She wants to see the 911 dispatch center and meet the people who work there. She wants to tour facilities throughout the county, and meet all of the department heads.
She knows some of those things will have to wait until after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When it’s safe to do so, I’ll be touring all of the facilities — and getting all over the county to meet residents not just in my district,” said Grimm, elected in November to replace Beth Olson representing western Duluth’s 3rd District.
Grimm was sworn in Saturday, at the pavilion in Lincoln Park, where she was joined by Olson and Seth Currier, executive director of the Duluth-based Damiano Center, where Grimm worked with families until December.
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“I’m really excited to dig in and get assigned to committees and start the real work,” Grimm said.
Commissioners Mike Jugovich and Patrick Boyle will also be sworn this week following their reelections.
Jugovich will be sworn in at 3:30 p.m. Monday at the United Steelworkers union hall at 115 W. Lake St. in Chisholm.
Boyle will be sworn in by fellow Duluth Commissioner Frank Jewell in a low-key manner sometime prior to Tuesday’s board meeting in Duluth.
Grimm said she has big shoes to fill by following Olson, who served a single four-year term on the board, but asserted herself as a strong and compassionate voice.
In her final meeting last month, she urged commissioners to dedicate themselves to hearing from people not represented on the board, listing people of color, indigenous people, queer people, immigrants and refugees.
“Keep looking to the future; resist getting stuck in where we are now,” Olson said. “The world is changing rapidly — more rapidly maybe than we’ve seen it change in a while.”
Grimm said she figures to spend the early months of her first term enveloping herself in the work of the county.
“I’m anticipating a lot of listening and learning,” she said.
She noted a lack of public participation in board meetings throughout 2020, which began with residents flocking to meetings as the board debated refugee resettlement consent but ended with few participants during the last several months of the board’s virtual meetings.
“I want to help build a structure where there’s more room for community input,” Grimm said. “So, when we’re able to meet in person again, I want to hold events in parks, get out into the community and build real transparency.”
Grimm noted the work of the County Board impacts several aspects of daily life — including property taxes, public health, housing and child care.
She trusts the county will do well in the dissemination of the COVID-19 vaccines.
“We have excellent staff with that expertise,” she said. “My main role the next couple months is learning what their plan is and what other communities’ plans are. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We can work with other counties and state leadership and figure this out together.”
Grimm has been meeting and talking with other commissioners in the lead-up to her first meeting. She mentioned enjoying talking to Ely's Paul McDonald about his work in basketball coaching.
"Something that's really stood out is how all of the commissioners care about residents and families," she said. "When you get down to it, you learn how much you have in common."
With her arrival to the board, she reflected on the people who helped to put her there.
"I'm just really grateful to the campaign team and all the resident who really shared their stories and put in hours and almost a year of work to make this happen," Grimm said. "I really hope to make residents proud."
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