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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Time to rescue Ely from negativism

Posted 9/18/14

What a difference a few weeks makes in Ely!  During that recent timeframe we got a stark reminder of the boom and bust nature of mining as Twin Metals slashed its Ely staff in half, Cliffs Natural …

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Time to rescue Ely from negativism

Posted

What a difference a few weeks makes in Ely!  During that recent timeframe we got a stark reminder of the boom and bust nature of mining as Twin Metals slashed its Ely staff in half, Cliffs Natural Resources closed its regional office and Duluth Metals’ stocks tanked.  We also got a reminder of the resilience of entrepreneurship as private development plans were announced for three vacant Ely buildings and buyers lined up (including ourselves) to buy and reboot businesses in the three former “Wintergreen” buildings.  

How did our town leadership respond? They pumped out their usual depressing pabulum about how Ely is dying and mining is our only hope. And then the mayor added extra punch by asserting that opinions to the contrary are a “bald faced lie.” Nor did he bother to applaud evidence of urban renewal as he looked out his city hall windows and noticed the garage across the alley being reroofed.  Instead he made note of the crew’s skin color.

No apology was issued for this bald faced bigotry.   Instead this week our local legislator piled on by taking issue with the garage owner’s politics.  Together, our mayor and legislator twisted a roofing job into a chance to telegraph the messages that if you don’t look and think like us, you’re not welcome here and since our town is dying, why bother coming here anyways?

In sharp contrast to this negativism, National Geographic announced last week that it will be highlighting Ely’s ranking among the nation’s “Top 10 Adventure Towns.” That begs the question: if we’re trying to lure today’s social-media savvy and adventure-hungry young people here, are we better off trumpeting a desperate plea for heavy industry at any cost, or should we take pride in being pegged as a top spot for canoe camping, mountain biking, back-country skiing, wildlife watching, and sport fishing?

Let’s take back our town from naysaying leadership that insists we’re destined for doom and gloom.  This place is not dying.  This place is desirable.  That’s the message we need to trumpet.

Paul and Susan Schurke

Ely, Minn.