Duluth to add another prosecutor in effort to create a safer city

On Monday, the Downtown Task Force offered suggestions for improving the quality of life in the neighborhood that has changed during the pandemic.

July 18, 2022 at 10:00PM
Duluth Mayor Emily Larson offered up key proposals from the Downtown Task Force on Monday, July 18, at Lake Superior Plaza. (Christa Lawler, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

DULUTH — The city of Duluth will hire an additional prosecutor in the City Attorney's Office — a recommendation sparked by the Downtown Task Force and one of several ideas the group has to increase safety in the pandemic-changed neighborhood.

The new hire is a proactive step toward making people feel safe downtown, according to Mayor Emily Larson, who offered a list of other task force initiatives — from public safety to public art — during a media conference Monday afternoon at the freshly renovated Lake Superior Plaza at Lake Avenue and Superior Street.

The City Attorney's Office, headed by Rebecca St. George, currently has three prosecutors in addition to Deputy City Attorney Marcus Jones.

Systems move slowly, and there is a court backlog, Larson said.

"Because public safety is multi-jurisdictional and multi-departmental and multi-governmental, what we can control — what we can work on — are elements within our Duluth Police Department and our attorney's office," she said.

The Downtown Task Force was introduced during Larson's State of the City speech in late March. The group, which meets until the end of September, is looking at issues ranging from public safety to investment.

Some of these topics called for a midpoint update, according to Larson.

"Because downtown is such an important place in the summer, because we have had some events that have caused people to be or feel unsafe, it felt especially important to share concurrently the things we're doing," she said.

On July 4, a 65-year-old woman, a member of the Clean & Safe Team that patrols the downtown in brightly colored shirts, was assaulted by a 37-year-old man in the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center ramp. He also attacked a police officer before he was taken to the St. Louis County jail. Just more than a week later, there was a stabbing that involved two people who knew each other.

The task force is also recommending an easier permitting process for businesses that want to include outdoor seating, a five-year study of the neighborhood and a closer look at housing.

The city plans to implement walking groups — a roaming neighborhood watch meant to fill the sidewalks and Skywalk with people.

"When neighborhoods and communities that have experiences that shake them to the core, they activate," Larson said. "They get out, they get seen, they let neighbors and neighborhoods know that they see each other."

Downtown Task Force co-chair Shawn Floerke of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation is pushing for more community art.

This is already in motion.

Last week, a mural went up outside the Life House "Imaginarium" building — just one of several street art projects in the works.

"People were stopping, people were talking, people were opening up," Floerke said. "It's not paint on a wall, it's paint gathering people."

about the writer

about the writer

Christa Lawler

Duluth Reporter

Christa Lawler covers Duluth and surrounding areas for the Star Tribune. Sign up to receive the new North Report newsletter.

See Moreicon