I would appreciate your vote in the Primary Election on Aug. 10 and General Election on Nov. 2.
- Continue to preserve public forum at council meetings and make decision-making visible.
- City government must live within the means of its citizens.
- Lifetime resident of Albert Lea, educated at ALHS, University of Minnesota, and Riverland Community College.
From the Albert Lea Tribune, July 17, 2008:
…One of the main reasons he decided to run for office is because he feels strongly about keeping meetings open to the public and allowing public input.
“The more we can keep decision-making visible to the public — so that they know what’s going on — that there’s no question that decisions aren’t being made out of the public eye,” Murtaugh said. That might be some of the reason as to why there are sometimes issues with decorum during the public forum, he said, because some people feel like they’re not hearing the whole story.
Murtaugh said if he were elected as mayor he would work to eliminate the preagenda meetings held the Thursday before the Monday council meetings. That way the public would get to see everything — the discussion and the decision-making.
He’s also concerned about wise spending. “We really need to live within our means and address some priorities,” he said. He’s worried about some of the spending that is being done and having to raise taxes as a result of that spending. “At some point we have to say the capacity to tax has been reached, we need to live within our means,” he said.
