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For new city council, the proof is in the pudding

Accompanying the new city council into office this week is a solid volume of good will and optimism from Minot taxpayers. Rightly or wrongly, many residents are encouraged to believe that this council will not only avoid the mistakes of the past and exhibit genuine competence, but also will address problems still lingering from the bad decisions of previous elected officials and administrations.

The latter was evidenced Tuesday night when one of the first decisions of the new council was to seek outside legal counsel to address the issue of the much-reviled parking ramps.

This council’s combination of younger visionaries and experienced veterans rightly engenders this public optimism, but make no mistake – the proof will be in the pudding. This council must provide the performance anticipated by voters or else that good will could fade fast.

Chief among the missions of this council should be communication with the public. As City Manager Tom Berry observed and asserted even prior to his hiring, Minot residents are not pleased with the degree of communication between elected and electorate. Part of the fault for this rests with residents themselves. It is not the responsibility to spoon feed voters. Rather, it is the responsibility of voters to exert effort to stay engaged. However, yes, in the past, the city probably did not do a particularly good job at communicating. Some residents point as far back as the flood as an example, while others cite the more recent garbage policy change.

Hopefully, this council can avoid other pitfalls – such as increasing debt, over-promising and under-delivering, and the tendency for the political class to grossly over-evaluate their role in the most common, everyday activities of the electorate. Hubris lurks in every city council chamber.

Along with front-burner issues most are familiar with – flood protection, Resilience projects top the list – no doubt, this council has a lot on its agenda.

Fortunately there is that good will, and at least a chance that it might last beyond the summer.

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