ST PETER — In election years, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty debates Democratic and Independence Party opponents. In non-election years, Pawlenty debates the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities.

St. Peter Mayor Tim Strand knows that’s an exaggeration, but Strand also knows that he’s likely headed for some public relations battles with Pawlenty and that his entry into politics isn’t an entirely comfortable one.

“It makes me be more political than I really like to be,” said Strand, the newly anointed president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities.

It’s a post that will make Strand the voice of Local Government Aid, the coalition’s primary legislative issue. LGA is the program that sends state aid to cities, aiming to reduce the disparities in the level of service and property tax burden among those with large property tax bases and those without. It’s also the program that’s been a frequent target of Pawlenty’s budget ax.

Battle lines
The relationship between Pawlenty and the coalition — and city officials in general — has deteriorated noticeably in the governor’s seven years in office. When he was first running for governor, Pawlenty seemed to be on the same page with the coalition.

“... You know, you can’t run around the state and say ‘I’m not going to increase taxes’ and then cut LGA in a way that drives up local property taxes. I know that,” Pawlenty told coalition leaders at a conference in Worthington in 2002.

By 2003, he was cutting LGA and that trend continued through his unallotment of $300 million of aid to local governments in June — the largest of a long list of cuts he made to move the state budget into the black.

Past coalition presidents ripped Pawlenty for cutting LGA more steeply than other government programs, saying he was directly responsible for driving up property taxes and forcing cuts in police and fire protection and other crucial services.

Strand’s predecessor, Wadena Mayor Wayne Wolden, said that Pawlenty’s budget plan meant “thousands of jobs lost, huge increases in property taxes, cuts in core services ...” and that Wadena might be forced “to plow our streets every other blizzard.”

Pawlenty called city officials “whiners,” specifically labeled Wolden as “one of the leading advocates of ‘Don’t touch my aid,’” and singled out Wadena’s “million-dollar reserve.”

A previous coalition president talking about Pawlenty’s opposition to a transportation funding bill called the governor’s position “unacceptable” and “irresponsible” and the direct cause of “gridlock that plagues transportation funding each year.”

Strand’s agenda
Strand is aware of the history of tough talk that’s now associated with the position he holds.

“We’ve been more critical of the governor’s position and the governor’s been critical of us, where he’s literally pointing fingers and naming names,” Strand said.

He’s also aware the coalition’s friends have been increasingly Democratic lawmakers, something he rues because it makes the organization appear to be partisan. His primary goal is to persuade legislative Democrats and Republicans alike to protect cities from further cuts.

“LGA’s been cut — we feel — to the bare bone,” he said. “We just don’t want to make it any worse than it is already.”

There’s support among many coalition members for a legal challenge of Pawlenty’s cuts through the unallotment process — a power given to a governor when the state’s budget is out of balance. Some legal analysts believe Pawlenty abused that power by using it at the very beginning of the state’s two-year budget cycle rather than as an emergency move at the end of a fiscal year.

“We’re not sure (a lawsuit) is in the coalition’s best interest,” Strand said of the organization’s leadership.

Coming attractions
Under the coalition’s leadership structure, officials move automatically up the ladder from second vice president to first vice president to president. So Strand knew that his turn was coming.

Now, so does North Mankato Mayor Gary Zellmer, who was chosen last month to be second vice president. When Zellmer takes the throne midway through 2011, Pawlenty will be gone because he’s not seeking re-election next year.

But Zellmer, too, appears destined to be fighting to preserve whatever’s left of LGA.

An early look by legislative fiscal staff at the state’s next two-year budget cycle, starting on July 1 of 2011, showed a $7.2 billion deficit — which would be the state’s largest ever. That will inevitably require a state revenue increase, Zellmer said.

“It’s not going to be solved just by cutting,” he said recently. “That’s becoming evident, because there’s just not enough there.”

Whether the coalition will have a partner or a debate opponent when the next budget battle takes place is a more immediate concern for the organization. That’s why coalition officials will be trying to pin down the scads of candidates running to replace Pawlenty on their stance on LGA, Zellmer and Strand said.

“We’re not trying to put them on the spot,” Strand said. “We’re trying to put them on the record.”