Bring diversity to city of Duluth's citizen boards and commissions Barb Olsen Browne DPPA president Op-Ed piece - Duluth News Tribune Duluth's City Council is doing a great job. Councilors treat each other and the public with respect, they work to find compromises, and they take on tough issues -- like the nonsmoking ordinance. But there's another crucial issue they must take on: improving the frayed system used to appoint citizens to the city's most powerful boards and commissions. Though many of Duluth's boards and commissions exist only to help citizens communicate with city staff, a few have real clout, the kind of clout that affects the lives of Duluthians -- in a big way -- every day. Take the Planning Commission, whose members are hand-picked by the mayor. The Planning Commission reviews and approves proposals that result in major developments like Opus and the Technology Village. And it was the Planning Commission -- with no review by the City Council -- that decided no Environmental Impact Statement was needed for the proposed golf course at Spirit Mountain. The Spirit Mountain Board has enormous power as well. The Spirit Mountain Recreation Area is administered by an ``authority'' created by the Legislature and managed by a board of seven citizens who are appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council. They have the power to construct buildings, lease and sell land, or build golf courses. When you read that something was ``approved by the Duluth Planning Commission,'' those words have an air of authority. They give the impression that the decision was given fair consideration by a group of citizens whose training and experience has prepared them well and who represent the diversity of people in Duluth. But let's look closer. Eight out of the current 13 members of the Planning Commission own or manage businesses, making for a lopsided representation by business. Not one has a background in city planning. No one represents labor, education or environmental groups. Few live in central or west Duluth; the majority live in the east end. These are the people who decided not to require an EIS for Spirit Mountain. And this same group recently approved a rezoning request that could bring a convenience store, gas station, and Burger King to the Thompson Hill area where the natural beauty of the hillside now greets us as we enter Duluth. And the Spirit Mountain Board -- who are its seven members? For starters, no one on the Spirit Mountain Board lives near the recreation area. Three live in the Congdon neighborhood; the others live near Hartley Park, Northland Country Club, St. Scholastica and Hermantown. They include a banker, a lawyer, a financial adviser, an educator and businessmen. No one on the board has training in natural resources, environmental management or recreation. Four of the Spirit Mountain Board members' terms expire this week, on June 30. The mayor has already selected replacements. Two are from Duluth's east end, one from Duluth Heights, and one from the Piedmont area. They include business people, a psychologist, and a school principal. Yet again, these appointments do not really serve the community. What do we need instead? The City Council needs to raise the profile of these appointments and encourage a broad spectrum of people to apply. They need to do more than simply ``interview'' those who are in reality already chosen, and they need to make sure the commissions have balanced representation. In the case of the Spirit Mountain Board, we need citizens from the 5th District -- the neighborhood that must live with the impacts of the recreation area. We need citizens who have experience in recreation and in managing natural resources. And we need citizens who might introduce new concepts -- like ecotourism -- to the board. It's true that it is the mayor's privilege to appoint whomever he chooses to these boards. But the City Council has the power to deny his recommendations. When the mayor is filling these important and powerful boards with people who do not represent the broad spectrum of Duluthians and do not live in the affected neighborhoods, the City Council must have the courage to say ``no.'' Soon, the City Council is scheduled to interview the mayor's candidates for the Spirit Mountain Board. It's time for the council to take these appointments seriously. If the mayor won't select a more balanced mixture of people for the Spirit Mountain Board, then the City Council should help him by encouraging a second look at the many enthusiastic and varied people Duluth has to offer -- people who can breathe new life into these boards and commissions -- and help breathe new life into the city. Olsen Browne is president of the Duluth Public-Policy Alliance, a group of citizens who work on issues of open government and responsible planning in Duluth. These articles are retained on the web for historical interest and do not necessarily reflect the views or goals of DPPA today.