Issues: Working "In the Grey"

Both current Council members and candidates are saying that Fairmont needs to "work in the grey". What does that mean?

 

It means that we need to get to yes any and every way we can. It means we need to throw our employees under the bus when they have to say no. It means we call for change for years and not take responsibility for failure to deliver. And it means scare tactics designed to push staff into not doing their jobs.

 

Nobody is saying that the city shouldn't be welcoming to new business. But there are laws and rules that everyone has to follow. Those rules exist to protect adjacent property owners and the public at large. They exist to prevent favoritism. They exist to shield the city from catastrophic liability.

 

If the city starts cutting ad hoc one-off deals "in the grey", it opens the city up to lawsuits from competitors and neighbors who played by the rules.

 

Randy Lubenow's comment about "if you walk in with an idea, you are treated like a problem" is nothing but throwing employees under the bus for following the law. We wonder why we can't keep professional talent. Would you work for a boss who treated you like that?

 

Randy's incorrect: there are at least two projects in town, not only Fastenal, but Cress Refrigeration as well, and more in the pipeline. Then there's Advantage Aviation, who just finished building a shiny new hangar out at the airport, and are moving here from South St. Paul. They're going to fill a serious need for airplane owners and pilots across southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, and bring business here. And contrary to the narrative, they originally started out wanting to move to Blue Earth and found the business climate here better for their needs: Blue Earth kept moving the goalposts and drove them out.

 

If he's been on Council for seven years and hasn't delivered change, whose fault is that?

 

Perhaps a different approach from him and Britney, instead of their "my way or the highway" attitude, might yield better results? Skipping an educational session put on by the League of Minnesota Cities in a snit because the city hasn't bowed to his demand that every employee receive customer service training is not a collaborative approach.

 

Pitting Fairmont against Blue Earth and claiming that it's because staff follows the law is a tired scare tactic. Real commercial development doesn't flee because a city enforces building codes. Real contractors don't complain about being held strictly to code. What makes them flee is when a city - Council and staff both - develop a reputation for unpredictability, factional chaos, and personal vendettas. Legitimate businesses want regulatory certainty, clear processes, and professional stability, not back room deals cut "in the grey".

 

We absolutely should be helping businesses and residents get things done and finding ways to accomplish their goals. Those ways need to be fully in compliance with the law and regulations, though, not bypassing standard procedures and blaming staff when an idea "in the grey" doesn't get rubber-stamped.

 

Working "in the grey" gets the city sued. Is that responsible leadership?

 

No. Reject the scare tactics. Tell staff that we trust them to do their jobs the right way. Vote for responsible, steady, consistent leadership, not populist cheerleading that ignores the laws the city must follow.