There it was. As I stood there, on the edge of the Ice House ready to jump the twenty five feet or so into Lake Superior with three of my friends, I realized that age had snuck up on me. My body was no longer fifteen – I was in my mid-forties. Clearly, the hair had left years ago, the bravado and hubris of my youth had given way to reason, and I no longer would jump just to prove that I was a hotshot to my friends.

Yet, as I stood there, contemplating jumping into the water below me I quickly realized that my middle-aged friends felt the same as I did. We even talked amongst ourselves, pointing out that the Ice House looked considerably taller from this perspective than from the boardwalk minutes earlier. Clearly, nobody wanted to jump first; but somebody had to jump first, as climbing back down in front of a bunch of teenagers on summer vacation was not an option. With that in mind, and knowing that any injuries would most likely not be life threatening, I took the lead and jumped.

So it is with the Retiree Health Care logjam at City Hall (for more information, visit http://service.govdelivery.com/service/document.html?code=MNDULUTH_140): someone needs to jump.

The Chamber confirmed its willingness to jump first this week, when the Board of Directors affirmed its willingness to take on the tax and utility rate increases - provided those increases are applied to solving the crisis. Backing away from our support of the City Council’s fourteen point plan is not an option. If any party fails to accept its share of the strong medicine outlined in the plan, our city will be headed for fiscal insolvency.

Many will whimper and complain. Many in the business community will say that it is unfair to pay for a problem they did not create. Our retired citizens-at-large and those with lower incomes will be hurt the most. City retirees will loudly protest stating they gave up substantial raises in favor of lifetime health benefits – even if it means ruining the very entity that provides those benefits. Current employees might say that they are being punished for past decisions gone wrong. All true - there is more than enough injustice to go around.

So we need to collectively hold our noses and jump. Utility rate increases appear to be around the corner. Substantial tax increases look to be coming January 1, 2007. Current and retired employees will have to offer substantial concessions. None of it will be pleasant. All of it will be necessary.

We have avoided this jump far too long.