After three weeks of talking to the Publisher about having a meeting with him about the Red Plan and Johnson Controls we met today at Porters.
Garry Glass and I were joined by two architects and an engineer who have all expressed doubts about the plans. We met for about two and half very productive hours. Mr. McLister the publisher expressed his interest in investing in Duluth and a laudable interest in public education. He mentioned that Duluth has a reputation for killing development which I couldn’t disagree with. Nonetheless, he admitted that he has been running into critics of the Red Plan everywhere he turns and is concerned about a “trainwreck.” I couldn’t agree more.
Early on there was some fencing over the responsibilities of the Press but afterwards the disussion was quite thoughtful. I think the Trib would like to play a role in getting the two sides together to talk over their differences. That would be novel and, from our point of view, welcome.
