If you and or your staff and consumers can make it -- please do..... -----Original Message----- From: Dwayne Voegeli Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 9:04 AM To: All County Users Subject: Important Mtg Friday: Please Come
Hello County Staff Members, My name is Dwayne Voegeli and I am one of the new County Commissioners. I want to talk with you about some very important topics. Today, Tuesday, Feb. 18th, Governor Pawlenty will present his proposal to balance the 4.2 billion dollar state budget deficit. His proposal will include some very dramatic and possibly drastic cuts for local governments like counties, cities, and others. They include cuts that might mean: 1. Possible program cuts. 2. Possible frozen salaries and retirement benefits. 3. And even possible staff layoffs. Those are all ugly realities that I would rather not talk about but they are real possibilities that we need to start getting serious about. This upcoming Friday, February 21st, an important meeting will take place. I hope you can come to the meeting. ===== State Legislator's Listening Session Friday, Feb. 21st 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. County Board Room of the County Government Center ====== All County staff, County clients, and the public are welcome and encouraged to attend. Our four area State Legislators will be in town to talk to us about the massive cuts that Governor Pawlenty will have proposed this Tuesday, Feb. 18th. Gene Pelowski, Steve Sviggum, Bob Kierlin, and Steve Murphy have all said they will be there. Like most of you know, this year's State budget problem is huge and they will probably pass the buck on to counties, cities, and school districts. Please come to the meeting to both listen to what the legislators have to say but also to ask them tough questions about these very important topics. They need to know what the realities are like down here on the front lines. We need to provide them with concrete and compelling examples of how their numbers and percentages translate into human faces and real programs. They need to see the face of their proposed budget cuts so they can make more informed decisions. The meeting will take place at 4:30 in the County Board room of the County Government Building. I know it's the absolute worst time to have a meeting. I too am exhausted after a long week of work and would much rather be at home with my two small children and wife but these are really important issues that we need to become more informed and involved with. We had to adjust our time to fit the Legislator's schedules. I fear that the public, and even some of our elected officials, have forgotten and under appreciated how important local government is and how hard you work. Please come and help remind them. Let's not take this lying down, let's do something about it. If we get actively involved in the budget debate, we may be able to affect the final outcome. In the mean time, I encourage you write or call our area representatives and tell them about your concerns and ideas. If you e-mail them, always ask them to get back to you to insure they received and heard your message. I will include their contact information at the bottom of this message. Lastly. This is my first direct message to you. I'm sorry it's about such a bleak topic. I wish I could be sharing good news with you. I'm also sorry that I do not yet know many of you but I'm looking forward to changing that. The more County staff I meet, the more impressed I am by how well qualified and hard working you all are. Anyone who has negative images of government workers knows nothing about this staff. :-> Please feel free to contact me anytime by e-mail or phone. I'm very anxious to listen to your ideas, feedback, and your concerns. My phone number is 453-9012 Please consider coming to the meeting this Friday. Thank you for your time and for how hard you work. Dwayne Voegeli Phone: 453-9012 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =============== State Legislator's Contact Information: 1. Representative Gene Pelowski [EMAIL PROTECTED] 295 State Office Building 100 Constitution Ave. Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155 (651) 296-8637 2. Senator Bob Kierlin [EMAIL PROTECTED] 127 State Office Building 100 Constitution Ave. St. Paul, MN 55155-1206 (651) 296-5649 3. Representative Steve Sviggum (R) 28B 463 State Office Building Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155 (651) 296-2273 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 4. Senator Steve Murphy 306 State Capitol St. Paul, MN 55155 Capitol phone: (651) 296-4264 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Home: Red Wing PO Box 40 55066 Home phone: (651) 385-7649 Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
