Chaffee is better choice
Published 12:00 am Friday, March 16, 2001
Those voters who venture out to the polls in Mower County’s Fifth District for the county board next Tuesday have a tough choice.
Friday, March 16, 2001
Those voters who venture out to the polls in Mower County’s Fifth District for the county board next Tuesday have a tough choice. Two very qualified candidates have emerged from last month’s five-person primary: Garry Ellingson and Dick Chaffee. Neither would be a wrong choice for the county board. However, voters do need to make a decision and cast their one vote intelligently.
We feel that Dick Chaffee is the better choice to represent the residents of the Board of Commissioners’ Fifth District, which is wholly within the city of Austin.
Chaffee has served residents of Austin well during his term on the Austin City Council. He knows the issues and has answers in fixing problems that residents of the Fifth District care about.
In addition, Chaffee can bring to the county board something that it seriously needs – and the Austin City Council also needs – a connection. There have been too many times in recent years where the two bodies needed to get along and they haven’t. Perhaps having someone who has been a council member on the county board isn’t a bad idea. We see the benefit in getting the two bodies to get along even better (in as much as things have improved, especially with joint meetings between the two bodies).
Austin and Mower County need to move forward together as partners and experience a level of cooperation that is unprecedented. With Chaffee’s current service on the City Council, we feel he can help the two governments accomplish such a task. Chaffee is seen as the person who can better bridge the gap between the city and the county.
We also feel that it’s time for someone to join the county board who doesn’t have any ties to the county and can come on board with an open mind. Dick Chaffee can bring that to the board. While Garry Ellingson knows the county well from his service in the Sheriff’s Department, the board needs a fresh perspective and a new view of how the county does things. It’s with new ideas that the county board can move forward and become progressive.
Because the Fifth District is comprised solely of Austin residents, we feel that the person elected to the vacancy needs to keep the constituency in mind at all times. The person has to vote with the interests of the Fifth District first, Austin second and the county third. Dick Chaffee will do that.
"My competitor keeps earmarking Austin, Austin, Austin," Ellingson said during an endorsement interview. He went on to discuss his service to the county and the city. We don’t disagree that Ellingson’s service to the community would be an asset. But the Fifth District residents need someone to go to bat for them all the time, in as much as Ray Tucker goes to bat for the eastern and rural side of the county.
Both candidates have their own ideas as to how the county should deal with its undesignated reserves that have drawn considerable attention. Chaffee thinks it’s time for the county to have a finance manager to oversee things such as investments and make the right decision for county dollars. Ellingson agrees such a move would be prudent, saying: "Ruth Harris does an excellent job of this," adding however, the commissioners need someone to be responsible to them when it comes to finances. Harris is an elected official in her capacity as treasurer.
Chaffee feels that the undesignated millions of dollars could be applied toward the county’s annual tax levy. Ellingson doesn’t feel the dollars should be given back to taxpayers because the money has accumulated over more than 40 years. He does feel, however, that the interest on the funds could be used to help reduce the county budget.
The multipurpose arena, a project voted down by the current four county board members, and flooding also are issues in this election. Chaffee feels that it is far cheaper to acquire homes in the flood zones than take other protective measures or move the homes. Ellingson has a concern about homes being taken off the tax rolls in carrying out such an effort. The county and city need to work together on the issue. The arena has become a city project and hopefully the county will partner in the process to bring an additional sheet of ice to Austin.
While Ellingson is a strong candidate for county board – and we’ve endorsed him for the position in the past – Chaffee offers more to the Fifth District voters in this election. We’re confident Ellingson will remain committed to his community and the county regardless of the outcome of the election and he will continue to serve residents well in whatever he chooses to do. Chaffee will keep the residents of the Fifth District in the forefront and vote their best interests above all on the county board.
That’s why Chaffee should be elected to the Mower County board on Tuesday. Now it’s up to the residents of the Fifth District (those who vote at Southgate and Sumner schools) to get out and vote. The candidates are depending on it. The issues are important.