The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is out of touch with Greater Minnesota.

David Olson, the executive director of the business lobbying organization, told the Albert Lea Tribune that local business people surely would be in favor of cuts he advocates for local government aid, despite the fact that the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce opposes LGA cuts. Olson equated keeping LGA to higher taxes.

He is wrong. Cuts to LGA surely will result in more property-tax increases.

Olson perhaps didn’t realize he was speaking to readers in a city that wants to keep its fire department staffed, not switch to a volunteer-based one. To keep it staffed full-time, the city must either rely on local government aid — which local business leaders generally see as a fair return of the sales taxes they already send up to St. Paul — or increase property taxes.

Albert Lea business leaders know the lesson of the Farmland Foods fire of 2001. People at the plant waited too long to call the fire department and tried to put the fire out themselves. The end result was the loss of 500 jobs.

This newspaper has printed story after story of fires breaking out at places such as Hanson Tire, Streater, Alamco and Innovance. Time and time again managers and employees were quick to call the fire department, and the fires were extinguished swiftly and safely — thanks to a ready-to-go, staffed fire department.

Jobs saved.

If the Minnesota Chamber had its way, LGA would be cut and no property taxes would be raised, leaving city officials in Greater Minnesota with little choice but to reduce services, including fire departments statewide.

Such moves are not good for business. Minnesota cannot cut its way to prosperity. If that were the case, Mississippi’s economy would lead the nation.

LGA is a target that seems easy when sitting in St. Paul. It’s just passing the state budget woes off to outstate cities, schools and counties. We urge lawmakers to look at state government and state programs, such as the state-funded metro transit budget, and seek bipartisan compromises in solving the $6.2 billion budget crisis once the governor offers his budget in mid-February.

Decades ago, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce had a collaborative role in making Minnesota a better place to live and do business. Now, its role seems to be as a stubborn opponent of anything that crosses its desk. Where is the vision for a better tomorrow? The Minnesota Chamber’s official stance on LGA is to reform it, but that’s after a tour of Greater Minnesota showed business leaders opposed eliminating it outright and favored reforming it. Yet, Olson continues to lobby at the Capitol for LGA’s elimination. Why? It sure makes it pretty clear he isn’t representing all of Minnesota. He is representing the Twin Cities.

In Albert Lea, people don’t hate government, yet they are fiscally conservative. The private and public sectors have a long history of collaboration. Just look at the success of our city government and Greater Jobs Inc., going all the way back to the 1940s. Whether it is responding to tornado damage or building a shelter at a park, people in the Albert Lea area are good at partnerships. Fairness, soundness and pragmatic sensibility always seem to be the goals — traits perhaps lost on the ever-bickering metro and state leaders.

These are all reasons why our Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce opposes cuts to LGA. It was a unanimous decision, made by the local chamber members — local business men and women.

Olson touted how many miles he put on his car in the past year when shaping the Minnesota Chamber’s legislative policies. Here in Greater Minnesota, putting miles on our cars is just part of everyday life. We know that miles on a car do not make a person a good listener.

We urge other chambers of commerce to break with the Minnesota Chamber on LGA, too.