Speakers at a St. Louis County Board public-comment session on the morning of the meeting urged the county to preserve the Tom Rucovina Mineral Royalty Scholarship and reject any budget moves that would reduce support for apprentices.

Jack Carlson, president of the Duluth Building Instruction Trades Council, told commissioners the scholarship will be distributed in January and described the difference a modest award can make for apprentices’ basic needs. "We will have all the scholarships out in the January," Carlson said, adding that the awards can mean "warm boots" or the "next tool" on an apprentice's checklist.

Derek Peterson, speaking for the central labor body and the Duluth Building Trades, framed the scholarship as a lifeline for workers starting trades careers and criticized what he described as efforts to remove funding. "The intent to vote no and try to strip funding from the building trade scholarship honoring the late county commissioner ... is a direct attack," Peterson said, urging the board to pass a budget that "invests in people, our future, and honors our legacies." He said the union will engage but voiced strong opposition to cuts targeting apprentices.

Commissioner Mister Graham later offered a clarification about his own position on scholarship funding. Graham said he "specifically, spoke against building an endowment for the scholarship," referring to a proposed $2 million to $5 million endowment, and added that there was "absolutely no risk" to scholarship funding because of a cited "$9,000,000 leeway" in the county's funding stream. "Rest assured, I feel really good about those scholarships," Graham said, asking the public to review his recorded comments for context.

No formal board vote on the scholarship or budget was recorded in the public-comment excerpt. The county board had recessed for a brief break and signaled the meeting would continue; participants said further budget deliberations were forthcoming.