June of ’71: Council debates Mayor Boo’s pay raise

Duluth Mayor Ben Boo was on the verge of a pay increase 50 years ago, but several city councilors planned to amend the measure and cut the raise in half. That was the top local story in the June 2, 1971 Duluth Herald.

Councilors Lewis M. Latto, Henry Royer, Leo M. McDonnell and Max C. Rheinberger sought a $4,000 raise for the mayor, but councilors Elnora J. Johnson, John W. Sheedy, LeRoy M. Kohne, Robert J. LaPine and Clifford Olson voted to amend the measure and cut the raise to $2,000.

Boo’s salary was increased at the May 24 council meeting from $19,500 to $21,500 annually. Councilor Johnson, who represented West Duluth, said the people in her district “feel that a $4,000 raise is excessive to give to anybody.”

Caption: Poised for ‘Beauty’ … A graceful scene from ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ with Kathy Swensen and Robin Lauer as the principals, will be part of a dance program at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the auditorium of Ordean Junior High School. Directed by Joyce Torvund, the Evening of Dance will involve 130 youths, with the proceeds going to the United Day Activities Center. Grouped around Beauty and Prince Charming are, from left, Martha Langseth, Ann Tarnowski, Nancy Leppink, Kris Eitland, Ginger Nelson and Laura Carpenter. –(Herald photo)

Caption: A Swing and a Miss: Rick Wahtera of Cloquet takes a healthy cut but misses the pitch, which is already in Central catcher Bruce Skoglund’s mitt during District 26 high school baseball action Tuesday afternoon at Wade Stadium. Central defeated Cloquet 4-1 and will play East at 7 p.m. today at Wade for the District championship. The umpire is Tony Emanuel. –(Herald Sports photo.)

3 Comments

Matthijs

about 3 years ago

Of all the mayoral portraits in Duluth City Hall, I think Ben Boo's is my favorite. It has a certain casual friendliness to it. The city may not have given him the extra $2000 a year, but they at least hired a good artist at the end of his term. Although I do have some questions about that artist's choice for green smoke.
  

Barrett Chase

about 3 years ago

I can't zoom in to read most of the text, but even from this distance, I see two examples of bold sexism on the front page.

Paul Lundgren

about 3 years ago

Spoiler alert: Don't worry about Boo not getting half of that pay raise. He'll get the full raise in a couple days.

I could shoot a zoomed-in pic of the "Leggy Engineer Stirs Whistles" story, but I think everyone can trust me that it starts with a sexist headline and keeps the sexism in high gear all the way through.

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