Albert Lea City Council:

You are making tough choices when it comes to the city budget, choices that many people might be critical of but at the same time few would want to trade seats with you.

The most difficult choice will be the elimination of police officers.

Ultimately, many forces were at work that left the city in this situation of deep cuts: a lagging economy, a suffering housing market, failure to win crucial grant funding, expenses such as health insurance increasing beyond the annual cost-of-living rates, a citizenry strongly opposed to raising taxes, a governor entering national politics not wanting to give back to municipalities their fair share of revenue they generate for the state and line-item-veto and unallotment powers that place too much budget bargaining power in the state’s executive branch, to list a few.

In shaping the 2010 budget, we challenge you, the Albert Lea City Council, to find the means to not cut police officers.

A bedrock of why living in Albert Lea is great, why this city has a great quality of life, is that it is safe. That safety is largely a result of a police force that cares about its citizens and their safety.

Losing officers might seem possible on paper, but it will have ramifications on life in Albert Lea.

Please, go back to the drawing board. Keep the present force level of the Albert Lea Police Department.