DULUTH, MN (KDAL & Northern News Now) – Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert gave his State of the City address Tuesday night at the Lincoln Park Middle School, but the speech was interrupted six times by protestors.
Before the address kicked off, attendees were met with signs outside of the Middle School calling the Duluth Police Department corrupt.
The protestor’s outrage stems from a recent lawsuit by a retired Duluth police lieutenant, David Drozdowski, who is suing the city after whistle blowing over what he called blatant discrimination.
As Mayor Reinert began his address, he was met with shouts from the crowd, each of the six times he was interrupted, he would step to the side of the stage while the protestors were escorted out of the building by security while shouting.
Reinert mentioned issues surrounding civility in both his opening and closing statements, but said he wasn’t expecting that issue to arise during his address.
He said the question for Duluth is ‘how long and how far do we want to let this go?’” noting the impact recent civility issues have had on both residents and public officials.
During his speech, the Mayor noted five issues that continue to be strategic priorities for his administration. Housing at all income levels, growing the commercial tax base, streets and utilities, downtown Duluth and affordable property taxes.
He also noted the City’s significant budget challenges and said decisions will need to be made that are not going to be easy.
