“(County employees) recognize our job is to provide the best possible services to the public in unprecdented times,” said Sivarajah has been in the top job in Minnesota’s fourth-largest county for nearly a full year.
She said the county board’s recent decision to cancel the rest of the season at Bunker Beach was made after consideration of many factors, including staffing, safety, and cost of operations. A delayed opening later in the summer would simply not be feasible, she explained.
“If we opened July 1st and were open through the beginning of September like we normally are, we are at risk of losing $150,000 or more,” Sivarajah explained. “That’s if we had 1500-2500 people a day showing up. If that was scaled back where we could have 500 or 200 people we are going to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The county just sent out its property tax notices for the year, and Sivarajah and other county leaders realize that fewer people may pay on time this year because of the economic downturn.
“If it comes down to a significant reduction in resources, that’s where the county board will have some very difficult decisions moving forward,” she said. “Many times, you have to make decisions based on incomplete information and you might not have all the answers until next year at this time, after you’ve already had to make that decision. But that is leadership.”
You can watch the full interview with Sivarajah in the latest episode of Conversations here:
