I love the city of Albert Lea! We are a beautiful, vibrant and growing community. As a Blue Zones Community, we are known nationwide for our commitment to community wellbeing and being a great place to live, work and play. It is because I love Albert Lea and want us to continue to thrive, that I support Vern Rasmussen for mayor.

Being the mayor of Albert Lea is not a title, it’s a behavior. It’s the ability to translate vision into reality. It’s the capacity to meet challenges with solutions, recognize opportunities, manage change and be prepared. Vern is the leader of a team, our team, the city of Albert Lea. We are all on the same team. He understands how critical partnerships and collaboration are in moving us forward. As the leader of our team, he must protect, defend, respect, trust and believe in Albert Lea and our vision of the future. This is his job, and he’s good at it. That is why we have elected him to be our leader.

Vern led our city through some very challenging economic times, when hard decisions were required. The work was stressful and hard for everyone, but with Vern’s leadership we were able to meet our goals and come out the other side economically stronger. Vern recognized the Blue Zones Project as a great opportunity and saw in it not only community wellbeing, but also the marketing and economic opportunities it brought to the table. His vision was accurate. Blue Zones Project Albert Lea has delivered exceptional results in all those areas. Vern also understood that the heart of Albert Lea is our downtown and that revitalization was critical to helping us thrive and grow. He worked hard to make that happen, in a way that was right for our community, and the transformation was almost immediate. The downtown streetscape has spurred economic growth and renewed the vitality of the downtown area. Now we all want to be there.

When I vote on Nov. 6, I will vote from the heart for the community that I love. I will vote for Vern Rasmussen for mayor.

Ellen Kehr

Albert Lea