Howie's opinion column is powered by Lyric Kitchen · Bar | eMail Howie
Azrin Awal, the first Muslim and first Asian American elected to the Duluth City Council, will conclude her four-year at-large term in January after emerging as one of the city’s most visible voices on equity, housing and public-health-based safety initiatives.
Awal, 29, announced earlier this year she would not seek re-election. Her term, which began in 2022, marked a historic shift in representation for the city and elevated issues tied to renters, students, immigrants and marginalized residents. She was elected at age 25, becoming one of the council’s youngest members in recent history.
During her tenure, Awal consistently advocated for renter protections, community-based crisis response and structural reforms to the city’s advisory boards. She was among the councilors who supported restoring annual funding for Duluth’s mental-health crisis response team after Mayor Roger Reinert proposed eliminating the city’s share of the program’s budget. The council ultimately voted to continue the city’s contribution, allowing the team — operated by the Human Development Center — to remain available for non-police response to mental-health calls.
Awal also made housing and renter transparency a central focus, citing her own challenges as a college student navigating Duluth’s rental market. She supported measures requiring landlords to provide tenants with clear documentation of local housing resources and basic rights at the time of lease signing, a move city officials said would help reduce confusion for first-time renters and low-income residents.
Inside City Hall, Awal backed efforts to reorganize Duluth’s network of boards and commissions, many of which struggled with vacancies and quorum issues. An ordinance passed this year allows several protected-class commissions, including those focused on Indigenous, African-Heritage, disability and queer communities, to consolidate under a restructured Human Rights Commission if members choose. Awal described the change as an attempt to streamline civic involvement and reduce administrative barriers for residents who want to serve.
A graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth, Awal worked during her term as a program coordinator in the university’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. She focused on outreach and support programs for students of color and queer students and has cited her campus work as shaping her approach to public policy.
Her election in 2021 was considered a milestone for representation in Duluth, a city with one of Minnesota’s highest proportions of white residents. Awal has said her identity informs her understanding of equity issues and the barriers faced by residents with limited access to housing, transportation and public services.
In announcing her decision not to run again, Awal said she was proud of the council’s work to preserve alternative crisis response, improve transparency for renters and broaden community participation in civic affairs. She said she intends to “return to public service in the future,” but did not specify whether that would involve another run for elected office.
Awal’s term will end Jan. 5, when the next at-large council member is sworn in. The seat is one of two citywide positions on the nine-member council.
Her successor will inherit ongoing debate over housing affordability, public safety response models and the structure of the city’s advisory boards — areas in which Awal played a significant role over the last four years.
. . .
Tara Swenson’s single term on the Duluth City Council ends this winter after her defeat in November's District 4 race, closing a two-year stretch in which she emerged as one of the council’s steadier voices on budgeting, neighborhood services and the city’s internal political balance.
Swenson, elected in 2023, entered office when the council was sharply divided over tourism-tax spending, bonding strategy and street maintenance priorities. Her role proved pivotal: for much of her term, she was widely regarded as the fifth vote in a narrow 5–4 coalition aligned with Reinert on core city services and budget restraint.
That majority shaped several decisions, including street operations funding, public safety staffing and the administration’s approach to long-term capital planning. Swenson often focused her questions on outcomes and data rather than political signaling, urging the city to “stick to the basics” — plowing, road repair, licensing responsiveness and neighborhood-level accountability.
Her style was methodical, sometimes understated. Colleagues noted her consistency in committee work and her habit of arriving at meetings with detailed notes, questions prepared and a clear sense of what she wanted answered. During winter storms, she spent hours fielding neighborhood complaints about plowing gaps and relaying them directly to operations staff, becoming a familiar point of contact for residents in Duluth Heights, Lincoln Park and Piedmont.
Supporters said that practical focus was an asset on a council sometimes gripped by ideological divides. Critics argued she moved too cautiously on broader reforms, including zoning changes and renter protections measures, preferring incremental adjustments instead of sweeping policy shifts.
Her defeat reshapes the council’s political balance heading into the next term. With Swenson leaving office, the incoming majority is expected to take a more assertive posture on housing density, tenant issues, labor matters and social equity initiatives — areas where her votes often aligned with the mayor’s more restrained approach.
Her term closes a brief but consequential chapter in Duluth politics, one defined by tight margins, contentious budget debates and shifting expectations from a growing — and increasingly impatient — electorate.
. . .
Deb DeLuca, who filled the 2nd District seat vacated mid-year by Councilor Mike Mayou, is also leaving office in early January. She was appointed unanimously by the council and made clear from the outset that she did not intend to seek the job permanently. DeLuca focused on the essential business of the council rather than introducing sweeping new initiatives. She participated in early discussions surrounding the city’s 2026 budget, which arrived amid rising cost pressures and questions about long-term financial strategy. DeLuca also engaged in ongoing deliberations over housing and code-enforcement issues, acknowledging the complexity of repair-cost burdens and tenant protections as the council weighed potential policy changes. Her approach provided the district representation without political turbulence while the city prepared for a full election later in the year.
Howie, 71, is a veteran Duluth print journalist and publisher of HowieHanson.com, which he has operated for 21 years. He is the region’s first and only full-time online daily columnist, covering local news, politics, business, healthcare, education and sports with an independent, community-centered voice. Hanson has spent more than five decades reporting on issues that shape the Northland.
