Clear Lake and Mason City officials will leave Sunday for a four-day trip to Washington, DC to gain support for issues affecting the North Iowa business climate.
    Clear Lake Mayor Nelson Crabb and City Administrator Scott Flory, along with Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Board members Denni Sue Erickson and Casey Callanan and CLEAR Project Coordinator David Knoll, will depart from the Mason City Airport Sunday morning.  They will be joined by four Mason City officials and others from the county and North Iowa agencies.              For local leaders, the advocacy trip will largely focus on lake water quality issues, including followup with those entities which have pledged funds to the lake restoration effort.
    “It will be a long three days for us, but I’m sure the city will benefit greatly from us being there,” said Crabb.
    Denni Erickson, making her fourth trip to the Capitol, agreed.  “I think it’s valuable to keep our issues in the forefront.  At this point the people there are educated about our efforts and are interested in the updates we can give.”  
    Erickson added that she feels traveling with Mason City leaders makes good sense, noting the two communities share interests in many other topics, including the airport and energy issues.  This is the first time that representatives from Cerro Gordo County, Clear Lake, and Mason City have made the trip together to work on issues as a region.
    In addition to meetings with Senator Grassley, Senator Harkin, Congressman Latham, and congressional aides, the group plans to meet directly with federal agency representatives to discuss key issues in-depth.     
    Additional members of the North Iowa delegation include: Mason City Chamber President Robin Edgar and Executive Director Robin Anderson, Mason City Mayor Roger Bang and Administrator Brent Trout, County Supervisor Bob Amosson, Airport Commissioner Dennis Lewerke and Airport Manager Pam Osgood, Board Member Jim Morrow and Interim Director Angie Determan, representing the North Central Iowa Growth Partnership, and Lois Clark, field representative for Congressman Tom Latham.