Economic Development Fund Raises Questions About County Spending

The recent verbal feud between Swaledale Mayor John Drury and the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors has raised questions about the way the county distributes its financial support to large cities like Mason City compared with smaller communities within the county.

     Following the county's pledge of $500,000 towards Mason City's redevelopment project, Drury attempted to meet with the Board of Supervisors to discuss setting up a program that would help the smaller communities with the ongoing issue of demolishing nuisance properties.

     Without seeing the full board, Drury was able to meet with District 2 Supervisor Casey Callanan, where he says he was told that the county did not want to set a precedent of giving money to the smaller communities. This response, combined with more blunt comments from Supervisor Jay Urdahl in the pages of the Globe Gazette, appears to contrast with the county's half-million dollar commitment to Mason City downtown project.

   Read the full article in the May 28 edition of the papers.