Duluth council debates $560,000 police role in housing authority renewal

After a tense public comment period, the Duluth City Council approved a five-year renewal that keeps a Duluth Police officer attached to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority as a housing community based police officer, a role that will cost nearly $560,000 and be paid by the HRA.

The agreement ties city policing directly to HRA properties citywide, where the officer is meant to work with residents, build relationships and address long-term concerns. Duluth Police already lists an officer assigned to HRA Properties City Wide, so the renewal extends an existing community-policing model rather than creating a new one from scratch. The department says community policing is a core focus, and it says it has about 158 officers, 40 support staff and a 2025 budget of $29,258,000.

The vote exposed a deeper disagreement over whether a dedicated police presence is the right answer for publicly owned housing. Multiple residents, including Kärin White and Julia Covert, spoke against the plan during public comment, arguing the city should invest more in broader support services instead of more police staffing. Councilor Wendy Durrwachter said she was concerned the job description could lead to a pretextual stop, underscoring worries that the assignment could invite enforcement that goes beyond its stated purpose.

Council Vice President Janet Kennedy defended the renewal on public safety grounds, saying the city still needs a workable strategy for the problems in those buildings. An amendment to shorten the agreement to one year failed, and councilors were told the agreement could be canceled at any time. That left the council with a compromise that preserves the current officer role while keeping the door open to future changes if the arrangement does not work as intended.

The HRA vote came during a long meeting that also advanced other major city spending, including a nearly $2.2 million street preservation project in Morley Heights, lead pipe replacement in Denfeld at just under $1.2 million, and the long-awaited Chester Bowl Chalet construction contract. Duluth says about 10,000 lead water services still remain citywide, with 900 replacement projects completed since the program began, nearly 700 finished in 2024 and a goal of 1,800 replacements in 2025.

At Chester Bowl, the Thom Storm Chalet has stood since the 1970s, and the renovation is pegged at $3.85 million after the Growing Up Chester campaign raised $950,000 and the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources recommended $2,312,000 for the city and Chester Bowl. Construction was expected to begin in spring 2026, with reopening targeted for December 2026, but on April 13 the sharper fight was over whether Duluth should keep paying for a police officer inside its housing authority.