Now is the time for the Albert Lea City Council members to prove their mettle.

Sure, the annual budget is brought forth by city staff following collaboration with the council, but remember it is the voter-elected councilors and mayor who approve it.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has made some deep cuts in local-government aid. Like it or not, he is the governor. The blame game is over, and now we have to fall in line.

It also can be easy to point fingers at the city manager, department heads or even past city councils for previous spending decisions, but ultimately the fiduciary responsibility for the coming city budget rests with the elected officials.

Don’t like what the city staff proposes? Stand up to it. Need to cut further? Then speak up. Don’t let the city staff make the hard choices for this city. The City Council needs to do it.

We don’t like deep cuts, but in hard times, hard decisions and smart solutions must be found — even if that means cutting staff. We need the elected officials to be the leaders we asked for when we voted.

When we see the final city budget, we will find out whether voters got what they voted for.