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Politics and Government News
Dan Kraker
Duluth, Minn.

Duluth council tables vote to remove ‘chief’ from job titles

Duluth City Hall
Duluth Mayor Emily Larson’s administration pushed for changing the name of the city’s chief administrative officer to city administrator. But at least one council member argued the issue was a distraction from more pressing priorities. 
Bob Kelleher | MPR News 2009

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The Duluth City Council has postponed a vote on an amendment to the city’s charter that would rename the city’s “chief administrative officer” position “city administrator.” 

Mayor Emily Larson advocated for the change last week, saying the use of the word “chief” was offensive to the city’s Native American residents and others, and arguing that there are plenty of alternatives that are more modern and more inclusive. 

The change also would have resulted in the renaming of the city’s “chief financial officer” position to “finance director.” 

But Monday night, the City Council voted to table a vote on the proposal, after council member Derek Medved said he would vote against the proposed change if the vote were to go forward. 

That would have effectively killed the proposal, as a change to the city charter requires a unanimous vote of the City Council. 

"I ran my campaign on the morals of going back to the basics,” Medved said, “and this does not follow those back-to-the-basics morals.” He said he wanted to focus on things the council can do to serve the community and make a difference right now.

Medved suggested he'd support the title change next month if its purpose was defined more narrowly — to make it more consistent with other cities, but not because of language that some find offensive. 

The statement of purpose accompanying the proposed resolution states that the city is seeking “to elevate and foster cultural responsiveness by proactively removing language that is harmful, misrepresentative and derogatory.”

The city’s Chief Administrative Officer Noah Schuchman — whose title would be changed if the ordinance is approved — said he’s drafted a revised statement of purpose tailored more specifically to the specific job title that the ordinance seeks to change. 

City Council Vice President Renee Van Nett, who's a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, said she was hurt by the council’s decision to table the vote. 

“It doesn’t affect you all like it affects me,” she told her fellow council members. “When someone calls me ‘chief,’ — that is bad, you guys. And that happens,” she said. 

Last week, Larson said she’s also exploring potential changes to the titles of the city’s police chief and fire chief. But several council members, including Van Nett, said they would support renaming those positions. 

The council could take up the issue again at its next meeting on July 13.