County commissioners came under fire Tuesday when an Albert Lea man questioned the need for a county-run licensing center.

Wednesday, August 18, 1999

County commissioners came under fire Tuesday when an Albert Lea man questioned the need for a county-run licensing center.

Mal Prinzing said the Freeborn County license center needs to be run like a business, rather than a government office.

&uot;The county should be running businesses like the police department where there isn’t money being made,&uot; he said during the county board’s open forum Tuesday morning.

He said a privatized center would operate more efficiently and treat customers better than the public office.

&uot;We’re customers, we’re not just prisoners and that’s how we’re treated,&uot; he said.

Citing a stop by the center earlier that morning, Prinzing said he witnessed customers not being served at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

&uot;They are lined up there now and one person’s sitting at the desk and staring at the clock,&uot; he said.

While he said he wasn’t mad at anyone in the office, he said there needs to be more effort made at providing service.

Prinzing said he investigated practices in surrounding counties and noted Austin, Owatonna and Faribault all have private offices.

&uot;And then you have Albert Lea,&uot; he said.

Prinzing said it’s time for the county to consider moving the operation to a private practice.

Commissioners noted they have been doing their own research, calling other counties to discuss how their license centers are working.

They also said they plan to hold a workshop to discuss the issue in September, after they finish current budget planning.

&uot;We have a tremendous amount of meetings coming up in the next couple of weeks,&uot; said Commissioner Brian Jordahl.

While they said they are listening to comments and concerns from the public, many commissioners noted they need to know who the information is coming from before they will consider it.

Commissioner Bob Berthelsen said commissioners received an anonymous letter in the mail recently, but he didn’t read it.

&uot;Somebody went to a lot of effort to write a letter and it falls on deaf ears if you don’t sign it,&uot; he said. He added he didn’t read the letter once he realized it wasn’t signed and had no return address.

Commissioner Keith Porter said he feels the same way about phone calls he receives.

&uot;I’ve really been getting a lot of calls on the license center in the last two weeks,&uot; he said. But, he added that when people don’t disclose their names, he takes less interest in their views.

Other commissioners agreed that calls and letters without names have less merit than those from people willing to put a face on the comment.

Commissioner Dave Mullenbach said conversations can be kept confidential, but he still prefers to know who he’s talking to.

In the end, the commissioners said they plan on keeping options open for later discussions on the license center.