Shannon Fiecke of the Shakopee Valley News reports:

Tony Albright has worked with spreadsheets for years, and he’d like to bring that experience to the county board.

Albright decided to run for county commissioner in District 2 when current board chairman Bob Vogel opted against seeking a third term.

Albright said he believes in civic responsibility and thought it was a good time to step up to put action to his beliefs and use his professional experience to help Scott County.

“I love the community. It’s a phenomenal place to raise family,” he said. “I want to (help) ensure that can continue for years to come.”

Albright said he considers himself a strong conservative, but he doesn’t think that being a good conservative means “cutting taxes to the bone.”

Rather, he said it’s about producing the “most effective, productive outcome with the money you’re entrusted.”

Albright, 46, has spent the last 18 years trying to do just that as a financial adviser. He assists companies and individuals with their retirement plans.

“I take the business of other people’s money very seriously,” he said.

He describes the county board as the “tip on the arrow” for the county that helps set its agenda and takes the first hit when times get tough.

He sees hard choices ahead for the county with the downturn in the economy and a multimillion-dollar forecasted county deficit.

He said commissioners will have to determine what are the absolutely obligations of the county to provide.

He said he believes the county’s focus should be on providing safe streets, “free and fair commerce” and good roads.

With the state placing expensive responsibilities on the county, he said he believes the county board will have to discuss whether something is a priority just because of decisions made in St. Paul.

Albright wants more collaborative growth, building an even closer relationship among local municipalities, on areas like transportation planning.

He’d also like to see the encouragement of business corridors, attracting companies by providing a good transportation system and promoting the attributes of Scott County, like its schools and workforce.

Increasing businesses, he said, will also help alleviate traffic pressures, by enabling more residents to work locally.

Although he’s not completely opposed to economic incentives for new businesses, he said he is leery of them.

Albright said he’s been impressed with the caliber of county managers, who are at the top of their game professionally, and also has a high regard for the county board.

Although he doesn’t believe in being a rubber stamper as a county commissioner, he said it’s important to support staff and not micromanage them.

“They are the ones that make the county work,” he said.

With the severity of crimes in the county worsening and not much growth in the number sheriff’s deputies in past years, Albright sees a need for enhanced staffing there.

Albright, who notes that he has a “strong streak of independence,” said he believes the Metropolitan Council, which is involved in regional land use planning and runs bus and wastewater treatment systems, has taken on too large a scope as a nonelected body.

He said he supports putting more express buses on existing roads versus more light-rail trains because bus routes have greater maneuverability.

He said he thinks the county is behind the curve in terms of roads, and he views the recently formed Highway 169 corridor task force as an essential way to get things done in a collaborative way.

He said the county commissioner’s job is to help residents see the overall vision and mission of Scott County and to make sure every voice is heard.

He appreciated the process used to upgrade the county’s comprehensive land use plan and believes it’s important to regularly tweak that based on how circumstances in the county change.

He said it’s important to encourage people to speak out, so that at the end of the day residents are satisfied that they were adequately heard, even if a decision hasn’t gone their way.

In regard to recent staff salary upgrade, which brought pay grades up to the midpoint of area counties, Albright said he is OK with pay raises, so long as employees are being fairly compensated and rewarded for the work they perform.

On the county’s recent purchase of Cedar Lake Farm and Day Resort, which required a 20-year loan, Albright said he shared Commissioner Bob Vogel’s concerns, and thought it may have been premature or unnecessary.

Albright noted that a large parcel of valuable property was taken off the tax rolls.

If the county had taken a slower approach and thought through financial implications more, they may have come up with a better solution, he said. One such idea would be to have privately developed part of the land, with a park remaining on the rest, he said.

Albright said the county must find ways to embrace change that encourages natives to stay here following high school but also continue to uphold the area’s important legacies.

Shannon Fiecke is a staff writer for the Shakopee Valley News. She can be reached at sfiecke@swpub.com.