We're FAMOUS!
Well folks, the whole world now knows about the troubles that plague "the Zenith City."
New York Times (Retirement Benefits)
International Herald Tribune, Paris, France (Retirement Benefits)
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Well folks, the whole world now knows about the troubles that plague "the Zenith City."
New York Times (Retirement Benefits)
International Herald Tribune, Paris, France (Retirement Benefits)
Comments
Thank god! I thought they were going to be articles about Herb "boozy" Bergson!
Posted by: Bad Cat! | December 11, 2005 01:40 PM
Yeah, Bad Cat, it's so much better that we've been singled out because we are on the edge of bankruptcy! Whew! That was a close one.
Posted by: ironic1 | December 11, 2005 04:18 PM
Well, I'd rather be known as the city that tried to take care of it's people and couldn't, then the city whose mayor could have killed someone while drunk driving.
Posted by: Bad Cat! | December 11, 2005 05:10 PM
Well said.
Posted by: ironic1 | December 11, 2005 05:45 PM
Has anyone been really following this saga? Duluth is not the only municipality with this problem, we were just one of the first to discover it. I'm not sure what measures will be taken to soften the blow of this sledgehammer but I am glad that I live in Duluth, the city that brought the problem to national and international attention than some slow moving, backward thinking, wrongheaded municipal board in B.F. America who will be digging themselves out of a far larger mess ten years down the road. Let's not hang our city leaders for having the foresight to see a potential disaster and the guts to look at this problem honestly. Drunk driving, on the other hand... Why, Herb, why?
Posted by: B Cookie | December 12, 2005 08:18 AM
throwing stones at glass houses eh? most of us have driven drunk at one time or another...count your blessings you never got caught or hurt someone yourselves.
Posted by: c-freak | December 12, 2005 08:53 AM
I'm going to take a wild guess and say that this wasn't Herb's first time. If it was MY first time drunk-driving, I wouldn't try to make it to Spooner, let alone Eau Claire.
Personally, you can't be too mad at the guy because, as c-freak pointed out, we've all dodged our share of bullets. Hell, I did it last night.
I guess that I'm not PO'd at Herb for driving drunk. I am a bit miffed that he was the Mayor of Duluth and driving drunk at the same time. ...On official City business, no less. Bad timing.
Also, "Mayor of Duluth" is a position that is very unique in Minnesota since Duluth is only ONE of THREE Minnesota cities that has a full-time mayor. All other mayors are part-time, like our council. (the other cities with full-time mayors are Minneapolis & St. Paul!)
Posted by: Drunky McDrunkdrunk | December 12, 2005 10:40 AM
This high falootin', self-aggrandizing blogerati business is really starting to get on my nerves.
A pat on the back for everyone... but ONLY if you do it yourself!
Posted by: adam | December 12, 2005 03:42 PM
oy. the worst part would be getting your beat-up arrest photo on the front page of the local paper. wonder how that would feel...
definitely bad timing, but i wouldn't be surprised at all if it turned out he was one step over the line (i.e., one drink). noting the time of the offense (an hour and a half after work on Friday, which is usually when he's expected at one of those elbow-rubbing, cocktail hoo-has), and knowing well the ice issues on that particular road at this time of year, the actual cause of the accident may not have been alcohol at all, just coincidental. (albeit stupid--could have waited another hour and been good to go. it's just that Chicago's a 7.5 hr drive, and i'm sure it was too tempting to get going.)
i personally think he handled the whole mess with some class, seeing as he's the one who contacted the DNT first.
Posted by: hbh | December 12, 2005 04:26 PM
So, if it was just "cincidental" and he did only have "one drink", why refuse medical attention and tell the motorist's that helped to "not call the police". I don't disagree that we all make mistakes, but, when you are in the position that he is in, you don't make those kind of mistakes, unless you are a kennedy.
Posted by: tremolite | December 12, 2005 04:39 PM
The reason you wouldn't want the Cops called it obvious - you're the mayor of the 4th biggest city in Minnesota. Whatever you do that is outside the norm, you're going to end up in the news.
I don't doubt that the road conditions weren't the best that night, and the reason Herb started earlier rather than later was so that he'd stay ahead of the weather.
It's just a big, shitty situation - No matter how you slice it. You can't be too mad at the guy, but you can't condone it either. A big shitty situation.
Posted by: Tomasz | December 12, 2005 04:54 PM
looks like i was wrong about the "one drink." oh well.
Posted by: hbh | December 13, 2005 03:02 PM