Duluth Mayor’s Girlfriend Speaks Out After Being Cleared Of Any Political Wrongdoing

DULUTH, Minn. — An outside investigation has concluded Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert and his girlfriend, Amber Gurske, acted legally and ethically with city business during Reinert’s first four months in office.  And for the first time, Gurske spoke to FOX 21’s Dan Hanger Thursday to talk about it all.

(Video of the full interview at the bottom of this story)

“The report did highlight with facts what I already knew the whole time, which is that I didn’t do anything illegal or unethical, and I think that was really important to finally have,” Gurske said.

Reinert, who has always denied any intentional wrongdoing, released the full five-page report Thursday from Soldo Consulting out of the Twin Cities.

The law firm called the report a fact-finding investigation over alleged conflicts of interest and misappropriation of city resources, as published in initial reports by the Star Tribune and Duluth Monitor.

The external investigation involved interviews and the review of texts, emails and call logs, according to Soldo.

The firm concluded Gurske, who is also Reinert’s former campaign manager, acted legally and ethically as his “social media agent” at no charge.  That conclusion was the same for Gurske’s volunteer time to manage the mayor’s personal calendar and have communication with city staff to coordinate the mayor’s personal events.

The report said Gurske was helping her significant other during his first few months in office because Reinert was working without key positions filled, like a senior advisor, which was eventually filled in May.

Meanwhile, Reinert released the following statement on the final report:

“Ms. Gurske did not violate any legal or ethical standards, nor did anyone on our team violate City codes or the City charter. I am gratified the clear findings of this report can now bring this matter to a conclusion.”

As for Gurske, who was virtually unknown to the general population of Duluth before the so-called scandal broke, talked to FOX 21 Thursday about the complaints against her and whether she would change anything looking back.   But beyond that, she described the intense online hate and harassment spewed over her life and job that she believes needs to change, especially when it comes to the target of women.

“Well, every woman can say a few stories of personal experiences where they’ve experienced harassment or sexism,” Gurske said.  “The light was very quickly switched from Roger to myself, and the social media cascade, I like to say, from there. A lot of women have experienced this. For me, it just all happened in the public light, kind of right away.”

Gurske said she was never expecting such a reaction.

“No, not at all. But again, as a woman who has experienced prior to this other, you know, forms of harassment and sexism throughout the course of my life, it made sense. It didn’t make it easier by any means,” Gurske said.

Gurske said she is not speaking out to have a pity party for herself.  She said the level of online attacks she received opened her eyes to a bigger problem that others have faced or could face.

“Why I’m speaking out is to get other women and, again, people, anyone can be bullied online, and it happens on a daily basis,” Gurske explained.  “The more that you talk about your experience and not normalize it and making it okay, but normalizing it for other women to be like, wow, gosh, it’s not just me. Like, things happen to others as well, and shedding light on this negativity … how horribly people treat each other online without any regard for who they are as people. That’s the only way that we can hope to get better as a as a society,” Gurske said.

While the report concluded no wrongdoing on her part, Hanger asked Gurske if she would do anything differently with her approach within City Hall those first four month of the year, a what the plan is for her and Reinert going forward.

“Well, I would not change anything that happened, because, again, as the report has independently concluded, there was nothing illegal or unethical … with Roger not having staff and us just doing our thing, and, you know, being able to be present and helping him where I could everything fine, and allowed us to get to the point where we are, where he has a staff that, you know, he loves and trusts and respects, and they’re doing great things together,” Gurske explained.  “So, I wouldn’t take that back. As far as moving forward, I have no role officially or unofficially in city business. I love my career, so I will still be out and about with Roger, as again, anyone in this community and as any partner, certainly of the mayor, will be out doing stuff, but not in a official capacity or anything like that.”

Gurske said that now the investigation report is complete, she has retained a lawyer and is “considering any legal options.”  That statement came in a press release Thursday that said “incomplete information” and “inaccurate speculation” has caused real harm to her as a person and professional.

Full interview with Gurske below: