Once again I must write to protest the actions of our city council. First of all, I am outraged that the council has given the city administrator a raise of $9,345.60 plus a life insurance premium of $1,850. Who’s doing the math? In my book that computes to a 15 percent annual raise at a time when the city is trying to make $400,000 in budget cuts. At an annual raise of $9,345, LaFond will be earning a salary of more than $100,000 in just two short years! Even though numerous past council members, a past mayor, and many citizens have expressed dissatisfaction with the leadership of the City Administrator, the City Council has given LaFond glowing reviews in executive (closed door) session. Of even greater concern to this community should be the city council’s decision, under LaFond’s leadership and with his resounding endorsement, to terminate the joint law enforcement agreement with the county. In all of his flurry of paperwork and printouts, LaFond has not presented to the citizens of Luverne an outline or a plan of the police department which would need to be established to replace the existing law enforcement agency. We citizens have not been told what the structure of the department might be, which services would be provided, or what the cost to city taxpayers would be. (I might note that the cost will be a burden only to city residents, with no "indirect taxes" being paid by the county residents for city police services.) We have no evidence that the cost to city taxpayers may not, in fact, be higher under LaFond’s vision of a separate force than the city’s current costs for the joint law enforcement agreement. In addition, we cannot as a city afford all the services that have been available in cooperation with the county. We taxpayers must remember that we will be assessed our fair share of county law enforcement services through our county tax dollars in addition to the full expense of a separate city police force. Frankly, the concept makes no common sense!I once again urge the city administrator to negotiate with the county commissioners in good faith to reinstate the joint law enforcement agreement, without egos entering in. We are all better served by a joint law enforcement agency with ample staff to meet the ever-increasing needs of law enforcement. A note of caution to all residents of Rock County outside the city of Luverne:Administrator LaFond may decide to assess you your "fair share" of city police protection whenever you decide to set foot in our "fair city," so beware! Esther Spease FrakesLuverne
