‘Right to Repair’ and alternative ordinance discussed at Special Meeting

CITY HALL – The ‘Right to Repair’ ballot initiative and an alternative suggested ordinance are read at a special meeting of the Duluth City Council.

After petition signatures for the ‘Right to Repair’ ballot initiative were certified by the Duluth City Clerk’s office, the proposed ordinance is required to be read by the City Council at two separate meetings. The council could choose to pass the ordinance themselves, but that didn’t appear to be the case at the first special meeting on Thursday.

A second ordinance, proposed as an alternative by its authors, councilors Roz Randorf, Terese Tomanek, and Lynn Nephew, was also read into the record. Councilor Randorf justified bringing the alternative ordinance forward when she claimed, “Ordinance 15 Duluth right to repair puts tenants and our tenants in the legal crosshairs.”

Councilor Randorf claimed that the ‘Right to Repair’ ordinance “shifts the burden to 100% liability for potential property damage repair liability and breach of lease terms back onto the tenants.”

Councilor Wendy Durrwachter pushed back against Randorf’s statements by citing existing state statutes that offer protections to tenants against landlord retaliation.

The city council could choose to pass one, both, or neither ordinance at the upcoming meeting on Tuesday, July 1. If the ‘Right to Repair’ does not pass, it will go on the November ballot unless a significant number of people rescind their signatures from the original petition.

“Next week, the Council will have a choice,” read a statement provided after the meeting by Duluth Tenants Lead Organizer DyAnna Grondahl, “either support the nearly 6,000 Duluthians who have already made it clear: we need a tool that actually works. Or continue to propose a weaker alternative that relies on the same inspection systems.”