City of Duluth officials announced today a proposed package of public safety ordinance changes that allow the city additional options for solving frequently reported nonviolent offenses.
Mayor Roger Reinert opened today’s news conference by thanking Duluth Police Chief Mike Ceynowa, Duluth Fire Chief Shawn Krizaj and Duluth City Attorney Jessica Fralich for their long-range work on improving and modernizing city code.
“Early in my conversations with Chief Ceynowa and Chief Krizaj, I asked them to highlight the things that they would change if they could – things that would better support our police and firefighters, better influence problem behaviors, better connect individuals with needed resources, and better the quality of life in our neighborhoods and community,” said Reinert.
That conversation motivated the package of ordinance changes that will be on the City Council agenda for a first reading on July 15. The ordinances will amend multiple sections of city code and establish misdemeanor-level offenses for acts that represent the complaints most often received from residents and are most observed by public safety teams. The ordinances cover behaviors like burning, property damage, graffiti, solid waste compliance, and camping on public property.
“These new ordinance proposals will allow us to address problem behaviors that impact everyone’s ability to feel safe and secure in their community,” said Ceynowa. “Changing offenses from fines, which may be a financial burden to some, to misdemeanors allows for the option of diversion and connection to services. As a police department, we will educate and encourage prior to enforcement. This approach creates compassion with accountability.”
“This ordinance work has actually been underway for quite some time – in some cases, years – but Chief Ceynowa and I are grateful to City Attorney Fralich, Chief Administrator Montgomery and Mayor Reinert for their support of our staff who have been in the field working on these frequent community complaints without the proper infrastructure in place to enforce public safety,” said Krizaj. “We’ve been in meetings all along with various community partners to make sure that this ordinance package reflects our community values and holds our enforcement strategies to those standards while we do the work to keep our community safe.”
The ten ordinances will be first read by City Council at their Monday, July 15 meeting. The package will be read by the council a requisite second time at its meeting on July 29 and a vote will follow. The ordinances would go into effect 30 days following adoption.
William A. Irvin to host intimate band series 'Music on The Ship'
It started with a phone call. After 14 years living in Minneapolis, Charity Benedict returned to where she grew up and later met her husband. “With remote work after Covid, we jumped on the path to move back to Duluth.”
The Central High grad saw all the new musical opportunities now in the area from Concerts on the Pier to expanded Music in the Park series. As a singer/songwriter herself, she started to brainstorm more unique venues.
“I wanted to find a really cool place that had never showcased local musicians and bring those two worlds together, vibe and energy,” says Benedict. The William A. Irvin, a historic freighter with bridge views, fit that bill.
That’s when she approached DECC Executive Director Dan Hartman about putting bands on the spar deck of the William A. Irvin.
“It’s a great idea and frankly, I’ve been hoping to use the Irvin as a venue, but just lacked the capacity to organize it. Charity worked with our staff and reached out to all the bands, found Pizza Luce as a sponsor and has been trying to secure some food trucks, too.”
Music on The Ship Details
. The event is free and located atop of the William A. Irvin. The Irvin, a historic freighter, is not handicap accessible
. Six Thursdays starting July 25 featuring a variety of genres (from jazz to hard rock to 80’s pop) performed by local musicians
July 25 – Charity & Nate / Eldri Snow and The Wintery Mix
August 1 – The Hot Club of Duluth
August 8 – Derecho
August 15 – Teague Alexy and The Common Thread
August 22 – Nvr Tgthr/ Sadkin
August 29 – Boss Mama / and the Sonja Martin Band
. Maximum of 140 people per show
. Family-friendly event featuring mocktails and other soft drinks (No alcohol sales)
. Bring your own chairs in bags ONLY
The William A. Irvin is a floating museum owned and operated by the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. – DECC press release
