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Today's Column
Howie: Augustana stuns No. 5 UMD in overtime after Bulldogs surrender late leadSIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Minnesota Duluth surrendered two goals in 17 seconds late in regulation, forced overtime on Zam Plante’s tying goal and then lost 20 seconds into the
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Reinert did not announce a reelection campaign Thursday. He said he has not made that decision and expects to address his political future after the holidays. So the community can expect something in early January.
“Our community is older than average and less wealthy than average. And property taxes don’t care about ability to pay. We can’t look to solve ongoing budget deficits at the expense of our residential property taxpayers.” -- Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert
Is the $4.5 million retiree health care savings included in the projected deficit? How much is being redirected to the West Duluth maintenance facility? Is that commitment legally binding or discretionary? And why should that money not be considered before Duluth asks property owners to pay more?
The 2027 election will not finally be decided by whether Duluth wants a progressive or a centrist. It will be decided by which candidate can make voters believe that City Hall is working for them.
Durrwachter understands what it means to work for a living, raise children under financial pressure and confront people with more institutional power than she possesses. She does not appear to regard City Hall as a private club.
Before City Hall asks property owners for another increase, it must account for the recurring $4.5 million created by its retiree health care breakthrough.
Duluth residents should not accept a budget narrative built only around the bad news. Transparency requires more than explaining the size of the shortfall. It requires identifying every option, every revenue decision and every pool of existing or reasonably anticipated financial capacity.
Roger Reinert's winning pitch against incumbent Emily Larson was simple and effective: Duluth, he argued, needed a mayor focused on basics — core services, discipline and execution. However, Reinert’s mayoralty remains heavy on messaging and light on visible results.
The city estimates its recently negotiated labor agreements will increase personnel costs by approximately $9.9 million over three years, according to the 2026 city budget. There is your deficit, dressed in a collective bargaining agreement and scheduled to arrive on time.
Mayor Reinert is an experienced and politically skilled communicator. He regularly uses video to promote city projects, explain policy and shape his administration’s message. That makes his reluctance to participate in unscripted questioning during a public-safety scare more conspicuous, not less.
The lesson is not that every project will succeed. It is that progress requires participation — from developers, from institutions and from city leadership willing to remove obstacles rather than manage decline.
“Downtown Duluth has needed attention for a long time. It’s become worse every year and I really don’t think it’s going to get any better.” -- Longtime Downtown Duluth businessman Nick Patronas, who pointed to regulatory and financial barriers that, in his view, continue to limit redevelopment.
The only real question is whether Minnesota still wants what Klobuchar's been selling all these years: steady, competent, familiar leadership that doesn’t make a mess of things.
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.
Duluth and St. Louis County are not asking for luxury investments. They are asking for help maintaining systems — water treatment plants, shoreline protection, waste management infrastructure — whose costs exceed what local taxpayers alone can reasonably sustain.