Duluth City Council votes against “right to repair”, offers option to remove signature from petition

By WDIO

The Duluth City Council voted against the Duluth Tenant’s “right to repair” ordinance, in favor of an alternative ordinance tackling the same issue on Tuesday July 1st.

The “right to repair” ordinance would require landlords to schedule a repair within a 14 day time frame.

The alternative ordinance will amend city code to add training requirements for landlords, notification requirements for tenants, and require repairs to be made in a timely fashion.

The “right to repair” ordinance is currently still scheduled to appear on the ballot in November, but that is subject to change.

Since the alternate ordinance was passed, per section 51 of the City of Duluth’s Charter, the passage of an alternative ordinance prompts the City Clerk to offer the public an opportunity to request their name be withdrawn from the petition. If the city receives signature removal requests from more than 50 percent of the originally signatories within 10 days of the passage of that alternate ordinance, the original “right to repair” ordinance will be removed from the ballot in November.

If that does not occur, the ordinance will remain on the ballot for November.

Those wishing to remove their signature can do so here or by calling (218) 730-5500.

Duluth Tenants sent out a statement saying: “Tonight, the Council had a chance to support the nearly 6,000 Duluthians who have already made it clear: we need a tool that actually works. Duluthians from across the city testified to the council that Right to Repair is the only policy that gets the job done, because no one should have to wait months for a simple repair. And taxpayers should not have to foot the bill to send an inspector just to send a note to a landlord. Duluth Right to Repair delivers action. The weaker “Landlord Ordinance” delivers more waiting. Duluth renters deserve solutions, not stalling. From now until November, Duluth Tenants will be out every day, building on our momentum, ensuring voters know what’s at stake: the chance to fix what’s broken, not just in our homes, but in the system that has failed renters for too long.”– DyAnna Grondahl, Lead Organizer of Duluth Tenants