Collaboration is key in a leader.

As you consider who to vote for in the upcoming mayoral election, one of the most important things to consider is who has the best track record of collaborating with others.

Vern Rasmussen has done an exceptional job of reaching out to the school district to examine the opportunities to share programs and create efficiencies within our city.

As a former school board chair of Albert Lea Area Schools, I appreciated his efforts to look at opportunities to share programming between our entities, particularly within the areas of Community Education and Parks and Recreation. It appears that the city and school district are continuing this collaborative effort initiated by the mayor with continued discussion of utilization and maintenance of facilities between the school system and the city. Mayor Rasmussen has led other cost-sharing initiatives with Freeborn County as well that have improved services at a reduced cost.

The other candidate running for mayor, during the forum, spoke of how he personally is going to fix things if elected, yet was very critical of those elected or hired to collaborate with him. I would personally love to hear about his solutions. Questions are easy; true solutions are hard. What are the “right needs at the right time”? Is it all about cutting staff and cutting services? It seems he would rather play the victim of supposedly stolen signs and non-existent gag orders. That is not the behavior of a mayor that we need at this time. We can do better.

Albert Lea deserves a leader who is focused on working with others to get things done. Vern Rasmussen has a proven track record of doing that, and he certainly has earned your vote for another four years.

Linda Laurie

Minneapolis