Minnesota’s Daily Columnist
HowieHanson.com Section
Arik Forsman doesn’t posture. He doesn’t spend his time trying to win the internet for a day. He leans into the unglamorous mechanics of governing — budgets, policy detail, stakeholder conversations — and does it with a steadiness that’s easy to overlook if you’re chasing noise instead of results.
Based on preliminary information, investigators believe the people involved were targeting each other.
What was intended as connection begins to blur into something else — something that, in its saturation, can feel closer to a pitch than a public service. An overextended one. Almost like a showroom floor that never quite closes.
The question is no longer simply whether Roger Reinert deserves another term. The question is whether Duluth believes it is on the path it wants — and if not, who has the discipline, clarity and courage to alter it. November 2027 will deliver the verdict. The work of deciding it begins now.
This time, the leverage isn’t casino revenue. It’s downtown frustration — visible poverty, safety complaints, business dissatisfaction and the persistent sense that downtown Duluth has not lived up to decades of promises.
The City of Duluth now spends roughly $1 of every $7 in the general fund on debt service. That’s money that can’t pave streets, fund libraries, or expand housing programs. And yet the answer to each new challenge is the same: another bond.