Local government aid. Growing the job market. Cutting the budget.

Those were a few of the issues at the forefront of a forum Wednesday night with the candidates vying for the vacant 1st Ward Albert Lea City Council seat.

With less than a week to go until the primary election, the candidates answered questions in front of a small crowd of about 20 people at Albert Lea City Hall.

Hosted by the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce, the forum gave the candidates the opportunity to voice opinions about issues. The mood was calm as they were given two minutes to make an opening statement and one minute to respond to each question. Tribune Managing Editor Tim Engstrom moderated.

Candidate Dave Klatt was unable to attend the forum as he was attending his son’s New Prague basketball game — it was his son’s final high school game — but he had turned in a written statement that chamber Executive Director Randy Kehr read aloud.

The other four candidates — Harold Kamrath, Stuart Olson, George Gillespie and John Schulte V — were in attendance. Opening statements

Kamrath, who has lived in Albert Lea for 40 years, said he’s running for the council because he wants to be a part of the tough decisions that have to be made. He noted he thinks he’s well experienced and has been before the council several times in the past.

He referenced increases in taxes and utility costs and said he wants to get something done with the Freeborn National Bank Building and the Blazing Star Landing.

Olson said he, too, has got “a world of experience,” traveling across the country and being married for 64 years. He noted he knows many people in Freeborn County.

He said he thinks people need to have a lot of common sense to be on the council, and he thinks he’s well-versed in that. Plus, he’s been there before back in the ’80s, when he filled a different vacancy.

Gillespie, a small business owner, said he’s been following the local government for quite some time and even played a part in getting government meetings to be aired on television.

“We face a multitude of problems; no one man has the answers,” he said.

He noted he thinks it’s going to take an effort by the council to put their heads together to come up with a solution. He said he will listen to constituents and carry their opinions to the council.

Schulte, a civil engineer and small business owner, said he’s aware firsthand of the economic downturn that has been happening recently.

He said he thinks his experience with other city councils for his job would be beneficial for the council position.

In his letter read aloud by Chamber Executive Director Randy Kehr, Klatt explained some of his background and said he thinks the experience he’s had over the years could be a valuable asset if he served on the council.

A small business owner, financial adviser and insurance agent, Klatt said the council is facing many tough issues right now that will take many hours and experience to find solutions to.

He said the city needs to modernize its thinking, noting that he doesn’t think the solution is as simple as raising taxes or cutting services. If people want to sustain the lifestyles they’re living now, the city needs to bring more businesses here.

LGA

Dave Klatt

The candidates were asked whether they thought LGA should be increased or decreased and whether they thought any other changes should be made to it.

Schulte pointed out that LGA is tax money, and when you’re talking about increasing LGA, that generally means increasing taxes to someone. He said he thinks people should generally pay more for their own.

“That may mean in Albert Lea taxes will go up,” he said.

Kamrath said he thinks the city should try to get as much LGA as possible, especially to cover the things the city needs — not necessarily what it wants.

He said he thinks the city could cut more waste and get by with less LGA.

Olson said he doesn’t think the city could stand to lose more LGA than it already has.

“We need it more than probably a lot of those other cities,” he said.

Gillespie said no matter what the city gets for LGA, it needs to learn to deal with what it has been given.

“They’ll give us what they want to give us, and we’re going to have to live with it,” he said.

Projects

Kamrath said two projects he would like to work on if elected are to reduce utility costs at the city’s sewage plant and to find a use for the Freeborn National Bank Building, which the city has supported with more than $2 million.

Olson said he’s spent time with the city engineer and has a couple dead-end streets that he wants to work on making safer.

Gillespie said he wants to work on bringing new business to town through offering a coupon service from existing businesses.

Schulte said his biggest project he’d like to accomplish is the Stables area.

“I’m of the opinion, it’s been kicked around a lot and I want to get that done,” he said.  He also referenced a new Highway 13 lift station, which he called a “great opportunity to provide sewer,” to the Stables area and the whole northwest part of town.

Mayoral terms

Gillespie, Schulte and Olson said they supported four-year terms, while Kamrath said he supported two-year terms.

Budget

When asked the first area of the budget they’d cut if they were in elected office, Gillespie said he would look at the city’s vehicles and vehicle maintenance. He said he also supports an across-the-board cut in every department.

Schulte said he agreed with Gillespie’s notion about city vehicles, but also supported more advertisement of going paperless with the city’s utility bills.

Kamrath said he thinks utilities could be cut down quite a bit and even commented about shutting off streetlights on moonlit nights.

Olson said he doesn’t think lights at the various skating rinks need to be on night after night when no one is using them.

Bridge Avenue solution

Candidates were also asked what solution they favored for the Bridge Avenue reconstruction.

Schulte said he agrees with designing streets less for vehicles and more to integrate bicycles and sidewalks and things for pedestrians.

He said ultimately he thinks no additional space on Bridge Avenue than what is presently used would be needed in a reconstruction, adding that he does favor a tie into Main Street.

Kamrath said he thinks the road should be kept similar to what it is currently. He talked about encouraging the use of other routes instead of spending millions of dollars making Bridge Avenue four lanes.

Olson and Gillespie said they liked the idea of adding turning lanes at a few key intersections but otherwise keeping it similar to how it is currently.

Attracting jobs

Schulte said he thinks most of the job growth in the community comes from existing businesses, so he said he would like to see the Albert Lea Port Authority spend additional time on existing businesses.

Kamrath said he thinks if more plays and entertainment acts were put on in town this would attract new jobs.

Olson talked about the importance of improving salaries for working jobs.

“That’s always been a problem, but you should never stop working on it,” he said.

Gillespie said in order to grow the job market, the community needs to decide what kinds of jobs it wants. Then, the community needs to work together and offer an incentive program from existing businesses.

The second best

In a question that put the candidates on the spot, the men were asked to tell what other candidate they would vote for if they could not vote for themselves.

Olson and Gillespie said they would vote for Klatt; Schulte and Kamrath said they would vote for Olson.