&t;I&gt&uot;Human affairs [are] in a state of perpetual movement; always either ascending or declining.

Tuesday, March 12, 2002

“Human affairs [are] in a state of perpetual movement; always either ascending or declining.” – Machiavelli (1469-1527), “The Discourses”

Albert Lea is a city facing growth opportunities. One is the chance to vote on another school levy referendum. The other is a proposed local option sales tax. Although both of these opportunities are still only looming on the horizon, they have already drawn their share of opponents.

Despite having been shot down by the “no” voters last November, a group of citizens has taken the time to collect more than 2,000 signatures on a petition requesting a second vote on a school levy referendum. This would seem to indicate high local interest in saving some of the programs that were cut when last year’s referendum failed. This year, let’s listen to the voice of reason.

We don’t want our schools to turn out a generation of culturally illiterate simpletons. However, that is exactly what Albert Lea will have if we are forced to keep cutting programs from the local schools. The three Rs may have sufficed in 1930, but the world has changed. The basics are more than what they used to be. They have grown to include social studies, computer literacy, foreign language and the arts. When you take these things away on the local level, you are in some instances limiting the students’ opportunities for the future. Some of these programs are prerequisites for enrollment in certain colleges. Who are we to take that away?

Putting the responsibility upon the shoulders of only those citizens with children enrolled in the district is not the answer. As simple a solution as that sounds, that would be tantamount to charging tuition for public school. Students from families with less money would automatically be at a disadvantage, and the gap between the rich and the poor would only get wider.

Whether or not we agree with the decisions made by the school board is beside the point. They are not the ones who suffer when referendums fail. It does nothing to make their paychecks smaller. If you are truly against the way the school board is running the show, educate yourself on the facts first, circulate a petition to change things and show up at one of their meetings. But don’t vote against funding for schools just to teach the school board a lesson.

The proposed local option sales tax has also met with resistance. It seems some people are somewhat reluctant to pay a few extra pennies on every purchase, even when the tax would go to pay for things that would benefit Albert Lea as a city. Some say they would rather drive to another town and spend their money there. In addition to likely spending more on gas money than they would have on local tax, they may also end up paying a local sales tax for a different community, anyway.

This proposed tax is designed to fund the restoration of the downtown buildings and clean up our lakes. Those are the immediate benefits of the tax. However, the tax would cause a ripple effect of other benefits as well.

Civic pride would be the most noticeable benefit. When advertised, this would potentially encourage more travelers to stop here for more than a meal and a tank of gas on their way to Sioux Falls, Rochester, Des Moines or the Twin Cities. Corporations find tourist dollars attractive and tend to locate businesses in high-traffic areas. Under this theory, attracting businesses is a potential byproduct of the tax. We have much more to gain than we have to lose.

The levy referendum and proposed tax are keys to progress. Standing still is not an option for us. If we aren’t moving forward, we will most certainly fall back. And that’s the last thing we need. This is exactly why it’s important for us to give both the levy referendum and the local option sales tax a chance. We all want more and better opportunities in Albert Lea. Here is where it starts. If we don’t invest in the future of Albert Lea, who will?

Dustin Petersen is an Albert Lea resident. His column appears Tuesdays.