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St. Paul mayor and city council meeting to reach budget compromise

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The middle ground: a 7.2% increase.

In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Deputy Mayor Jamie Tincher said Carter, too, would like the levy to be lower. But proposing a 5% increase would mean an additional cut of $6 million from 2025 city services — a reduction that could increase fire response times, slow the processing of license applications and reduce parks and rec and library services.

“He doesn’t have a path to do that without reducing services that will be felt by the people who are currently getting them,” Tincher said.

If the two sides cannot agree on a tax levy for 2025, state law would require the city to institute this year’s levy. That, Tincher said, would lead to drastic cuts in city personnel and services, as costs go up every year because of things like health care, insurance and previously negotiated salary increases.

The gap between revenue and costs then, she said, would be $16 million.

Tincher was asked if this year’s negotiations felt “different.”



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Duluth’s tourism to be marketed by an AZ agency, in controversial move

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DULUTH – A Tucson, Ariz., marketing agency will orchestrate tourism efforts in Duluth over the next two years, after what some have said was a thorny process that resulted in Mayor Roger Reinert flip-flopping on a campaign talking point.

Madden Media was chosen from more than two dozen applicants, including six that are based in Duluth or have an office here, for the $3.6 million contract.

Tourism in Duluth is a nearly $1 billion industry.

The Duluth City Council voted 8-1 Monday night, with Councilor Wendy Durrwachter dissenting, to approve a recommendation to choose the out-of-state agency. Most said they wished they could vote no but felt they had no choice.

The city released the scores of the five finalists, which include three Duluth agencies, one with a Minneapolis office and Madden Media. Without considering points given to local shops, Madden Media’s score was 81.2 on a 100-point scale, with Duluth-based Hailey Sault and AimClear the next-highest scorers, at about 73 points each. Bonus points for being local put Madden Media ahead by just three points.

Calling the scored selection process “frustrating,” Council President Roz Randorf said she and others worked behind the scenes to soften the blow — by asking to adjust the contract so more money would be spent in town, for example — but found no viable options. At a council meeting last week Duluth City Attorney Teri Lehr said that if the council rejected a pick that resulted from a competitive proposal process, it could expose the city to legal liability.

“We need a broader conversation about how important local is,” Randorf said. “Outsourcing marketing to out-of-town firms undermines local expertise and siphons money and jobs away from this community.”

Councilor Arik Forsman said he didn’t like the agency’s location, “but I can’t argue with their qualifications.”



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Charges: Girl shot in face when 2 teens unleash barrage of gunfire outside Uptown apartment building

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She was among several people who were at a party that night in the nearby Revel Apartments.



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St. Paul’s McNeely Conservatory at Como getting wheelchair ramps

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Longtime elevators, which were often out of order, will be removed and replaced with ramps that will open in January. There is no Holiday Flower Show this year.



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