Letter to the editor: Vote for Mary Rosati for mayor

• Rosati

Rosati

Talk about it

Dear friends and neighbors of Two Harbors,

For the past 12 years, I, Mary Henjum Rosati, have represented you as your councilwoman at large. During my tenure, I’ve served you with honesty, dignity, and hard work, all without a personal agenda. I have concurrently chaired and directed the Heritage Days parades and activities for over 20 years, prior to the Mayor’s Block Party.

Throughout this time, I have been instrumental in completing many projects such as obtaining flags, banners and Christmas lights for the city, long before the arts beautification committee had been established. Still today I wash, iron and repair these flags and banners in order to save the city money and to keep our town looking beautiful. In addition, my husband and I restored the Iron Ball time capsule. A new “north campus” city garage was built. The Paul Gauche Band Shell has been painted and repaired and the Edna G. now shines due to a major facelift as well.

I know how concerned you are about your streets, avenues and sidewalks, as am I. Many of these problem areas need a total rebuild a band-aid fix will not do. It’ll look fair and make for easier driving and walking, but will it hold up? During my 11 years as chair of public works, we partnered with Lake County and completed Waterfront Drive, First and 16th Avenues, and 17th and 18th Streets. Along with these total rebuilds, we also completed several alleys and sidewalks and did mill and overlays on several avenues while sticking to the budget.

Our youth is also something I have never forgotten about. New playground equipment was purchased for our parks and campground. My years at The Place have served many kids and my dedication to seeing a skateboard park obtain its goal after 10 years with help from Councilor Detlefsen, Lake County and the recreation board, is now a reality. In addition, the community center has been painted and updated with two wide-screen TVs that have seen significant use.

In 2012, the Northland had a 500-year flood with Two Harbors sustaining minimal damage. This was due to the efforts made by the city, Lake County and Wayne Seidel of the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District to reduce the flow of water by building retention ponds.

My husband and I, on our own expense, went to Washington D.C. to reinstate the million dollar grant for a retention pond at the wastewater treatment plant. The installation of sump pumps and updates at our water plant also were contributing factors.

In the last four years, city funds have taken a terrible hit. Our auditors have constantly reminded us to watch our spending. However, our council has not heeded the warning and the time has come to stop frivolous spending and stick to the budget.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as there is much more to be done to improve our city. I have not traveled this path alone as many qualified persons walked with me making it a cooperative effort.

Your support in the November election will be greatly appreciated.

“Where’s the money coming from?”

Mary Henjum Rosati for Mayor

Tags: opinion