The Duluth City Council met on March 24, 2025, beginning at 5:30 PM with a Committee of the Whole presentation by Minnesota Power, followed by the regular council meeting at 6:00 PM. The meeting included a personnel committee interview for the Planning Commission, public comment on the proposed acquisition of Elite by private equity firms, approval of the consent agenda, passage of floodplain ordinance updates, and group interviews for the Human Rights Commission. Councillor Randorf was absent for the regular meeting, resulting in 8-0 votes on most items.
Good evening. My name is Um Azreen Owl. I serve as an at large city counselor, and I am calling the uh the personnel committee meeting and interview to order now. Can I call uh Mrs. Kate Van Dale to the podium? Hello, Mrs. Uh Van Dale. Thank you so much for joining us here today. Um today we're conducting an interview for the planning um the planning com vi uh commission. The planning commission advises the city council on all planning and development matters, including rezoning, issuance of special permits, and community development practices. The commission has final authority in approval of Platz and serves as responsible as the responsible government unit and conducts conducts environmental reviews pursuant to Minnesota chapter uh Minnesota Statute chapter uh um one sixteen D and applicable state regulations. Thank you, Mrs. Uh Vundale for coming and um being willing to serve on the planning commission, fill a vacancy and just willing to serve our community in this way. Um as we begin um our interview today, I'll ask a set of questions and then I'll turn it over to my council members to ask any following uh follow-up questions, and then I'll give it back to you to end on any last remarks. Does that sound good to you? Chair Al, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. That sounds great to me. Thank you. Why don't we begin by why don't you introduce yourself and just um tell us a little bit about who you are? Sure. So um my name is Kate Van Dale. Uh I'm a native Minnesotan. I grew up in Minneapolis. Didn't really spend a lot of time in Duluth until my husband and I would come back and needed a place uh to refuge uh away from my family just to be alone and so um ended up coming to Duluth uh while coming from Denver and just really honestly fell in love with this community. So uh was hired from the city of Duluth uh and took us away from Denver in I don't remember what year, but had uh two different jobs. One was in the planning team originally where I helped to work on the comprehensive plan that is before you today, Imagine Duluth 2035, and then served as the public information officer for three and a half years. So had um a wonderful chance to get to know the staff, the role that we serve in the community, uh really was tried to do my best to lift up um what taxpayers should expect from this body and their services that they provide. Uh miss it uh very much. Um still in touch with a lot of different staff and uh look forward to cheering on the city every day in a different role. Thank you so much for your continued service, your past service um with the plan and even continued as you're um up for this uh the this potential appointment. Um would you've already kind of explained your previous um experience uh with potentially planning. Um would you be willing to expand on why you're interested in serving on this particular board? Sure, Chair Al, thank you for the question. Uh my interest in serving on the planning commission stems from a strong dedication to our community and my experience as a former employee both on the planning commission and as the PIO. Uh having been involved in the development of the current Imagine Duluth 2035 plan, I understand both the vision and the detailed work that went into creating the roadmap for our community. It's a plan that I take a lot of pride in and want to ensure that its goals are implemented thoughtfully in a way that reflects both the values and needs of our residents across the city. I see serving on the commission as a natural step in my commitment to this community in a different space than I have served in the past. It would allow me to bring my first hand knowledge, collaborative approach, and passion for equitable development to the decision making process, ensuring that we're continuing to build a community that thrives economically, socially, and environmentally. Thank you. Um this upcoming question, um you've already laid down some of the groundworks. Would you be able to please um give a brief outline of your educational and work experiences? How will your background, your lived experiences and personal strengths be of benefit to the planning commission? Sure. Um, so my mom ran an environmental uh nonprofit out of the Twin Cities, and I started writing grants for her when I was 13 years old. Uh so started working in the development uh capacity then just because I wanted to help out. Um I think like a lot of people did not want to be like my mother and instead went to college to be an education uh an education uh professional, really got into politics. Um that changed my viewpoint and so um ended up being a political science major who then did exactly what I didn't want to do and turned into my mother by going into nonprofits. Um so after that uh went went to Denver, served in the mayor corps, uh, and then ended up working for the city of Denver on homelessness issues, and so worked in a variety of capacities, um, both as a street outreach counselor on the streets of Denver and then in executive director roles for public health uh entities that then brought me to um this wonderful city to then work on not only the planning team, but then really work to elevate the communication uh within uh eight departments out of nine in addition to the mayor's office. So um long long history, very colorful um experience across a lot of different both public service uh government and now on the corporate send uh lens, and so I think I bring a broad perspective not only from how the city would want to be viewed as a former spokesperson, well aware of any risks that I think Miss Lear would uh agree to in terms of what we can and can't say, thinking about the role that we serve and then also taking development and how it impacts our city very seriously.