This evening we attended the State of the City address by Duluth Mayor Don Ness. It was a really upbeat address on all the obstacles the city has overcome – unfunded pension liabilities, sewer overflow problems, street repair backlog, and others. But Don did not take all the credit. He praised the City Council for all the work they've done to come up with solutions. He praised the city employees for all the efforts they have made. And he praised businesses and citizens for the contributions they have made.
Now the process was not all sweetness and light; there were many disagreements. But the council and the city administration worked to arrive at solutions rather than gain political points. If we could only have pragmatic governance at the state and federal levels.
Disclaimer: Don Ness and I are long-time acquaintances. When he was a city councilor and ran Rep. Jim Oberstar's Duluth office, I would drop in at Oberstar's office about once a month for a chat with Don. I also had a bit of "clout" because I often wrote for the "Reader Weekly", a local, widely-read newspaper. I contributed to Don's campaigns, and I sent him lots of emails with suggestions or comments about city government. However, I now send him few emails; I figure he has enough feedback and suggestions from hundreds of others.
I think this is how the writers of the Constitution envisioned government. Most of the towns were smaller than Duluth is now, and even the big cities weren't that much bigger. Now we have cities bigger than the United States was in 1787. Some of these are very difficult to manage and are overburdened with competing interests.
