Jim Hurm and Tom Dankert received kudos from the audience at Wednesday night’s State of the City address by Austin Mayor Tom Stiehm.

Eugene Novak told city administrator Hurm, “I think you’re all right. You are to be commended for refusing a salary increase.”

Hurm recently rejected having his salary increased by 3 percent. His annual salary as of Jan. 1, 2008, was $101,379.

Third Ward Council Member John Martin called Dankert, the city’s director of administrative services, “unsung hero.”

“He’s worth his weight in gold,” the council member said.

Dankert’s annual salary as of Jan. 1, 2008, was $92,475.

Meanwhile, Stiehm was the target of a barrage of complaints and challenges during a question and answer session that followed his 13-minute address.

Before the Wednesday night session in council chambers at the Austin Municipal Building, Stiehm said the focal points of his address would be local government aid cuts and immigration reform.

On the heels of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s state budget address Tuesday, dealing with reductions in LGA were the second-term mayor’s first priority in his address.

“Austin was scheduled to receive approximately $7.8 million in LGA in 2009,” Stiehm told a packed crowd.

“The State is expected to have a $5- to $8-billion deficit this year, and the governor has stated that part of this deficit will be made up from a reduction in our LGA.”

Stiehm recalled how the city lost $1.3-million in LGA in 2003, when the state’s budget deficit was $4-billion.

Dealing with another LGA reduction the size that is anticipated could be a devastating blow city services, according to Stiehm.

“In the last 20 years, the city of Austin has reduced its work force from 185-full-time staff to 141,” the mayor said. “This was done through early retirements and attrition. No one was laid off.

“To maintain the level of services we now enjoy without LGA funds, the tax rate would go from 32 percent to 102.4 percent; more than tripling our rate if LGA is eliminated.

“Since we have already cut our work force, we will not be able to make further cuts without affecting services,” the mayor warned.

The mayor promised, “City leaders will continue to try and cut the cost of operating our city.”

The mayor said the expected LGA cuts could impact on society at-large.

“If we were to eliminate or significantly alter LGA subsidies, it would increase the division between rich and poor and disenfranchise the citizens of Greater Minnesota,” Stiehm said.

The mayor urged citizens to contact the governor and state legislators to tell them “Correcting the state deficit should not come at the cost of higher taxes and fewer services in cities like Austin.”

The mayor injected his praise to emergency services personnel for their efforts during the Jan. 14 fire in the downtown business district.

Then, he turned to the thorny issue of immigration reform, which dominated the last half of his address.

“We in Austin should also be contacting our federal representatives demanding of them a solution to the immigration chaos, not only in Austin, but in our nation,” Stiehm said.

“People are angry and confused by what is going on and rightfully so, but it is important to direct our anger to the appropriate sources,” he said. “Our federal government created this mess and only they can resolve it.”

“What we need is a policy that will assist people who want to contribute and identify and deport people, who are criminals or who will not be assets to our community,” the mayor said.

Listening to the mayor’s address were former mayors John O’Rourke and Bonnie Rietz, who did not take questions.

Another observer was the Rev. Glenn Monson, senior pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Austin.

The Our Savior’s congregation, like Mower County, is watching the economy closely.

The church is embarking on a seven-figure expansion project dependent upon members’ financial pledges.

The county will take bids this spring on a proposed $36-million jail and justice center project, that will by itself have the greatest impact on property taxes everywhere.

Mower County First District Commissioner Tim Gabrielson and county coordinator Craig Oscarson were also in the audience.

“I think he did a good job,” said First Ward Council Member Jeff Austin.

“I thought he did an excellent job,” said Third Ward Council Member Marian Clennon.

“He needed to do this. These are hard times, when we need to get people involved.

“It’s one of the things I ran on ad I think this is a good start toward accomplishing that,” Clennon said.

Mower County must deal with its own set of financial woes, facing severe cuts to the County Aid Program, which supplements the county’s taxes in providing programs and services to citizens.

Also supporting the Mayor’s remarks was county commissioner Gabrielson.

“I think he did a good job of presenting the facts,” he said. “It’s a tough issue. For the city, they have a lot of issues, but I don’t care who you are — whether you’re a businessman or government official or whether you’re a homeowner — it’s hard on everybody.”

“ There was nobody who knew what our economy was going to do like it has done in the last six months,” Gabrielson said.

The question and answer session was long and lively.

Novak, who has voiced his concerns to the Mower County Board of Commissioners, started by questioning the city’s petunias beautification project.

The mayor said council members are looking at “every expense” in reviewing areas where cuts could be made.

Many questions focused on the immigration issue. The questioning of the mayor was led by Paul Westrum, Albert Lea immigration reform activist, and Olgar Himle, rural Austin farmer, among others.

In response to all the complaints and challenges citizens threw at him, Stiehm never wavered in saying, “Now is the time for everyone to get involved.”