One way that our city can save money is collaboration with other government entities. I will be attending a meeting as a representative of the League of Minnesota Cities in Rochester. This meeting is about redesigning government. We will be meeting with area representatives from the Association of Minnesota Counties and Minnesota School Board Association. We will be sharing ideas and coming up with new ideas.

We have a good start in Austin but can do so much more. We currently share the Law Enforcement Center with Mower County. Mower County is involved in a study to possibly share dispatch responsibilities with other area counties. Picking up my newspapers recently, I saw that our Fire Department was helpful in putting up the pictures on the south side of the High School. Our Fire Department goes to the schools and helps to teach fire safety. The city works together with Mower County to provide the building for our Senior Citizen Center. Our police and sheriff departments work together on calls depending on the need. The list goes on.

Working together and continuously finding new ideas, we can keep the taxes lower with the city, school system, and county.

Marian J. Clennon
Austin City Council,
3rd Ward