It was surprising to hear Albert Lea City Manager Victoria Simonsen say Monday at the City Council meeting that she thinks there might be some copper sulfate left from last summer. She added she was unaware of how much.

This utterance provides an example of a character flaw we notice in the city manager has: She gets too political.

Quality city managers are notable for being able to remove themselves from the political fray. They will present multiple options fairly with as much information as possible, even provide a recommendation if asked, then let the elected officials lead. If the council members go in another direction, that decision is respected.

Simonsen, however, tends to provide information to the Albert Lea City Council that is weighted in the direction she and city staff generally favor.

Earlier this summer, she told the council members it would cost $12,000 to treat the lake, that the cost of treatment had doubled, that the city couldn’t afford to treat the lake anymore. In other words, she gave no other options.

Other options could have included reaching out to the Shell Rock River Watershed District or to Freeborn County. Or sending city staff back to the drawing board to find more answers — such as whether there was some copper sulfate left from last summer.

Those weren’t mentioned earlier this summer. All people were led to think was spend $12,000 or do nothing.

Simonsen surely will be upset at this editorial. She will say she didn’t know earlier this summer about the leftovers from last summer. And we believe her.

But perhaps if she had more of a track record for presenting multiple options — rather than her favored route — her city employees would have told her sooner about the spare copper sulfate. The mentality of the city staff starts with the top, and it seems there is too much of a us-vs.-them attitude in City Hall. There should be more of a we-serve-the-public attitude.

For a local example of a public servant who stays out of the political fray, look at Freeborn County Administrator John Kluever. Look at the positive changes he has brought to the mind set of county employees toward public service since he took over in June 2007.