St. Paul, Minnesota — Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler held a virtual town hall meeting today with state Representative Dave Lislegard (DFL - Aurora) and area leaders. Participants discussed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on northeastern Minnesota and the Iron Range, and possible future legislative action.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has upended all of our lives and has hit the Iron Range especially hard,” said Majority Leader Winkler. “Minnesotans deserve economic security during this public health crisis, and those least likely to have it are being hardest hit. We are continuing to work on solutions to ensure Minnesotans can make ends meet during the pandemic and beyond. Minnesota has the resources we need to address this crisis and invest in Minnesotans; we just need the will to act.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly and significantly impacted our whole region. Iron Rangers are resilient, but they deserve a path forward which will give them the opportunity to succeed,” Rep. Lislegard said. “We need to put people before politics, and work together to develop solutions protecting everyone’s health and wellbeing, and lead our way past this crisis, together.”
Participants included:
- Chris Vreeland, Mayor of Hoyt Lakes
- Douglas Gregor, Mayor of Aurora
- Sandy Karnowski, Public Relations, Cleveland Cliffs
- Rick Crum, CEO of Northeast Technical Services and President of Laurentian Chamber of Commerce
- Robin Harkonen, Director of East Range Developmental Achievement Center
- Luke Soderling – Supervisor Biwabik Township – Broadband activist
- Shawntel Gruba, Owner/Operator of Iron Range Tykes Learning Center – Child care center
- Cathy Drummond, USW –Assistant to the Director
- John Arbogast, USW – District 11 Director
- Steve Giorgi, Executive Director – Range Association of Municipalities and Schools (RAMS)