Mayor Ness examines Duluth, political career in new book

Duluth Mayor Don Ness is looking back on two terms in office in a new book, "Hillsider: Snapshots of a Curious Political Journey."

He's decided not to seek a third term to the office he won in an unopposed election in 2011. Ness is Duluth born and raised, and he's been thinking about the city he's run for the last eight years.

Ness spoke with MPR News' Tom Crann about his book and hometown, a place he calls "brutally indifferent and seductively welcoming."

Ness will launch his book with two events — one at the Surly Brewing in Minneapolis, Sept. 25, and another at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Sept. 27.