Attempts by some fiscally conservative Duluth city councilors to cut off funding Monday for the Duluth Public Arts Commission, Duluth Sister Cities and the passenger rail alliance were denied.
Duluth City Councilor Jay Fosle sought to give the $100,000 that was proposed for the three groups to Visit Duluth and Spirit Mountain instead. The liberal-leaning and independent members of the council rejected the attempts to cut off funding for the three groups.
Another attempt by City Councilor Sharla Gardner, however, to raise funding for Duluth Sister Cities from $20,000 to $30,000 was rejected by the council.
WHAT THEY SAID: Old arguments about Sister Cities and the train were again brought up, with some councilors saying that Sister Cities should be weaned off of public subsidy. Some councilors said it's irresponsible to give $50,000 in funding for the city to be part of a rail alliance for a project that Councilor Todd Fedora said "may or may not work."
Councilor Jeff Anderson said, however, that the money was a small price to pay for a train that could be an economic boon to the area, with some projections estimating that private investors would bring at least $250 million to the Twin Ports.
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HOW THEY VOTED: Only Fosle voted to cut funding from the Public Arts Commission; Fosle and Councilor Jim Stauber voted to cut funding from Sister Cities; Fosle, Stauber, Fedora and Garry Krause voted to cut funding from the rail alliance.
