LETTER: State budget cuts are felt even at the beach

From Joe Davis
Deputy director, Alliance for a Better Minnesota
Every summer when the temperatures move beyond plain old hot and into the scorching category, Minnesotans have traditionally flocked to the local pool or to one of our beautiful 10,000 lakes to cool off for a bit.

This summer all of that is changing.

St. Paul won’t be hiring lifeguards at Phalen Beach. St. Cloud will be closing down wading pools and not filling 20 lifeguard positions. Mankato almost had to cancel fireworks on the Fourth. And Benton County’s Parks Department will be at under half the staff levels of previous summers.

Tim Pawlenty — and allies like Paul Kohls who will see lifeguard hours reduced at his own district’s Lake Waconia — are drastically cutting the things we all need, use and love that make our state great. We need to stand up, and defend Minnesota and make it a state that thrives not just survives. Please take a moment to write a letter to the editor so your community leaders understand that we need a Minnesota that thrives, not just survives, to compete.