Guest Column by John Severtson

These are some of my opinions and why I’m running for mayor of Albert Lea.

I feel that the Albert Lea Port Authority should be run by the city of Albert Lea City Council and city staff. That’s the way the 1987 council voted to run the Port Authority, and it worked well. We invested $500,000 from the city sewer and $500,000 from the city solid waste fund, plus the council waived the development fees for some of the developments.

One of the things that I pushed for as the 5th Ward councilor in 1987 was for the Port Authority to not only help the industries but to also help the downtown businesses  and any other type of business that might need the Port Authority’s help. My feeling is that all businesses are economic development projects. I’ve only seen industrial parks built with little or no tenants in them. The citizens of Albert Lea invested the money to get the Port Authority going and to be able to say it is self-sufficient — but it still needs the City Council to do Albert Lea Economic Development Agency projects. So I feel the City Council should be in charge of the Port Authority. Let ALEDA do their own projects and let the city help them when we can.

The Blazing Star Landing has been sitting a long time. Just look around the city at all the empty lots and buildings. There is a lot of ideas to solve these problems but no money to get them done. The city missed the boat when it didn’t sell that Blazing Star Landing corner lot to Walgreens for $1 million.

I don’t believe  the city managers plan to reorganize the city departments is a good one. And its hard for me to understand the need to pay a consultant to figure out what needs to done to make our staff more efficient. Consultants usually don’t live in our city and don’t have a clue what’s really what’s going on in our town. But then I’ve never been for using consultants. If our city staff needs to use consultants, that’s when we should look to see if they are earning pay or look at getting rid that staff person and find someone who can get the job done.

When I look at the projects that have been accomplished here in our town, it’s usually started by a group of citizens. Then when the government gets involved it usually takes forever to get the job done and cost a lot more money to do the project. Just ask the group that worked to save the cottage at Edgewater Park. Myself and some Planning Commission members tried to get an RV park going in the city, but that didn’t go over well with staff. Something has to change with their thinking.

I’ve coached girls softball when my girls were playing ball. I worked to make Albert Lea a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon city supporting veterans and their families. I’ve run for political office from state representative, county commissioner, city council and mayor. I am always trying to make Albert Lea a better place to live for my friends and family. Looking at the things I’ve learned about Albert Lea these past 30 years is that this city doesn’t really know what kind of city it wants to be. It’s like my grandkids. They jump from one thing to something different without really finishing the first one they started.

 

Former Albert Lea Councilor John Severtson is a candidate for mayor. He resides in Ward 5 on Pearl Street.