Little more than two years ago, Bob Haukoos was elected mayor of Albert Lea. A long time state representative, he was a seasoned veteran of state politics, but city politics were a whole new game.

A challenging couple of years awaited.

Haukoos’ tenure in office was muddled with many unfortunate events that were out of his control.

“First and foremost was the Farmland fire,” he said, in retrospect of the worst thing to happen in his two years. “That was a huge tragedy. It was really a jolt to Albert Lea.”

The fire was followed closely by the tragic and devastating attacks of September 11. One, a blow to the local economy, the other; a blow to the nation’s economy and well-being: each made Haukoos’ job a bit more difficult.

The tough economy made it tough to recruit new companies to replace Farmland. Haukoos said it was important to him to get another large business in town, and was disappointed that didn’t happen.

“I was also strongly hoping for Ford Motor Company to build here,&uot; he said. &uot;That would have been a real boost. We tried our best, but their decision was made upon things that we couldn’t change.&uot;

In spite of the tough times set upon Albert Lea by a few momentous events, Haukoos felt his time in office had many good changes and developments.

Haukoos began his career in politics in 1978 when he was elected as the state representative for Albert Lea.

Always interested in politics, but not certain about how to get into them, Haukoos awaited his chance. In the early 1970s he represented the fire department up at the state capitol when some legislation was being made effecting fire-fighting state-wide. It was there he saw how things worked.

Henry Savelkoul, who was the area’s state representative at that time, gave Haukoos books on state law. Haukoos studied them in his spare time and by the late 70’s he felt educated and confident enough to run for state office. In 1978 he became state representative for Albert Lea and held that position for 16 years.

After deciding not to run again, Haukoos helped out at the capitol as a doorman at the house chambers. He also worked for republican state Senator Gil Gutknecht, speaking at meetings and throughout State district 1.

Soon after that, when asked by some friends to think about running for mayor, Haukoos decided to make a bid for that office. Looking back, they were two very tough years, but he says there was a great deal of good accomplished in those couple of years.

The city’s action in his tenure included buying the Vault, putting money toward downtown redevelopment, extending the Blazing Star bike trail, keeping a tight budget and raising taxes sparingly, Haukoos reflected.

“I feel I did the best job I could do while I was in office,” he said. &uot;I’ve been fairly satisfied.&uot;

Haukoos said he thinks the city has a bright future at this point.

“I think Jean (Eaton) will do a great job,” he said. “She has always been very vested in Albert Lea.”

He sees the biggest hurdles for the city’s future to be Local Government Aid (LGA) and economic development.

LGA makes up 54 percent of the city’s budget and is expected to be reduced by governor-elect Tim Pawlenty.

“I hope he doesn’t cut too much,” Haukoos said. “He is, in effect, raising taxes if he cuts it, but just handing that problem off on the city.”

Economic development will continue to be the other very important issue for the city, Haukoos said.

“We need to find ways to replace those 500 jobs we lost at Farmland,” he said. &uot;Some of those people are still out of work. That will be a large job, but it can happen.&uot;

So what does he hope to do after he steps down?

“I don’t have anything planned right now,” he said. “But I plan to stay busy.”