The Comprehensive Plan: Whither or Wither? DPPA Panel Discussion Is Duluth’s Comprehensive Plan destined, after the firing of the Comp Plan consultant last winter, to wither on the vine? Or is it still blossoming, albeit quietly? Find out on Saturday, June 8, when DPPA hosts a panel discussion on the topic. Panelists will include: Mike Conlan, Duluth’s Director of Planning and Development Deede Westermann, chair of Neighborhood Planning District 2 and Executive Director of Spirit Valley Neighborhood Community Development Association Tom Hollenhorst, of the Natural Resources and Research Institute Louise Yount, (info. to follow) And you! (Please bring your questions and comments!) Panel time: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Social time: 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. Location: Fitger’s Fireside Room Refreshments: The usual fattening pastries and coffee served (donation requested). As always, free and open to the public. Women in Duluth Politics -- Where Are They? It’s no secret that Duluth’s City Council and the offices of City Hall are dominated by males. Some say it’s because the tasks that a political campaign demands of candidates are not the kinds of tasks women are as used to taking on -- that debates, public speaking, and leadership in general are not something our society prepares females for as much as it does men. Others mention our city’s current Administration, saying that it could do more to focus on encouraging women’s involvement. Still others will tell you that it’s not a gender issue at all, but a matter of societal practicality. Single mothers and homemakers, for example, rarely run for office, being far less likely to have the financial resources, personal connections, or time that a businessperson might enjoy. As we look down the road at the 2003 elections and consider who might be in the running for Mayor, City Council, and other elected and appointed positions, the time is ripe for taking a look at where the women are in the Duluth political scene. Common Sense asked former City Council candidate Nancy Nelson to tell us about the journey on which her 2001 campaign took her. And we asked City Councilor Greg Gilbert for his take on what might be done to bring greater gender equality to the Duluth political scene. Nancy Nelson: A Campaign Journey I think the important difference is in the perspective that women bring to any issue. -- Nancy Nelson Common Sense asked Nancy Nelson a whole host of questions about her run in 2001 for an At Large City Council position, including ``In your opinion, do women have a more difficult challenge in running for political office than do men?'' Here is her reply: Nancy: ``I suspect that running for City Council, or other political office, is difficult for nearly everyone. It takes a great deal of time and energy. Most people’s lives are completely filled with working full-time, raising a family, taking care of a house, and enjoying whatever activities they consider ``fun.'' Something has to be sacrificed in order to serve in a public office -- especially one like the Duluth City Council that is essentially a volunteer position. The choice of what gets sacrificed is different for everyone. As a single person, I do not have a family to take care of, which might make things easier. But at the same time, I do not have anyone else to help out with the everyday chores like laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, and cooking meals. When I was campaigning for City Council, I found it very difficult to find the time or energy to do any of these things. I was very grateful to the friends who fed me or dropped off food at my door. Campaigning was difficult for me, but I think this is more a matter of personality than gender. For example, as a scientist, I have been trained not to speculate on things that I don’t know much about. Scientists like to have data and evidence to support what they say. But as a candidate, I was expected to have an opinion on every issue, whether or not I’d had time to learn about it. I also found it very difficult to call people on the phone and almost impossible to go ``door-knocking'' because I felt that I was intruding on other people’s privacy; I have heard other candidates -- both women and men -- say the same thing. Another challenge of politics is that you open yourself to public criticism. When I campaigned, I did not experience much hostility from people who disagreed with me, but I did experience enough to know that it is difficult to deal with. Most people who disagreed with my opinions simply said ``no thanks'' when I offered them literature or the chance to talk. But a few people accused me of being dangerous for the future of Duluth -- a terrible person who would destroy the whole city. And one group deliberately provided untrue and misleading information to the Chamber of Commerce for a question that was asked during the candidate forum. It is easy for the few bad experiences to overshadow the many good experiences. A politician must have the confidence and courage to stand up for what she believes, despite public criticism. The only issues that I see primarily as ``women’s issues'' are the ones related to reproductive freedom. Men can sympathize with these issues, but I don’t see how they can truly understand them. For the most part, I believe that everyone is affected by the ``issues'' -- things like living wages, access to health care, good schools, transportation, housing, and creating a city that people enjoy living in. I think the important difference is in the perspective that women bring to any issue. The key to making good decisions as a society is to hear from a wide variety of viewpoints; this includes women, men, elders, rich, poor, business people, environmentalists, scientists, and so on. Although campaigning for City Council was a lot of work, it was satisfying to know that instead of just complaining about what is wrong, I was doing my part to try to make things better.'' Greg Gilbert: On Encouraging Women in Local Politics Of second-term City Councilor Greg Gilbert, Common Sense asked, ``What do you think could be done to bring more women into the political arena in Duluth?'' Greg: ``While everyone seems to agree that more women and people of color need to be elected to public office in Duluth, little seems to have been done about it since the all-male City Council was elected last year. With the Mayor’s position and five City Council seats up for grabs in 2003, it’s not too early to think about this issue. Gender equality in our city is certainly a complex topic, with many reasons underlying why we currently have such a male-dominated situation. Whatever the reasons this has developed, however, I believe there are concrete ways in which we can tackle the problem. We might, for example, consider these ideas: The Mayor and the City Council should make it a goal to appoint more women and people of color to city boards and commissions. These positions have long served as a training ground for elected public office. Many City Councilors, for example, have begun their political careers by serving on the Planning Commission or on other such appointed bodies. The Mayor and the City Council should hire more women and people of color for city managerial positions. Not only are all of our city-elected officials currently men, but the Administrative Assistant, City Clerk, City Attorney and nearly all department heads are all men as well. This sends the wrong message to women and people of color who are interested in serving. The city should create more opportunities for candidates to get their message out to the public without cost. It’s not uncommon for city-wide races to cost more than $25,000 and for district races to cost more than $10,000. The high cost of running a campaign is a barrier for women and people of color in seeking public office. The city should take a leadership role in encouraging positive political campaigns. Recent negative campaigns and the use of attack ads, especially directed against those who support more progressive policies, discourages good candidates from running for office. The city should put together an information network of political experts and volunteers and make these resources available to all potential candidates. In this way, members of the general public would have a way to find out what you need to know to run for political office in Duluth.'' Wow, What a Good Time! Many thanks to all of those who helped out with the Second Annual DPPA Spaghetti Dinner Extravaganza! on April 19. It was a whopping success. (Sally: Can you highlight the next sentence in some way?) Special thanks goes out to those individuals and businesses who donated the many lovely items and services to the silent auction. And no mention of the auction would be complete without a big, juicy thank-you to Sally Rauschenfels, our Auction Chair. Thanks to all of you who helped set up for the dinner, sold tickets at the door, helped chop the veggies, and cleaned up afterwards. And a big thank-you to Juanita Kammerman for putting together a dessert table that won’t soon be forgot! DPPA also extends its thanks to Wendi Carlson for creating the great centerpieces, Patty McNulty and Duke Skorich for acting as Masters of Ceremony, and Carolyn Sheets for bringing the relaxation of chair massages to the night. A very special thanks goes to event chair Iver Bogen, the fellow who organized committees, bought food, put up posters, distributed tickets, cajoled many of our auction donations, and suffered through frequent nightmares that we would not have enough cooking pots to make the dinner! And we extend our gratitude to Hal Moore, who oversaw every aspect of the creation of the excellent meal, along with the help of Pasta-Sauce Queen, Dorothy Wolden, and Salad Maven, Carla Blumberg. The night certainly would not have been complete as well without the music of DPPA member Steve Johnson and his band Stone’s Throw and Wendy Grethen, whose inspired dulcimer performance was a sheer delight. Welcome to Jan Karon The DPPA Board of Directors welcomes Jan Karon as a new board member; Jan was elected at the Annual Meeting portion of the dinner. Also re-elected were board members Iver Bogen, Patty McNulty, and Andrew Slade. The DPPA Civic Activist Award goes to On the night of the Extravaganza! dinner, these words introduced this year’s recipient of the DPPA Civic Activist Award: ``This year’s recipient is someone who knows what it is to be a civic activist: that it’s an effort filled with rewards and inspiration and wonderful friends yet fraught with stress, over-work, and those inevitable times when one feels alone and hopeless. This person has persevered for years in working for a better Duluth and embodies the values of integrity and courage that give us all something to aspire to. This year’s DPPA Civic Activist Award goes to the woman who at times has been all that has stood in the way of the destruction of one of Duluth’s greatest resources -- the urban forest at Spirit Mountain. And with those words, I know you now know this year’s recipient is Nancy Nelson.'' Nancy’s service to the community includes her work on Spirit Mountain, the founding of the Skyline Planning and Preservation Alliance, her past work as a charter member of the city’s Tree Commission, and her championing of Duluth’s Natural Resources Inventory. To honor Nancy, a tree will be planted and a plaque dedicated, as part of a landscaped gathering place, possibly at Lake Place Park. We’ll keep you posted. DPPA’s 2002 Video Project Soon to Be On the Air Some months ago, you as members of DPPA chose as this year’s major project the creation and airing of a number of informational videos -- and that project is nearly complete. Beginning soon, these programs will be aired on PAC-TV (cable Channel 7) and will also be available for check-out at the Duluth Public Library. The first to air will be the DPPA-sponsored forum, ``Is It Mean to Be Green?'' The forum features City Councilor Russ Stewart and former Green Party Senate candidate Joel Sipress for the Greens, as well as City Council President Donny Ness and local redeveloper Carla Blumberg for the DFL. Also soon to be aired will be the DPPA series ``Face-to-Face, Conversations with Duluth City Councilors.'' In the programs, City Councilors will be featured in individual interviews. In Duluth, 56% of all homes have cable television, and on Monday nights more people tune to Channel 7 to watch City Council meetings than watch any other television program on the air that night, including Monday Night Football. It seems safe to assume that people have a strong interest in the City Council and will likewise be interested in these in-depth interviews. Councilors Neill Atkins, Ken Hogg, Russ Stover, Greg Gilbert, Donny Ness, Russ Stewart, and Jim Stauber joined interviewer Barb Olsen Browne for informal conversations on such issues as who they think might run in 2003 for Mayor and how the city can make good decisions on development and green space. (Councilors Rob Stenberg and Herb Bergson chose not to participate.) The programs have been videotaped and edited by DPPA’s own video master, Glenn Maxham. As of this writing, the airing dates have not yet been set. Contact PAC-TV (218-723-3686) or Barb (349-6681) for more information. If you would be interested in taking the PAC-TV video production class and helping to create DPPA informational videos, please contact Barb at 349-6681 or barbolsenbrowne@hotmail.com. Revitalize Democracy! Coming to the DECC July 28 through 30 is the conference ``The Demise of Democracy: The Rise of Corporate Power,'' a conference focusing on what its creators consider to be the major force eroding democracy -- the rise of corporate power -- and how this trend can be reversed. The conference will feature such speakers as Senator Paul Wellstone and John DeGraaf, author of the book and the PBS production ``Affluenza.'' For more information, see www.revitalizedemocracy.org or call 525-4781. Calendar May-Sep Farmer’s Market, Wednesdays, across from Kirby Student Cntr. 727-0992. June 2002 Sat 01 7:00 pm Sally Miller Gearhart reads from her novels. Harbor View Room, Fitger’s. www.taransmarketplace.com Sat 01 5:00 pm Benefit for new film. 5 and 7 PM, Peace Church. 525-1110. Sun 02 Author Marge Piercy in Duluth. 724-1653 Sat 08 11:00 am DPPA meeting: ``Duluth’s Comprehensive Plan: Wither or Whither?'' Fitger’s Fireside Room. 349-6681. Mon 10 7:00 pm Duluth City Council meeting. Tue 11 Northland Sustainable Business Alliance (NSBA) meeting. 724-3464. Wed 12 11:30 am Brown Bag Lunch w/ Mayor Doty re nonprofits and comp plan. Conf. rooms B & C, Ordean Building, 424 W. Superior St. Free. Tue 18 6:00 pm SPPA (Skyline Planning and Preservation Alliance) summer potluck, Enger Park. 728-1002. Mon 24 7:00 pm Duluth City Council meeting. Sat 29 1:00 pm Dedication of Million Mom March garden, Lake Place Park. 727-8081. July 2002 Mon 08 7:00 pm Duluth City Council meeting. Tue 09 NSBA meeting. 724-3464. Sat 13 9:00 am SPPA Interpretive Hike, Bagley Nature Center. Meet at Bixby’s Bagels. 728-1002. Mon 22 7:00 pm Duluth City Council meeting. 28-30 ``The Demise of Democracy: The Rise of Corporate Power,'' DECC. Info: or 525-4781. August 2002 Sat 10 9:00 am Save Lake Superior Association annual meeting, Split Rock State Park -- open to all. 727-4554. Sat 10 9:00 am SPPA Interpretive Hike, along Kingsbury and Knowlton Creeks. Meet at Beaner’s. 728-1002. Sat 17 St. Louis River Citizens Action Committee annual Picnic and Canoe Party, St. Louis River. $15. 733-9520 These articles are retained on the web for historical interest and do not necessarily reflect the views or goals of DPPA today.