Caledonia Argus

County commissioner meets Gov. Ventura

Posted: 1/16/02

By Shannon McKinney
Argus News Reporter

Not many people can say theyíve received calls from Governor Jesse Venturaís office asking for advice on budget cuts. But Kevin Kelleher, Houston County commissioner, can say he has.

Kelleher received a call Friday, January 4, that the governor would like to meet with him and other county commissioners and persons involved in with the state human services to receive input on how to make cuts in that department.

The state is facing a $1.95 billion deficit over the next two years because of the recession. Human services comprises 40 percent of the budget.

Kelleher is co-chair with the Commissioner of Human Services, Michael Oí Keefe, on a committee which makes recommendations to the Association of Minnesota Counties, which is why he thinks he was invited to talk with the governor.

When Kelleher met with Ventura Tuesday, January 8, he was surprised to find out that he was the only county commissioner present with Ventura. He and four other individuals who represented the Lutheran Services, the Nursing Home Association for Caledonia and Houston, The Childrenís home services for adoption, child care and child abuse prevention and a Native American Tribal representative.

Kelleher said Ventura spent the first half hour talking about how he did not want cuts to effect vulnerable adults in nursing homes or the developmentally disabled. The next hour was spent discussing ideas for cuts.

Kelleher said he made it clear to Ventura that he wanted to be treated like an equal not as a ìking to servantî.

He pointed out to Ventura that the state would not be in such a predicament if it hadnít been sending refund checks for the last two years.

Kelleher said Ventura became upset and defensive when he pointed this out to him. Kelleher said he did not press the issue with Ventura because it was early in the conversation and he decided he would rather move forward than rehash the past.

The refund checks have been an issue of contention with the county commissioners, specifically Kelleher. They feel the refund checks were an attempt to make the officials look good. Meanwhile, counties were placed on levy limits forcing them to dip into their own reserve funds.

The state currently has a $600 million reserve or ìrainy day fundî which is obviously not enough to cover the shortfall, although, that money will be used.

Kelleherís suggested cuts

Kelleher recommended combining the stateís regional treatment centers into one for the mentally retarded and developmentally disabled (MRDD).

About four to five treatment centers are still in use but cost a lot of money to operate compared to the number of people who occupy them. For example the center in Fergus Falls has 100 patients with a kitchen that measures 88,000 square feet. The facility used to service a much larger population.

Combining treatment centers would result in a $31 million dollar savings.

Kelleher also suggested that transportation be controlled more at the county level versus the state level because many transportation services are duplicated. For example, many organizations own their own bus, while he feels buses could be shared.

He suggested that there are more state employees than necessary. ìAll these people who are managing our people, who are managing direct services. Weíre so managed by the state, weíre told how to make toast(referring to a department in the state that ensures certain recipes are followed when making food for nursing homes). We have to allow more flexibility. We need to find other ways to make people accountable.î

Kelleher said there is too much paperwork involved in grants. He showed The Argus a list of grants from the state that the county simply does not apply for because the time and effort involved in applying for the grants are not worth the grant.

One of Venturaís budget cuts includes cutting grant money by 5 to 10 percent. Kelleher suggested going beyond cutting grants by combining some of the smaller grants and make them easier for counties to apply for.

More meetings

Kelleher was invited to spend a second day with OíKeefe discussing how to combine some of the human service grants.

He was invited a third day, Thursday, January 10, to listen to Venturaís news conference live, when Ventura presented his budget proposal and talked about the $1.95 million dollar deficit.

Some of Venturaís proposals for cutting the budget and increasing revenue include making the school districts pay sales tax, which is something they have been exempt from, a five cent gas tax increase, which hasnít occurred in 13 years and further cuts in HACA( Homestead and Agriculture Credit) to government entities.

Kelleher commented, ìI understand that weíll (Houston County) take some of the hit, and Iím not opposed because it will be shared.î

After watching the governorís news conference, Kelleher was invited to speak on Minnesota Public Radio. He was asked if he thought the proposed budget cuts were fair. Kelleher said, ìMy overall impression is he tried to be as fair as possible and spread the pain. I do think itís a little hard on counties.î

Kelleher added that although there is no way of getting around the deficit now, he feels that saving excess money instead of sending back refund checks would have prevented this situation. ìI just told him (Ventura) that he was partly responsible.î

To view Venturaís proposal, visit www.finance.state.mn.us.

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