Thanks, Knights

To the Editor:

On behalf of the Fairmont Area “Let’s Go Fishing” board of directors, I want to thank the Knights of Columbus for sponsoring the breakfast fundraiser for “Let’s Go Fishing.”

Thank you also to all who came out Sunday morning to enjoy a wonderful breakfast and support the Fairmont Area “Let’s Go Fishing” organization.

Thanks again to the Knights of Columbus who made this event happen.

Roger Voss

LGF board member

Fairmont

Let council do its job

To the Editor:

We live in a day and age in which everyone thinks they are the most important person in the room and where everyone thinks that their opinion is the right one. We have lost the ability to be able to have a different opinion than someone else and still be able to get along. It is getting out of hand.

Most of the time, you need to let your emotions run their course in the comfort of your home, recall facts and come to terms that not all people share your opinion, then go back out into the public and keep your emotions in check when something doesn’t go the way you had wanted.

This entire situation with the Fairmont City Council is just another example of how out of hand things are getting. Let’s get some perspective on the situation by stating some facts.

It is OK to have disagreements. We have elected council people who are supposed to look out for the best interest of our city. The mayor is to only have a vote when there is a tie by our elected City Council. The necessity of the city of Fairmont having our own exclusive attorney has been talked about for many years. The city of Fairmont is already a part of the League of Minnesota Cities, which is a collective organization that provides guidance on issues should it be needed.

We are business owners and own our home in Fairmont, so we pay taxes on more than one property, and are tired of seeing our tax dollars wasted. All of these are facts.

OPINION: Did we need to pay wages and benefits to our own exclusive attorney? Our opinion is that looking into this is NOT overstepping bounds for the City Council. Notifying someone that they are looking into their job is being eliminated was not necessary, but it was common decency.

Publishing what the mayor’s vote would have been was not necessary because it was not needed to be cast.

Calling for a re-vote because we do not like how someone is doing a job we put them in place to do is ridiculous. Why do 19 people get to have the city pay for services that are funded by my tax dollars? We could easily get a group of 20 people of all different backgrounds/business owners/blue collar/white collar/etc. to meet who want to start a petition to STOP wasting money and stop looking into replacing a council member. The cost of a new election and the time wasted on all of this is something we do not even want to think about.

We are thankful that there are some council members with differing opinions. The council member in question does represent me, as do all council members since they represent the city. It would be a great disservice to our community to have all council members be “yes men.” We have had that for far too many years.

So some people are not happy with the performance of some council members. We are very displeased with others that are not in question. Does that mean we are calling for them to be removed from their positions? No! That is what elections are for. Do we complain about it AT HOME? Yes! We have opinions, but were raised that the only way you get to voice your opinion is when you’re ready to step up and do something about it, not by trying to overthrow people, but by doing things the right way and running against them next time. You want to see change? You run for City Council or whatever position. There were many people that ran unopposed and were voted into those seats. They are doing what we elected them to do.

When there is an election, it is always important to vote. Having as low of a voter turnout as we did in the last election is pathetic. There is another election in a couple years — if you want a voice, go to the polls or run in them. Let our current council do its job.

Josh and Andrea Laven

Fairmont