Duluth City Council Meeting - March 9, 2026
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Duluth City Council Meeting - March 9, 2026
The City Council met on Monday, March 9, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting included a presentation from Visit Duluth and Madden Media on tourism marketing, extensive public comment on multiple issues, and a lengthy debate on amendments to the council's standing rules. The meeting concluded after 10:00 PM following the adoption of several resolutions and the first reading of two ordinances.
Reports from the Administration
- Hailey Headstrom, Executive Director of Visit Duluth, presented updates on the organization, the discretionary tourism tax allocation process (totaling $695,000), and the upcoming Destination Master Plan. She emphasized a new accountability framework requiring twice-yearly reporting from funding recipients.
- Nick Cusick of Madden Media presented the 2025 media campaign results for Duluth, highlighting a 40% year-over-year increase in website sessions, 3.4 million in direct revenue from Expedia partnerships, and a 204:1 ROI from one marketing tactic. The 2026 plan shifts from an 80-20 to a 70-30 split between core and growth markets.
Opportunity for Citizens to Be Heard
- Ian Johnson (West Duluth) opposed the flying of the Russian flag in City Hall and expressed opposition to the proposed standing rule changes, arguing they restrict public participation.
- Corinne Freedman Ellis (2nd District) spoke in opposition to standing rule changes, citing accessibility concerns for working families and those with children.
- Alex Swenson (Morley Heights) opposed the standing rule changes, calling them "authoritarian" and urging the council to expand dialogue.
- Roy Hamlin (Hickory Street) urged the council to pass an ordinance restricting vape shops near schools, citing a shop opening next to Hamlin Music Academy.
- Alec Kadlec (Lakewood Road) raised accessibility issues for seniors and people with disabilities under the proposed two-public-comment-period structure.
- Michael Bernstein (Chester Park) announced a citizen initiative petition campaign ("Our Park, Our Vote") to let voters decide the future of the Lester Golf Course land, opposing a potential sale to developers.
- Alexandra Panovich (3rd District) argued that public comment is essential to democracy and that limiting it sends a dangerous message.
- Loren Martell (623 East 7th) criticized moving non-agenda public comment to the end, stating it creates unfairness and discourages participation.
- Karin White (30th Precinct) expressed frustration with government trust and urged the council to view public engagement as a strength.
- Ansel Schimpff (1st District) opposed barriers to public comment, noting his own difficulty attending with young children and mentioning a pattern of intimidation by councilors.
- Andrew St. Croix (Avondale Street) spoke against Resolution 26-0173R, arguing it isolates the public and creates additional barriers for marginalized populations.
- Brandon Parker (4th District) expressed concern over the rule changes, citing intimidation at his workplace by a councilor and urging protection of public comment.
- Barb Montee (2114 East 5th Street) opposed the changes but suggested a trial period and welcomed future adjustments to encourage civility.
- Callan Pfau (Lakeside) yielded his time to Michael Bernstein, but the president denied the request per standing rules.
Resolutions Tabled
- Resolution 26-0061R (Authorizing City Administrator to accept gifts of $10,000 or less): After a motion to table failed 2-7, and a motion to approve carried 7-2 (Councilors Clanaugh and Durrwachter opposed).
Consent Agenda
- The consent agenda, containing 15 resolutions, was approved unanimously by voice vote. Key items included:
- Amendment with Greater Downtown Council ($44,000 increase, new total $817,000)
- Agreement with Great Lakes Aquarium ($310,000)
- Housing Trust Fund grant with DEDA (up to $1,250,000)
- I-35 Corridor planning study from USDOT ($1,800,000)
- Lead service line replacement engineering amendment ($17,680 increase)
- Gas excess flow valve construction contract ($594,873.23)
- Woodland West Reservoir rehabilitation ($96,400)
- Lakewood Pump House roof replacement ($87,600)
- Ten-year cooperative maintenance agreement with St. Louis County
- Fireworks display agreement with Duluth Entertainment & Convention Center
- Spirit Mountain Recreation Area 2026 operating expenses ($400,000)
- Playground equipment purchase order increase ($10,920.63)
- Morgan Park Roof insulation project amendment ($17,500 increase)
- Lifeguarding services contract with Lake Superior YMCA ($106,036.95)
Discussion Items
- Resolution 26-0159R (Aerial Lift Bridge rehabilitation grant): Approved unanimously with praise for staff efforts securing $11.2 million in federal funding.
- Resolution 26-0173R (Amending City Council Standing Rules): The primary discussion item, spanning over two hours. Key amendments debated and voted on:
- Rule 17(c) (Focus of remarks): Amended 9-0 to add language allowing speakers to reference or critique individual councilors or public officials as part of policy discussion, while prohibiting direct debate.
- Rule 17(d) (Prohibited language): Amended 8-1 to include "personal attacks as defined by ad hominem" (Vice President Kennedy opposed).
- Rule 17(h) (Group representation): Amendment to allow individual group members to retain speaking rights failed 4-5.
- Rule 17(j) (Additional time): Withdrawn after previous amendment failed.
- Motion to table the entire resolution failed 3-6.
- Public comment period structure: Motion to eliminate the second comment period failed 4-5; motion to move the second period to follow item 6 failed 4-5; later reconsidered and passed 5-4 to move it to item 7 (back-to-back).
- Rule 17, first paragraph, sentence 3: Amended unanimously to encourage (not require) sign-up prior to meeting start.
- Rule 18(f) (Viewpoint-neutral enforcement): Failed 2-7.
- Rule 7(a) (Consent agenda): Multiple amendment attempts failed, including a change to allow a single councilor to pull items without a motion/second (failed 1-8) and a revision to the consent agenda process (failed 8-1).
- Final adoption of the amended resolution passed 7-2 (Councilors Clanaugh and Durrwachter opposed).
Key Outcomes
- Resolution 26-0061R (Gift acceptance) adopted 7-2.
- Consent Agenda approved unanimously.
- Resolution 26-0159R (Aerial Lift Bridge grant) adopted unanimously.
- Resolution 26-0173R (Standing Rules) adopted as amended 7-2.
- Resolution 26-0154R (Duluth Library Foundation gifts) adopted unanimously.
- Resolution 26-0155R (Friends of the Duluth Public Library gifts) adopted unanimously.
- Ordinance 26-006-O (Mobile food truck licensing period) read for the first time.
- Ordinance 26-008-O (Perpetual easement for trail/recreation) read for the first time.
- Councilors previewed upcoming business: appointments to boards and commissions for March 23 meeting, continued review of the vape shop issue, and follow-up on the Russian flag display in City Hall (Councilor Tomanek reported that the Sister Cities committee will meet to consider replacing country flags with city flags).
Meeting Transcript
And if you want to let us know what your name is, this is Visit Duluth. Yep. I'm Hailey Headstrom, executive director at Visit Duluth. You can go ahead and start the day. Thank you for being here today. Yeah, of course. Thank you so much for having us. Um tonight I'm gonna walk through. Okay, this was working. Hold on. Okay. Tonight I'm gonna walk through these topics in three parts. First, I'll go over over some updates uh with Visit Duluth as an organization. Second, I'll review the discretionary tourism tax process and how those funds are evaluated and allocated. And finally, we'll go over an update on the mandated destination master plan, which will help us guide Duluth's visitor economy moving forward. So I like to start every presentation that I have with kind of a destination marketing organization, Visit Duluth 101. So I'll ask you, are you using this slides or the one that you have in this in your right hand is gonna be Nick Cusick from Madden right after me? I'm only doing half of the presentation. That's what I'm on right now. Thank you. Yep. Appreciate it. Yeah, of course. Uh so first is our marketing and strategy. We really work to promote Duluth to potential visitors uh coming from 50 miles away and positioning the city as a year-round destination. Second, we work on meetings and convention sales. So that's where we attract conferences, meetings, and group travel. That's again driving that overnight visitors and economic activity in our community. Third is our partnerships and collaboration. This is where we really bring value to our tourism industry members. So it's businesses, attractions, and community organizations. Tourism is really a part of an ecosystem here in Duluth, and our marketing supports businesses in their own campaigns as well. And fourth, of course, our visitor center and information services. So we're helping travelers not only plan their visit, but helping them learn about what's in Duluth, that in-person marketing that happens at our visitor center, which is currently located at Gramma's in Canal Park. So really together, these efforts holistically support the broader tourism tourism economy and the businesses that benefit from those that spending. So over the past year, um I am new to this role. I started late August 2025, but there have been several important organizational developments. So first, uh we reached an agreement between the city of Duluth, which was approved by council in March of 2025. This agreement formalizes the work we do as a destination management organization or DMO, uh, that is the role's official DMO and includes administration of the discretionary tourism tax dollars, which was $695,000 for this year. Second, uh tourism marketing responsibility transitioned fully back to Visit Duluth, so allowing our team to really strategically lead implementation for destination marketing uh in conjunction with Madden Media, who you'll hear from Nick a little bit later. So we've also realigned our internal structure and staffing, which will better support um our marketing sales and partnership initiatives. And finally, we've really worked hard um to expand industry collaboration, increasing coordination with tourism partners and regional organizations that drive visitation to Duluth. So as you know, tourism plays an important role in our economy. So tourism tax, which is generated through lodging and food and beverage taxes are largely paid by visitors and then reinvested back into tourism-related initiatives that support the local economy. Those investments help those attract those visitors from outside our region, which then drives that spending. And of course, it also supports local businesses, jobs, and economic activity across the community that works to improve the quality of life for our residents. And as a DMO, with this discretionary funding, our tourism tax investments generally fall into three categories. So we have the events and festivals, those are things that are bringing many people into Duluth, marketing initiatives and programs, and then our visitor guide, which is one of the biggest ways that we market to people coming from outside of Duluth. So all of these efforts, again, we're driving visitation. There's a return on investment.
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