Yesterday, I had lunch with my 4 year old daughter at her day-care. It’s spring break, so this is a different location from her normal pre-school. I sat in the small chairs with the kids and every child in the room had a story to tell. As we were eating corn dogs, baked beans and mandarin oranges, the boy to my right (Daniel) told me about his house, his dog, his grandparents and pretty much every other detail that he could think of. Not wanting to ignore my daughter, nor the other kids at the table, I tried to carry on only two conversations at a time. Daniel, however, was persistent and wanted to tell me that he liked my tie, my ring and my white collared shirt. Each time, he would politely tap my arm to get my attention. I would ask him to wait, finish my conversation with another child and then return to his inquisition.
At the end of the meal, I shook his hand and thanked him for letting me join him for lunch. As I did so, I noticed the ketchup and bean stained finger prints on the sleeve of my shirt. That certainly made me smile and left me a nice reminder the rest of the day of my enjoyable meal.
After the meal, I stood in line with the children while they took turns washing up and preparing for nap time, which my daughter is staunchly opposed to. While negotiating my escape back to work with my daughter, another child (Fawn) was vying for my attention. She also wanted to tell me about her family and her stuffed horse (not pony) that she cuddled with during nap time.
This morning, I again dropped off my daughter at her “new” day-care and as I was leaving was approached by Fawn. She had a small slip of paper in her hand. She quietly handed it to me and said it was my “ticket.” I said thank-you and she elaborated that I could, “go anywhere you want to with it.” All it had on it was the number 11.
In my structured adult mind, I initially assumed that I was the 11th person to get a ticket. From a four year old’s perspective, however, I wonder if all of the tickets probably had the same writing on them designating some secret four-year old code. Either way, I’ve been resisting my adult mindset of viewing this ticket as a plane-ticket or ability to go some place exotic and far-away. Instead, I’ve decided to keep the ticket in my coat pocket and whenever I need to get away, I’ll pull out the ticket and think of the refreshing meal I had with the four-year olds. Better yet, I may just go back for lunch with my new friends . . . only next time I won’t wear a white shirt.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
LEGAL AID: QUIETLY GIVING A HAND-UP TO THOSE IN NEED
I recently had the opportunity to testify at the local town-hall meeting of the legislature. The purpose of my testimony was to encourage continued funding for Civil Legal Services to support the important work that is done to provide access to the Justice System. I am a private attorney, having lived and worked in the Albert Lea area for over 13 years. My practice focuses primarily on business related issues, together with work in agricultural law, real estate and family law. Since moving to Albert Lea, I have taken an active interest in finding ways to make our community prosper in a positive way.
One of the quiet ways that our community accomplishes this goal is to provide citizens access to a fair and equal forum to resolve their disputes. We are fortunate in Minnesota to have a first class Justice System.
For many years, I have served on the board of directors of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (“SMRLS”) – one of the six regional Civil Legal Services providers in Minnesota. SMRLS provides affordable and understandable Civil Legal Services to all citizens, regardless of income.
During my tenure on the board, I have observed the inner workings of the SMRLS organization through the last budget crisis in 2002, the partial recovery budget of 2006 and now this terrible economic downturn. Let me share a few of my observations on how SMRLS has dealt with each of these challenges:
Those who know me know that I am a fiscally conservative Republican and that I believe in providing a hand-up, not a hand-out. I know of no other organization that epitomizes this motto better.
I am also now participating in the SMRLS Retrenchment Process (“Futures” planning during a downturn). As an organization, we recognize that an economic downturn of this magnitude results in more people that need help. Our challenge is to provide services to more people, while at the same time receiving less money.
In accomplishing this goal, our first priority is to keep our existing staff intact. SMRLS recently announced a salary and hiring freeze. We also recognize the need to utilize our reserves. Unfortunately, these steps only fill a few of the large holes in the budget. We continue to prioritize additional spending cuts to be ready to respond to the actions that legislators take in St. Paul.
I encouraged legislators to remember that the Justice System as a whole provides an important calming and public safety component. I refer to it as “Core Services, plus.” The plus being: preserving the rule of law, giving individuals a forum for their disputes and a mechanism to provide community stability in a positive way. As stated by our Board Chair, Kathy Bartz, we must “give our clients a sense of hope.”
Organizations like SMRLS are working hard to be part of the solution during these difficult times. The budget cannot be balanced through draconian cuts to the Justice System’s small budget pie. The Justice System is only 2% of the State’s budget, and Civil Legal Services is only 3% of that 2%.
I requested that legislators act quickly on Justice System funding. If cuts have to occur, minimize them to recognize the “Core Services, plus” component provided by the Justice System. Please watch this year’s legislative session closely and encourage legislator’s to support the quiet work being done by legal aid in our communities.
One of the quiet ways that our community accomplishes this goal is to provide citizens access to a fair and equal forum to resolve their disputes. We are fortunate in Minnesota to have a first class Justice System.
For many years, I have served on the board of directors of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (“SMRLS”) – one of the six regional Civil Legal Services providers in Minnesota. SMRLS provides affordable and understandable Civil Legal Services to all citizens, regardless of income.
During my tenure on the board, I have observed the inner workings of the SMRLS organization through the last budget crisis in 2002, the partial recovery budget of 2006 and now this terrible economic downturn. Let me share a few of my observations on how SMRLS has dealt with each of these challenges:
• SMRLS participates in an on-going process called “Future’s Planning.” This process is our constant attempt to find efficient ways to provide services to those in need. We strive to leverage our dollars during good times. This allows us to better respond during funding down turns.
• During the last budget deficit, SMRLS completely reorganized itself by centralizing its hot-line intake process and technology. We focused our resources on being one law-firm, rather than a series of offices around the state. This change helped to keep all rural offices open while absorbing staff reductions and has actually increased the number of persons who have been able to access SMRLS and enables SMRLS to provide more seamless services.
• During the last increased budget, we set-aside reserves and focused on preserving our best and brightest talent. A large majority of any Civil Legal Services provider’s budget consists of staff. Although legal aid attorneys are some of the lowest paid in the Justice System, we are able to attract a talented, compassionate and team oriented group of employees. They are the front-line in helping those in need navigate the legal process. This talent pool is especially important in hard times when we need to stretch our dollars further.
• SMRLS constantly searches for outside funds to leverage State and Federal Dollars. We accomplish this through aggressive grant writing and the successful Campaign for Legal Aid.
Those who know me know that I am a fiscally conservative Republican and that I believe in providing a hand-up, not a hand-out. I know of no other organization that epitomizes this motto better.
I am also now participating in the SMRLS Retrenchment Process (“Futures” planning during a downturn). As an organization, we recognize that an economic downturn of this magnitude results in more people that need help. Our challenge is to provide services to more people, while at the same time receiving less money.
In accomplishing this goal, our first priority is to keep our existing staff intact. SMRLS recently announced a salary and hiring freeze. We also recognize the need to utilize our reserves. Unfortunately, these steps only fill a few of the large holes in the budget. We continue to prioritize additional spending cuts to be ready to respond to the actions that legislators take in St. Paul.
I encouraged legislators to remember that the Justice System as a whole provides an important calming and public safety component. I refer to it as “Core Services, plus.” The plus being: preserving the rule of law, giving individuals a forum for their disputes and a mechanism to provide community stability in a positive way. As stated by our Board Chair, Kathy Bartz, we must “give our clients a sense of hope.”
Organizations like SMRLS are working hard to be part of the solution during these difficult times. The budget cannot be balanced through draconian cuts to the Justice System’s small budget pie. The Justice System is only 2% of the State’s budget, and Civil Legal Services is only 3% of that 2%.
I requested that legislators act quickly on Justice System funding. If cuts have to occur, minimize them to recognize the “Core Services, plus” component provided by the Justice System. Please watch this year’s legislative session closely and encourage legislator’s to support the quiet work being done by legal aid in our communities.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Addressing Budget Short-fall
The City of Albert Lea recently took the step of creating a budget advisory committee. http://www.albertleatribune.com/news/2009/feb/23/council-approves-budget-task-force-members/
This begins the hard work of trying to understand the city budget and finding a way to prioritize the spending cuts. Information that would seem helpful in making these decisions includes:
The City administration for years has touted their desire to limit their reliance on local government aid and this is a chance to make good progress on that goal. Also, City leaders should recognize the importance of planning for growth. How can changes we make now, make us more competitive locally and regional in the years to come?
This begins the hard work of trying to understand the city budget and finding a way to prioritize the spending cuts. Information that would seem helpful in making these decisions includes:
1. An overall summary and pie chart showing all revenues and spending. The State of Minnesota has an excellent template that they are using to explain the current budget shortfall at the State level http://budgetforum.senate.mn/?page_id=23
2. Each of the profit centers or revenue streams should then be broken down by source of income and expenses,by department. Some departments have their own source of revenue and others are from the “general fund.” Again, follow the State’s template;
3. A 5 and 10 year history of the overall spending broken down by
department and category;
4. A comparison of these items to neighboring communities and similar positioned communities in Minnesota;
5. What recommendations have been made by each individual department head;
6. A summary of all pay and benefit packages for employees;
7. A summary of each union contract, including key terms and duration. Is the individual union amenable to re-opening negotiations to address the short-fall and avoid lay-offs? Many unions are reopening contracts to implement salary freezes to avoid lay-offs.
The City administration for years has touted their desire to limit their reliance on local government aid and this is a chance to make good progress on that goal. Also, City leaders should recognize the importance of planning for growth. How can changes we make now, make us more competitive locally and regional in the years to come?
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