Attorney sorely needed

The Fairmont City Council on Monday will offer the public the opportunity to weigh in on whether the City Attorney must be present at council meetings. If there was ever a time this group needs an attorney present, it’s now.

While the council could remove the requirement and then subsequently demand that the attorney be present as a contractual condition, the reigning majority has not pledged itself to this option. Which means it is not that important to them. Which means the city is headed into legal jeopardy. Citizens should weigh in.

Do citizens want this?

Speaking of the council, it plans to release the results of its evaluation of city administrator Mike Humpal on Monday. We hope citizens agree that it would be patently unfair for some council members to blame Humpal for problems they perceive, when it is clear that Humpal is well-respected by city staff and ably carries out policies that were established by previous councils.

The blame-City Hall-first crowd already has ousted the City Attorney. Humpal could be next, for no rational reason. If the reigning majority does not want him, who do they want in the position? And who is going to want them?

An outstanding effort

We congratulate and thank the Martin County Veterans Memorial committee for all it has done to remember and honor our county’s veterans. The group’s memorial site along Winnebago Avenue is an incredible tribute, and one that will continue to amaze people for decades to come.

The group recently announced that it had acquired a Vietnam-era Cobra helicopter, which it scrambled to get its hands on and bring to town. Good people donated funds and many hours to make this possible. The Cobra will become part of the memorial.

Kudos, again, to everyone involved.

Bump it up to 60 mph

Martin County has started a process to possibly raise the speed limit to 60 mph on County Road 26, which runs east of Fairmont to the Faribault County line. County commissioners this week approved a resolution to ask the state to complete a speed study on the road.

The current speed limit is 55 mph, which is not a speed many drivers choose, despite the limit. Many state highways in the area have higher speed limits now, with no detrimental effects. We hope the state moves ahead and the county can act sooner rather than later to raise the speed limit on this road.