DULUTH — Mayor Roger Reinert reflected on the accomplishments and the unfinished work he faces heading into his second year in the city’s top job as he addressed the audience at a sold-out luncheon speech hosted by the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday afternoon.
He told a crowd gathered in the Greysolon Ballroom that downtown Duluth remains a work in progress.
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“I will be the very first to admit something that you all know,” Reinert said. “We have not significantly moved the needle downtown on cleanliness and public safety issues,” he acknowledged.
Reinert stressed the importance of revitalizing downtown Duluth, saying, “Not only is downtown part of our community but, to be very direct, it is also a significant tax base for both the city and the county.”
He noted that the prospect of weakening downtown property values for cities across the nation spells trouble for local governments, and Duluth is no exception.
But Reinert did not accept a defeatist’s role, saying: “So, let’s get the Shopper's Ramp and the Kozy down in 2025. Let’s support the improvements at Chum and the Damiano, as well as the vision the Union Gospel Mission has for its encounter center. Let’s thank Essentia and Aspirus for partnering with the city of Duluth on the Crisis Response Team to figure out a sustainable financial model for that work moving forward.”
He also called for vigilance.
“Friends, let’s keep calling when we see something,” Reinert said. “Don’t just walk on by, shake your head or shrug. Our public safety teams need to know. They can’t be everywhere all the time.”
He also called for increased efforts to develop more downtown housing opportunities, pointing to developer Brian Forcier’s investment in the Ordean Building as an example of how underutilized commercial space can be repurposed and used to reinvigorate the neighborhood.
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“That kind of investment in our downtown and bringing people to live downtown is going to be a game changer. It helps meet our critical housing needs and frankly puts more eyes on things and helps our public safety team more quickly respond,” Reinert said, predicting that retail will follow residential development to the downtown.
Looking out at the audience Tuesday, Reinert said: “You, in this room, are the businesspeople. You are the dealmakers. You drive the economy.”
That’s not the city’s role in the mayor’s eyes.
“Our job is to be a good partner so that when you bring a project to the city, you know that it will be handled in a reasonable amount of time with a reasonable outcome that you can reasonably predict,” he said.
“No curveballs or unnecessary hurdles or surprises at the last minute,” Reinert pledged, adding: “That, I’m convinced, is how we get over the ‘tough place to do business’ tagline that Duluth has had.”
Residents will have a new opportunity to elect local leaders in 2025, and Reinert suggested the community make the most of it by taking steps to encourage worthy neighbors to run for office.
In the wake of recent controversy over the role of his former campaign manager, Amber Gurske, who Reinert now calls his “significant other,” the mayor asked people to consider how they treat elected officials.
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“Today’s politics amplify any mistake or misstep and seek out controversy. Instead of debating and discussing with each other, we now wage social media wars where we seek to defeat and destroy,” he said.
“We used to complain privately to our families and our friends. Now, we go online and complain to anyone who will listen,” Reinert said.
An independent investigation cleared Gurske of any wrongdoing for volunteering to assist Reinert as he assumed office. But Reinert suggested the scrutiny and harsh rhetoric leveled at local politicians often before all the facts are known likely deter others from seeking office.
“I hope the leaders and civic-minded individuals here today who believe in our community and believe in us doing better will help with this. We need more opportunities in our big small town to connect personally and to remember how to treat one another with civility and respect,” he said.
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