Let’s keep Albert Lea moving in a forward, positive direction! That means re-electing Randy Erdman as mayor!

Randy has said that the mayor of a city should be the “leading salesman for that city.” As that salesman, a mayor should be positive about his or her product, should know that product inside and out and be totally convinced that his or her product has the potential to be the very best! This concept is how Randy has performed his job as mayor for the past two years and this is how he will continue to perform his job when he’s re-elected!

The most important thing Randy has to do as mayor is promoting Albert Lea, which he does above reproach. He is always professional in his personal appearance and behavior, and in his dealings with the public and other governmental leaders. Randy focuses on the positive things that have happened in Albert Lea and the positive things that in line to happen.

I have never known Randy to “bad mouth” anything or anybody involving Albert Lea. I really admire him for that! I’ve asked him about some of the issues that have come up during this year’s campaign. You all know what they are — high property taxes, the Thursday night preagenda meeting, the public forum, etc. He answered my questions without ever making a reference to the bad press he has received because of these issues. I personally think there are far, far more important issues at large in Albert Lea than the “preagenda” meeting! I also think that the increased property taxes we have seen here in Albert Lea are not just because of an increased city budget. The larger portions of the increases taxes are because of the school referendums that have passes in the past several years and an increased county budget. Whether there is or is not a preagenda meeting is of very little importance compared to how we can make Albert Lea thrive. That’s what is important — and that is what Randy cares about!

I have to tell you, our current city leadership is doing a wonderful job. We have turned a corner here in Albert Lea. A corner that has pointed our community in the right direction! We’ve had several businesses move into the city, offering good jobs. Several existing businesses are growing. We are preserving the historical value of our downtown area. There are plans to clean up our lakes, plans to promote Albert Lea as a destination city. These are just a few of the many, many thing going on right now. The future of Albert Lea looks pretty great! We’ve got a good thing going and our current leadership has a great deal to do with this new momentum. Let’s keep this good thing going! Let’s re-elect the most pro-active, most positive, most caring mayor we’ve had in a long time. Let’s re-elect Randy Erdman!

Karen Szymanowski

Albert Lea