Miranda Pacheco announces at-large candidacy for Duluth City Council

DULUTH, MN. (Northern News Now) - Another candidate has announced their campaign for an at-large seat on the Duluth City Council.

Miranda Pacheco, a self-described “ex-felon” who turned her life around, announced her at-large candidacy Monday at the Gichi-ode’ Akiing Park.

After being a victim of abuse as a child, Pacheco says she dropped out of high school, became a teen mom, and experienced homelessness.

She then developed a drug addiction and broke the law to support her addiction.

Pacheco states while she was in Duluth she was able to turn her life around by moving to a drug treatment center and also briefly lived at AICHO’s domestic violence shelter.

She later worked at both facilities.

While in Duluth, Pacheco said she connected with her roots and started attending Ojibwe ceremonies.

In addition, she earned her associate degree from Fond du Lac Tribal College and is working on a Social Work degree from the College of St. Scholastica.

Pacheco’s biological mother is a member of Leech Lake and is half-Mexican, and her father is a member of White Earth.

Her family currently resides in Duluth with her two daughters attending the Duluth Public Schools and her older son living and working in Hermantown.

“While I beat the odds, I have seen the ways that we are failing people in need. My brother could not get the care he needed, and we lost him to suicide three years ago,” explains Pacheco. “When members of our community are lost to deaths of despair, when they turn to crime, or when they are forced out onto the street, we all suffer. I believe we can do better.”

Pacheco released the following statement on her goals for Duluth:

“We made our city’s systems, and we can change them. Listening to people is the most important thing we can do to make effective changes, and I believe in doing the hard work to get it done. This is what I will bring to all issues, from supporting the most vulnerable to addressing potholes. I recently paid $1600 to repair my car from pothole damage, and I know we can do better to allow people to get where they need to go.

I have worked at LifeHouse and was part of Zeitgeist’s Healthy Hillside Initiative. I now work at Mash-ka-wisen Treatment Center, and I’m also a consultant for Wealth Entrepreneurship Economic Sustainability where I work with groups like SOAR and the Workforce Development Center to create more inclusive recruitment. Every day I am fighting for people, and every day I am giving back to the city that gave me life.”

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