News & Articles

Duluth’s natural spaces and parks are critical infrastructure

To my dear neighbors:
Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Department is approaching the end of its city general fund support this fiscal year, and right now, there is no dedicated structural or replacement. Without action: staffng, maintenance and community access will suffer. Not due to lack of community efforts, but because of how the system defines what counts as infrastructure.

In practice, Duluth already treats parks, trails and natural spaces as infrastructure. They host high-use public services, generate revenue, support workforce development, manage stormwater, help meet climate goals and so much more. They are embedded in our tourism identity and central to our city’s sense of place. 

What’s missing is the legal recognition that would allow us to plan and fund them accordingly. It’s simple, really. When we formalize what’s already true in practice, we empower our city to align its efforts and maximize impact. The best part of this is that it doesn’t cost us a dime. No tax hike, my friends.

Codifying parks as critical public infrastructure would not create new spending. It would integrate our existing strengths: from our planning documents, permitting systems, tracking and monitoring practices, climate work, award-winning recreation programs, and tourism infrastructure into a cross functionally collaborative, capital-eligible framework. This step would allow Duluth to braid funding across systems and distribute operational structure across city departments. 

As a simple example, trailheads that support mobility and tourism could be jointly funded with transportation and erosion prevention and resiliency development dollars.
Climate-resilient landscaping projects could be linked to water, energy and public health efforts. Parks already play these roles. 

Projects could be bundled to reduce the time we spend taking detours and waiting to be able to enjoy our neighborhood again. Codification simply gives us the structure to support them fully.
It would also help Duluth better measure the true value of its natural assets. Right now, permit pricing, public-private use agreements, and cost recovery strategies are often based on general estimates, not infrastructure-level asset valuation. Recognizing parks as infrastructure would allow us to calculate their actual contribution to the city’s economy, infrastructure network and livability: and price and engage in lifetime asset planning accordingly.
This benefits everyone, whether your primary concern is tax efficiency, tourism return, neighborhood quality of life or environmental stewardship. Strong, well-maintained public parks lower stormwater costs, reduce crime, raise property values and attract visitors. They’re not just amenities. They’re working assets. It’s a fiscal fact.

Duluth has the talent, the systems and the data to take its operations, programming and marketability to the next level. To serve locals and visitors alike. 

What we need now is alignment. The Mayor’s capital budget proposal already emphasizes protecting core services and enhancing long-term investment strategies. Codifying parks fits that agenda. It turns what we’re already doing into a sustainable, integrated part of Duluth’s infrastructure future.

We have until September to pass this ordinance before the 2026 budget is finalized. The choice before us is simple. Do we continue asking our parks to meet infrastructure demands without infrastructure support – or do we give them the recognition and resources they need to serve Duluth for the long term?

This is a practical fix with long-term benefits. It’s a natural next step we can take and have nothing to lose. Let’s get it done.
Josie LaPorte
Commissioner, District 3, Duluth Parks and Recreation Commission

We deserve leaders who stand with us

Our government derives its power from the ‘consent of the governed’ — in other words, the people. We call on our leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, to use the power entrusted to them to improve the lives of ALL Americans. This is not a Democratic or a Republican value, but one that is part of the social contract in America, between those who govern and the governed.  

In America, we deserve an economy that works for all of us. An economy where hard-working folks can earn a fair, livable wage, can unionize, and afford housing, health insurance, child care, as well as elder care. Where the richest pay their fair share of taxes, along with everybody else paying their fair share. Where schools are excellent regardless of zip code, and where no one lives on the street or goes to bed hungry. A government that values equal rights and opportunity for all its people. A government where, regardless of wealth or income, all our voices are heard, where all eligible people can vote without roadblocks or fear, and where our right to due process is honored. In America, we deserve a government that serves all of us.

The current President, as a candidate on the campaign trail, promised to lower our cost of living, winning the election last November, in large part, based on that promise. He promised to lower prices on all goods, including health insurance, promised to tame inflation and to make America affordable again. He broke that promise by passing recent legislation that makes America more expensive for most of us, but especially for the poor and working families. The GOP promised NOT to cut our social safety net— programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. 

Life will cost more because the GOP broke that promise, kicking folks off their health insurance. Approximately 11 to 16 million folks will lose their health insurance due to $1 trillion (dollars) in Medicaid cuts. The Medicaid program is a lifeline for rural hospitals, nursing homes and clinics; they now risk closure from financial calamity if their patients lose insurance and have no way to pay for their care.  

In addition, poor and working families will pay more, due to the new cuts to food programs, for the increased monthly costs for student loans for millions of borrowers, and because of cuts to programs that help us heat our homes.  The President’s tariffs will dramatically increase prices for ALL American consumers on a wide variety of goods-- from cars, clothing, food, lumber and steel, to appliances and Christmas toys.

Our President, as a candidate last fall, promised he would balance the budget, not add to our debt, vowing “to restore fiscal sanity” to our nation. His latest legislation – that provides huge tax cuts to America’s wealthiest citizens & corporations, while slashing programs that serve the rest of us – is projected to add $4 trillion to our national debt. This is the largest fiscal expansion during peacetime in U.S. history. We know that fiscal irresponsibility throws gasoline on inflation-- making the prices on all goods & services markedly more expensive; we can buy woefully less with the same amount of money as before.

In addition to promising to make America less expensive, our President when campaigning last fall, promised to be the “peace president,” and “to avert WWIII.” He promised to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, to end it even before taking office in January 2025. He promised to bring peace to the Middle East and end the war in Gaza, all while urging Israel “to finish the job.”  In his Inaugural Address, the President stated, “We will measure our success…by the wars we never get into…”  Yet five short months later, the president was using war language, demanding an “unconditional surrender” from Iran, though not technically at war. He then conducted U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in response to the escalating tensions between Israel & Iran. The strikes heightened regional tensions, with Iran vowing retaliation, raising concerns about a wider conflict (WWIII?). All this while vowing to restore lasting peace in the world.

All political candidates make promises they don’t/can’t keep. Many promises are aspirational – where elected politicians try hard but will only make small incremental improvements in the lives of everyday Americans. But no other politician has made such sweeping promises and then dramatically worked so hard to achieve the exact opposite, as we have seen here. 

No matter who you voted for, or which political party you belong to — we deserve a leader who cares about all of us and works to make our lives better. We deserve leaders who stand with us to tackle the challenges we face, not prioritize tax breaks for the 1% while slashing programs that serve the 99%. Our President’s signature legislation is the largest and most radical transfer of wealth from the poorest and middle classes to the richest in American history. 

As a community, we must commit to helping our neighbors who will be the hardest hit by these cuts to our social safety net. While we have always disagreed vociferously on any number of issues, we have always come together as a community to help our Northern Minnesota neighbors in need. Our ancestors helped define the notion of mutual aid.
Valerie Myntti
Ely, Minnesota