Interview number one: Don Ness (Mayor's Race)

Personal information (name, interest, ECT…..)?


Don Ness, 33, husband and father of two. I work for the Zeppa Foundation as their Director of Programming and Policy. I am a life-long Duluth resident and I currently own a home just 5 blocks from where I grew up in the Hillside neighborhood.


Do you have any special interest supporting you? If so which groups?

We have endorsements from two organizations the Duluth Building Trades and the local DFL party.


Do you believe crime is a major issue facing Duluth? What can be done to solve it?


Safety in our neighborhoods has long been a strength in Duluth. We need to be sure that it remains a true advantage in the competition for jobs, investment, and people. Community policing is my primary funding priority in city government because it allows for pro-active police work that is vital in protecting our quality of life.


What can you do to bring business to Duluth? What industries should we focus on?


I believe that by creating and investing in a workforce development system in Duluth that we can create real value for employers in our area. The strength and talent of our workforce will become our most prominent advantage in attracting business to Duluth and to encouraging growth in our core industry sectors: aviation, health care, and light manufacturing.


How should the unfunded health care liability be solved?

I'm proud of my leadership role in establishing the Retiree Health Care Task Force and my advocacy of implementing that plan in a timely basis. There is still much work that needs to be done and I'm committed to putting the full plan in place by the end of 2008.
What can we do to keep our young people in Duluth?


So much of our future success in Duluth will be determined by the quality of young people that we are able to convince to make their home in Duluth. We should be deliberate about identifying those young people who will bring real value to their work place and their community and convince them to invest themselves in our community. We need to do a better job of providing opportunities - economic, cultural, and social opportunities - so that those talented young people don't feel a need to leave Duluth to find them.


Note: Don may pass more along to me. If he does I will post it here.