Mayor Randy Erdman, a quiet leader, listens to our citizens who volunteer many hours in meetings about cleaning up the lakes, revitalizing and restoring the downtown, flood mitigation and making our city attractive to visitors and possible new businesses. He studies the problems and finds solutions.

 Cleaning up the lakes: Where do we get the money? Randy Erdman recognized that our lakes were our strongest selling point. He alone brought the idea of a local-option sales tax to Destination Albert Lea as a possible solution for raising money to clean up our lakes. Destination Albert Lea received the support of the City Council to present this bill to the Minnesota Legislature. Randy enlisted the help of many people and after four years, testifying before the Legislature several times, and was successful in getting this bill passed. The sales tax will bring $15 million to clean up the waters in our watershed.

Just this past year, working with Rep. Robin Brown, Sen. Dan Sparks and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Mayor Erdman secured $6 million in state bonding money to clean up the pollution seepage from the old dump at Edgewater. This dumpsite had been leaking for years. I guess nobody cared. Bayside Skiers had been suffering from eye, ear and sinus infections and skin rashes for years. Mayor Erdman decided enough was enough, studied the problem and found the solution. Who else has secured a combined total of $21 million to clean up the waters in our lakes!

Downtown: Mayor Erdman has been instrumental in revitalizing the downtown. Albert Lea has one of the largest intact historic districts in Minnesota. He helped form the Historic Preservation Commission, and several years ago urged the store owners to restart the Downtown Association. Together with the support of the county, the city and some financial institutions, he started a fund for downtown owners to acquire low-interest loans to restore facades of their buildings.

New business: Several new businesses have chosen to locate or expand in Albert Lea in the last two years. Mayor Erdman, through his professionalism, has given companies the confidence to invest in Albert Lea. In fact, Mrs. Gerry’s stated that Mayor Erdman’s strong support and involvement was one of the factors that influenced their decision to expand in Albert Lea. This is a big deal! We didn’t come in second this time.

This election for mayor will clearly determine our city’s direction. We are at a crossroads. Do we vote for continued investment in our community and quality of life issues (new bike trail by the channel), which makes us competitive and attractive to new businesses and visitors or do we go backward and vote for restraint and retrenchment. Mayor Erdman has worked hard for this community for the last 10 years, not just the two years he has been mayor. He has proven he can solve problems. With Mayor Erdman’s guidance we will see more progress. I urge you to vote for Mayor Randy Erdman on Nov. 4.

 
Karen Trow

Albert Lea