DULUTH — There will be many fresh faces on the City Council in 2024 as Hannah Alstead became the fourth councilor to announce plans to step down at the end of the year.
Others who previously announced they won't seek reelection include 1st District Councilor Gary Anderson and at large Councilors Arik Forsman and Noah Hobbs.
“It has been an honor to fill the seat previously held by my close friend and mentor Renee Van Nett ," Alstead said in a statement Thursday. "I am excited to continue doing good work alongside my colleagues over the next year in my district and throughout the city of Duluth. A huge thank you to my family, friends, and mentors for being a part of all this with me. And a special thank you to the entire 4th District, I look forward to continuing serving you over the next year.”
Alstead was appointed to the nine-member City Council in July following the death of Councilor Renee Van Nett . She represents the 4th District, including the Lincoln Park, Piedmont Heights and Duluth Heights neighborhoods. Councilors selected Alstead from a field of three candidates who applied to serve in place of Van Nett after she died from cancer in June.
In October, just a few months after joining the council, Alstead was hired to serve as the political and labor director for Teamsters Joint Council 32, representing 75,000 union members across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa, a demanding job that involves travel. "It's like everything happened so quickly," she said.
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Alstead described feeling torn. "I really have found a love for public service in a way that I didn't know was going to happen," she said. "And I'm sad about the decision, but I'm also relieved I came to it."
The memory of Van Nett and the encouragement she had provided Alstead also weighed heavily on her. "I had to figure out if I was letting her down by not running. And I had to decide that she would understand and be proud of me for what I'm doing now," she said.
In addition to her job with the Teamsters, Alstead serves as cheer coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She previously served as northeast regional outreach director and constituent services representative for U.S. Sen. Tina Smith.
This story was updated at 8:11 a.m. March 24 to correct one misspelling of Hannah Alstead's last name. It was originally posted at 5:06 p.m. March 23. The News Tribune regrets the error.
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