By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor
There are many thankless jobs that we all have been subjected to endure. Some we volunteer for, some we get volunteered for, and some, due to some serious arm-twisting, we get elected to do. The position might be serving as a Scout troop or 4-H club leader, being on the planning committee for a community celebration, helping with the coaching duties for little league baseball, softball, flag football, volleyball, or basketball, or teaching a Sunday school class.

We usually agree to volunteer our time and talents because we have some personal connection to the organization or activity. It might be because our children are participating, or because the business we work for or own is involved, or possibly because we believe in the merits of a certain organization or activity and want to support it.

The term "thankless job" came to mind last week, as I sat for four hours listening to the Caledonia City Council whittle away at the proposed 2008 city budget. No, I'm not referring to my position as news editor at The Argus. I'm talking about the countless hours the local city council spends each year listening to complaints, making tough decisions arm chair quarterbacks later question, and trying to run city government as efficiently as possible.

The task before the city council at the Monday, Dec. 3 meeting was to sift through nearly 40 pages of proposed line item expenditures various department heads felt were needed to keep the city operating in 2008, compare that mountain of information with the predicted income, and make it balance.

Ever since Minnesota's $4.3 billion budget deficit prompted massive cuts in local government aid (LGA) payments from the state, cities like Caledonia have been forced to conduct some massive belt tightening when it came to their budgets. The mission at that Monday evening meeting was to somehow cut $211,000 from the proposed budget. It wasn't easy, it wasn't painless, and it took a long time.

Council members just didn't take a "cut and slash" approach. They painstakingly went through each page of line items and discussed which requests were absolutely essential, which ones should be done, and which projects and purchases could be put off for another year or two. And, they asked for input from some of the department heads.

As the evening wore on, TB (tired butt) set in. Four hours sitting on a hard chair seems to have that affect on me. So around 10 p.m. I could see the specially-called budget workshop meeting was going to take a few more hours. I had pretty much gotten the gist of what the council was doing, and knew I could get the final numbers from City Administrator Bob Nelson Tuesday morning. So I excused myself from the meeting, wishing Mayor Mike Morey, council members Randi Vick, Paul Fisch, Gary Klug, and Bob Standish, city accountant Stephanie Mann, and Nelson good luck, as I made my exit.

I found out Tuesday the workshop lasted until midnight. That's a six-hour ordeal. For the majority of that seven-member group, they spent six hours conducting city business after putting in a full day's work Monday, and then went right back to work Tuesday morning.

Serving on a small-town city council is a tough job. I know, I've been covering city councils for more than 25 years, and served as a councilman for two terms. You are not insulated from your constituents one iota. Some of the decisions you make at a Monday evening meeting are cannon fodder the next day around the water cooler or coffee table. Your friends, neighbors, customers, and co-workers are the people you represent. You've got to be thick-skinned. If the local citizenry doesn't like a decisions you made, you're going to hear about it.

Unfortunately, most of the time a member of a city council hears from a constituent it's about a concern, bringing up a controversial issue, or issuing a complaint. Those things are all important, but so is thanking these people for spending as much time as they do conducting the city's business, and trying to do what is best for your community.

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