Jun 15, 2006 12:33 am US/Central
Duluth Mayor Won't Run For Re-Election
Duluth, Minn. (AP) ―
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Herb Bergson (File)
Courtesy City Of Duluth
Mayor Herb Bergson unexpectedly announced Wednesday that he won't run for re-election in 2007.
Bergson said he has to make some unpopular decisions to resolve the city's retiree health care crisis -- a process that will spill "blood on the table."
Bergson said he hopes that taking himself out of the running will make it possible for city councilors -- some of whom are potential mayoral candidates -- to get behind ideas and labor agreements aimed at solving the estimated $300 million liability.
"I have to say to my supporters, I am sorry, but if we don't fix this problem it will eat us alive," Bergson said during an hour-long news conference in City Hall.
Bergson's last year in office has been plagued by controversy. Last fall, he fired City Administrator Mark Winson by affixing a notice to his door. In December he was arrested for drunken driving in Wisconsin. And recently, the City Council voted to hire a special prosecutor to investigate whether Bergson broke state law when he leaked a draft of a state auditor's report to the Duluth News Tribune.
Bergson said the incidents did not affect his decision not to run.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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