents can’t attend meetings because they are at 8:30 a.m. because they are working. To give citizens confidence that their elected officials are not covering something up, more people should have access via TV.
“Knowledge is power,” Smith said, adding the meetings should have been broadcasts “yesterday” in order to better inform citizens.
“They will not be in the dark, and they will join with us in one voice,” he said.
Smith added county meetings be broadcast online for people to download and watch at their leisure.
Severtson agreed that the county meetings should be televised at least. The county can’t televise yet because of budget issues, he said, but he’s sure the City Council would allow the county to use its chambers, which is ready and wired for television broadcast.
Making sure citizens are informed, he said, would cut down on the questions and hard feelings since they could see what’s going on.
“I’m glad to see that everybody’s read my latest letter to the editor,” Lee said. “People need to be informed on how government works.”
Communication should also be maintained and heightened between the local government and the state’s elected officials, all the candidates said.
Lee said if he needs to go to St. Paul to represent his constituency or speak for an issue that would benefit Freeborn County he will and is willing to bring any commissioner with him who wants to go.
Pestorious said he would promote the county on the state level and see what is working in the metro area and outstate counties.
“I don’t have all the answers, but I’m not afraid to go and ask,” he said.
It is important to communicate with statewide officials, Tuttle said, but not just as candidates.
“I think it’s important for all the citizens to communicate,” she said. “Numbers speak volumes.”
She said she would prioritize the issues before she brought them to state officials. Everyone’s list would be different, Tuttle said, and all are important.
Smith said he would ask the state about fairness between metro communities and outstate.
“We pay our share of taxes,” he said, adding a vote for him would be a vote for someone who gets things done.
But no matter what the issue, “representatives are our voices,” Severtson said.
He said two words come to his mind when he thinks about Freeborn County: hope and potential.
“Hope is something which one longs to see realized, and potential is something existing but not fully realized,” he said.
Severtson said he hopes to see the community come together on issues and enable the county to reach its potential.
All District 5 candidates agreed the commissioner districts need to be re-examined to represent a better city-country balance.