Local News

Election preview

Ward 5 will seat a new alderman on the Minot City Council after the June 14 election. Council member Kevin Connole is not seeking re-election, and newcomers Chad Martin and Shaun Sipma are vying to take his place.

“I do have a lot of leadership background. I understand how to steer a team to get results,” said Martin, a retired master sergeant with the missile wing at Minot Air Force Base. He was superintendent of the 740th Missile Squadron. As a civilian, he now works as an auto body mechanic on base.

“I am running because I think that people in my ward and Minot as a whole deserve to be represented by somebody who understands where they are coming from and is going to work for their best interest,” he said.

Sipma, an agent with Farmers Union Insurance, said his decision to run was driven by watching the city’s decision-making process.

“Leading up to the flood and after the flood, we had such a vacuum of leadership. It was identified even by the governor’s office. We need to have more aggressive leaders,” he said. He defines aggressive as fronting ideas, gathering input and moving the community forward.

If elected, he wants to bring new ideas to the council, whether it’s small things like improving signage in construction zones or big things like improving the way city government functions.

“We have been doing an adequate job. We need to do a better job,” he said.

Sipma, who worked with a community group to spearhead action on abandoned flooded houses, lists the delay in addressing the “zombie” home problem as a sign of lack of leadership. Sipma also is involved in #MakeMinot, a citizens group that promoted the June ballot measure to reduce the size of the council.

A smaller council will work more efficiently and is the first step in improving how government functions, Sipma said. He said it isn’t necessary for residents to have aldermen representing wards.

“Are we electing city liaison people or are we electing leaders?” he said.

“I think it does achieve everything we are looking at,” he said of the #MakeMinot plan, noting it gives accountability and lets all residents vote for all council members.

Martin said he supports a smaller council size but doesn’t believe the #MakeMinot plan is the answer. He looks more favorably on an alternative plan to create an eight-member council, elected from four wards

“I do support the ward system,” he said. “The ward system is important because it does a better job of distributing representation.”

Martin is concerned about the way many residents view their government, though.

“There’s a lot of concern right now about the amount of transparency and accountability the city has,” he said. “There’s a lot of anger right now about how things are being run, and I think there’s a lot of frustration, too.”

Martin said some of the disgruntlement may be wrongly laid on the council’s doorstep, but that’s where dissatisfaction with property taxes, the slowness of the flood protection project and other issues seem to have settled.

“I don’t think people understand the process and I don’t think they have good access to understand the process,” he said. “We could do a lot better in terms of getting information out to the public.”

“For the most part, transparency is there,” Sipma said. It is the perception of transparency that often is lacking, and if that is to change, residents need to take the initiative to get engaged with their government, he said. The city can improve the perception of transparency by doing more to keep residents updated when their requests for information are being processed, he said.

Both Sipma and Martin list flood protection as their priority issue when it comes to infrastructure for the city.

Sipma said the city’s half cent sales tax for flood protection should be a full penny to get a protection project moving faster.

“It’s been almost five years and we are just getting started,” Martin said. “We need that to secure the city and the wellbeing of all the valley residents.” Flood protection is the top concerns he hears in the ward, followed by crime and city spending.

“They want to know what’s going on and they want to know how their tax money is being spent,” he said. “I can’t blame them.”

Martin, who has contracting experience through his previous work on the air base, said he would stress getting good bids for projects and holding contractors accountable.

Sipma said the city needs to finish the downtown infrastructure project and address its long-term landfill needs.

“We have to move toward recycling to reduce the amount of municipal waste,” he said.

Martin is glad the city is looking into curbside recycling. Although it may come with an increase to garbage bills, the cost of expanding or opening a new landfill will be more expensive, he said.

Martin also considers public safety through fire and police protection as budget priorities. He said his budget decisions will be based on input from his ward.

“It will all come down to what do my constituents want me to support. I am going to be their voice on the city council,” he said.

The best recent decision of the city council has been to repair or replace flood-damaged bridges in the city, Martin said.

“That comes down to a safety issue,” he said. The worst decision was the funding of the downtown parking ramps, which have been more costly than projected, he said. The city spent federal flood disaster money on the ramps that he believes should have gone to support residents of the valley directly affected by the 2011 flood.

He added he would be cautious about tax breaks that favor one group at the expense of another.

“Fostering and encouraging business development is good,” he said. “At the same time, I don’t think it should be done at the expense or detriment of the citizens of Minot.” However, he added, “I definitely support small business, especially local business.”

Sipma also said the city needs to consider its law enforcement needs as it tries to get a handle on the crime and drug issues.

“I think there’s opportunity to re-prioritize some of our spending and make sure where we are spending our dollars is to the absolute best of our ability,” Sipma said.

Combining parks and recreation is one area where he would start that re-prioritization. He also would look at where the city might be over- or understaffed.

Sipma said the city’s hiring of city manager Lee Staab to bring in a fresh perspective was its best recent decision, but the handling of the firing of a former city attorney left a poor impression with the public and could have been more transparent.

He would like to see the city review and improve its personnel policies in light of high turnover.

Martin agreed turnover is a concern. The city particularly needs to look at what it can do to retain law enforcement officers and maintain a strong force, he said.

Sipma, who rebuilt his home after the 2011 flood, said he is concerned about future flood insurance rate increases on the people living in the valley.

Martin, whose house also flooded and was rebuilt, said he is familiar with the issues facing the valley and wants to help address those.

“I know that recovery is happening, but I also know there’s a long ways to go,” he said.

Local News

Election Preview

The last time Jim Hatlelid and Stephan Podrygula competed for Minot’s Ward 3 city council seat, it was Hatlelid who very narrowly defeated then incumbent Podrygula.

Now Hatlelid, the incumbent, is being challenged by Podrygula, who seeks to regain the seat he lost in 2008. He had served on the council from 2004 to 2008 and from 1998 to 2002.

Hatlelid, executive director of Minot Catholic Schools Foundation, had intended to retire this year after serving more than 30 years, beginning in 1981, on the council. He took a break in service from 2004 to 2008. But with no announced candidate as the filing deadline neared in April, Hatlelid put in his name for another run. Podrygula, a clinical psychologist in private practice, also filed at the deadline.

“I felt that things weren’t going as well for the city. I thought we could do it better. I think people need choice,” Podrygula said.

“There’s limited confidence in government,” he added. “It’s not the number of people on the council. It’s their skills, their values, their leadership. That’s the issue, and I think people are quite concerned about that.”

Podrygula had proposed a city ethics code in 2008, only to see it rejected by the council. He said he would have preferred the code recently approved by the council contain enforcement mechanisms and better spell out the rules so employees have better guidance.

Podrygula also has been frustrated that accountability and transparency have not been expanded to the extent he believes they should be. The council had a chance years ago to require a franchise cable company provide equipment for broadcasting of council meetings but declined to do so, he said. Even though the city website now offers a great deal of information, the public doesn’t necessarily know what is there or how to find it, he said.

Hatlelid agrees that the city was right to adopt a code of ethics, as many businesses and organizations have done. However, he said, his experience has shown city employees do have strong ethics.

He also believes the city has been transparent and has become even more so with the newer website and with the regular briefings to the community by the city manager.

The two candidates hold somewhat different views on the June ballot measure to reduce the 14-member council to six members, elected at large rather than from wards.

Hatlelid said he is fine with reducing the size of the council but would like to retain wards. The cost of a campaign and the amount of work placed on fewer council members are concerns.

“In a town this large, you are going to have to have a campaign committee because you can’t walk it,” he said. “People who run are either going to be retired or own their own businesses and have the ability to spend whatever time they need away from work.”

Although he understands the desire for every resident to vote for all council members, Hatlelid said his experience is that residents are represented by the full council even if members are elected from wards.

“I don’t think anybody can convince me that our council doesn’t represent the entire city,” he said.

Originally opposed to the measure, Podrygula said his view has been shifting as he has learned more.

“The wards give people some direct contact with their aldermen,” he said. “I am concerned there’s going to be less contact.”

He worries that running citywide elections would involve an expense leading to only wealthy candidates or candidates beholden to contributors. However, he believes there are ways to implement the measure that resolve the problems. He said he brings to the table an open-mindedness to embrace whatever change voters approve and the experience to work through the issues that come with it.

On the issue of curbside recycling, Hatlelid supports recycling as a means of slowing the demand for landfill space.

“From that standpoint, it makes sense to look at recycling,” he said, adding there may be isolated instances in which modifications are required to accommodate elderly or disabled residents.

Podrygula said the community needs to recycle, but he wants a program that accommodates elderly and disabled people.

On other issues, Hatlelid sees traffic as a continued concern in Minot, particularly on Broadway, and wants to see more improvements to roadways. He also cites a future need to improve bus service and notes Minot may need to build a mechanical sewage treatment facility eventually as the city grows and environmental requirements become more strict. These will be priority issues as the city budgets for the future, he said.

“For the most part, we have done a good job of handling the budget,” he said. He has been most concerned about rising sewer and water bills but believes those costs may be leveling off.

He noted the city manager imposed a hiring freeze earlier this year and administratively curbed spending by $2.3 million. Going forward, the city will have to seriously consider how to meet its budget needs, particularly when it may get more difficult to obtain state dollars for flood protection, he said.

Podrygula’s priority is flood control. When it comes to recent decisions by the council, the advancement of flood protection has been the council’s best move, he said.

He also favors more emphasis on law enforcement and maintenance of existing infrastructure. He said he would take a skeptical view of further new construction and particularly doesn’t support using city tax dollars to support projects of other taxing entities. He would like the city to engage in more planning and less rubber-stamping of staff-driven decisions.

The council needs to get involved early and set priorities in the budgeting process, he said. When he was on the council, he spent time in each of the city departments, visiting with employees and getting an understanding of the operations in those areas.

Podrygula also said the council hasn’t been leading. An example is the issue of the abandoned flood homes, which was addressed late and only after residents raised alarm, he said.

However, Podrygula associates the council’s worst decisions with the downtown parking ramps. He opposed spending money on the ramps beyond the bid amount. With the completion of the first ramp, he’s hearing concerns the space is too tight, making it impossible to park larger vehicles.

Hatlelid agreed the city’s worst recent decision was the handling of the two parking garages downtown. In retrospect, given the financial and construction challenges, Hatlelid said, he wishes the city would have focused on building just one structure at a time.

The council’s best recent decision, according to Hatlelid, was hiring Lee Staab as city manager because of the quality of leadership he has brought to the community.

The city’s high employee turnover is a concern, he added. Part of the issue is the number of employees reaching retirement age, but the city continually is looking at salaries from the standpoint of retention, Hatlelid said.

Podrygula said he also is concerned about the time it takes to fill vacancies. He said the city needs to review its civil service and hiring procedures.

“The system really needs to be more nimble,” he said. He also suggests customer service training and ensuring adequate tools and technology for employees to help them perform and be more comfortable in their jobs. In addition, he prefers departing employees be debriefed by an outside consultant to get more candid responses.

Hatlelid, who has chaired the council’s Airport Committee for many years, also serves on the Minot Area Development Corp. board. He said the city’s primary economic development focus needs to be on attracting valued-added agriculture.

“We are focusing on that, and that’s as it should be,” he said. “One of the things that does concern me is there are many folks around who feel we don’t need to be doing economic development. We still need to diversify the economy.”

“It’s a long-term strategy,” said Podrygula in support of diversification efforts. He also endorsed the focus on high-value agriculture.

Local News

Election Preview

An incumbent, a former incumbent and a newcomer are vying to represent Ward 2 on the Minot City Council.

Bob Miller, George Withus and Michael Carswell will be on the city’s June 14 ballot.

Miller, a Walmart employee, has served on the council from 2005 to 2006 to fill a vacancy and again since 2008.

“The main reason I am running again is to try to finish unfinished business. We have projects in the works. I would very much like to see them to completion,” Miller said.

Withus is director of information technology at Minot State University and served on the council from 2011 to 2014 before stepping down to focus his efforts on the Men’s Winter Refuge and Minot Community Land Trust. He is running because he sees a number of issues that need to be addressed.

“The city council doesn’t have the greatest approval rating. I was thinking maybe change might help,” he said.

Carswell retired as a master sergeant from the Air Force in 2012 and graduated this spring from MSU with a degree in accounting. He serves on the Ward County Planning Commission and the board of Independence, Inc. but is making his first bid for elected public service.

Carswell said he made his decision to run two years ago when he went to vote and saw only one name on the ballot in his ward.

“There should be choices,” he said. If elected, his first action will be to acquire a cell phone for city business and make that number available to residents. Lack of availability by aldermen is a concern in his ward that he wants to address, he said.

The candidates also say people in their ward are calling for a change in council size.

“I want to see the city council reduced,” Withus said. “I am not so sure I am with the #MakeMinot proposal, but I definitely would support Miranda Schuler’s proposal.”

#MakeMinot’s proposal on the June ballot would reduce the size of the council to six plus a voting mayor, all elected at large. Council member Schuler’s proposal, should the June measure fail, would have eight aldermen elected from four wards and a mayor who votes in ties.

Withus said he senses most residents prefer to retain the ward system but on a smaller scale.

“They think there’s way too many people on the city council. Nothing is really getting done,” he said.

Withus said the council’s best recent decision has been to advance a measure to change the home rule charter to allow residents to change the form of government.

“People want to see a change, and the city council responded,” he said.

Carswell said he sees benefits in various council systems. He likes the idea of competitive races with a smaller council and the involvement of more voices with a larger council. If the June measure fails, he favors forming a committee to look into an alternative downsizing plan, taking public input before presenting an option to the council for a future public vote.

“I really wish we would have formed a commission before this went on the ballot,” he said.

Miller prefers voters defeat the June measure and that the city hold a series of public forums to take public input into a plan for reducing council size. He noted even #MakeMinot changed its original plan after hearing from the public, and he’s not convinced the plan is right yet.

“This is a community in major transition,” Miller said. “This has caused great frustration, uncertainty, even anxiety, in the community. The question then is, is the current form of government that which would best serve a dynamic community in transition? My feeling is this: We are currently engaged in a rush to judgment. The consequences and ramifications of what’s being proposed have not been explored at a level to which they should be.

“I’m listening to the people, and I hear loud and clear they want a change. I firmly support that. We need to resolve this anxiety, this frustration,” he added. “Let’s as a community come together. We are pulling in different directions and there’s getting to be some strained feelings because of this.”

Miller voted to support a resolution by the council that indicates its intent to put Schuler’s plan on the November ballot if the June measure fails. He said he supported the proposal to assure voters that there are alternatives if they reject the measure in June.

A fault he finds with the council is its failure to adequately communicate with the public on the actions it takes, Miller said. Much of the push for a change in form of government comes from that public frustration, he said.

The candidates also hear residents clamoring for flood protection, which they rank as a priority.

“It’s what we should be talking about more than anything else,” Carswell said. “Until the flood protection is here, we should probably focus on need more than wants.” He said the public was wise to reject construction of a new public recreation facility because it was ill-timed, given the need to focus resources on flood protection.

“The biggest thing for me is flood protection. I live in the valley. I don’t ever want to see that happen again,” Withus said. He also is interested in the $74 million disaster resilience project.

“I just want to see those things get done,” he said.

Miller said public safety is a priority. That includes police and fire protection but extends to other forms of safety, whether it’s safe streets or flood protection, he said.

A safe community would be his biggest budget priority, while also being conscious of the tax burden and avoiding unnecessary spending, Miller said.

Withus said the budget priority should be police, fire, utilities and other services needed by residents.

“The biggest thing is to maintain services at a high level so that people can depend on them,” Withus said.

Carswell opposes property tax breaks that seem to be given automatically, such as Renaissance Zone incentives for businesses.

“The average citizen is not going to get that break. The average citizen is picking up the tab,” he said. “I myself believe government needs to stay out of business. If the business is going to succeed, it succeeds. You hate to see them fail, but in free enterprise, there are winners and losers. Government shouldn’t be picking the winners and losers. The free market will pick that itself.”

Once the government gets involved, it becomes difficult to know where to draw the line, he said.

Carswell said he is running as an average citizen without ties to any entity or business.

“It’s about what’s good for the people,” he said. “Business is important because that’s how people stay employed. It’s very important. But at the same time, from a government standpoint, I almost feel like sometimes we concentrate on what’s important for the businesses and not what’s good for all citizens.”

On the issue of transparency, Carswell said the city offers a great deal of information on its website, although it’s not always easily found or understood by the average resident. That’s particularly been the case with information about how the city has spent its flood disaster money, he said.

Withus and Miller said the city has been transparent in conducting its business.

“Everybody is trying to do the right thing. We really have the light of day looking at us,” Miller said.

Miller admits to some public frustration with government currently, but he said the city has high quality staff who serve the community well. He supports the council’s approval of a code of ethics because it expresses expectations to employees.

“There should have already been a code of ethics, so I think it was a very good idea that the council passed that,” Carswell said. “I personally do not believe that there is a huge ethics problem within the city.” However, he added, the city needs to avoid perception of ethical violations, and having a code of conduct will help.

Withus said he supports the city having a code of ethics, although his previous experience on the council indicated city employees already operate with high standards.

“Any dealings I had with the department heads, I never saw where there was any ethics problem,” he said.

Turnover is a bigger staff concern for the candidates.

Miller said turnover may be partly due to salaries, but public service also is different from the private sector and people must be suited to that work. He said the city may not always have vetted job candidates well, but he believes Minot has excellent staff, as evidenced in the way they went above and beyond during and after the flood. The council’s best recent decision was to hire the professional recruiting firm that brought Lee Staab to the city as manager, Miller said. He said Staab’s management skills have been an asset to the city.

Withus said the council’s worst moment came two years ago in the way it handled the firing of its city attorney, who now has lawsuits pending against the city. Addressing the number of employees voluntarily choosing to leave, though, will require the city’s pay scales be competitive, he said.

Carswell said he would want to talk with staff and investigate further to determine why employees leave and what it would take to retain them.

On the recent issue of curbside recycling, each of the candidates wants to see the city continue to pursue the topic but worries about the cost.

“I want this to happen,” Miller said. “But I want it to happen in the best interest of the public and the community so they feel good about it.”

Withus said he supports recycling but needs to know more about curbside collection to determine whether it is right for Minot. Carswell also wants to know more about the logistics, making sure it’s feasible for people who are elderly and disabled, and that there’s a plan to avoid containers blowing around on the hills on collection day.

Local News

Election Preview

Two challengers are seeking to unseat a 32-year incumbent in the city council race for Minot’s Ward 1 seat.

Larry Frey is seeking re-election, and Shannon Straight and Jacob Sowers are the race’s newcomers.

“I serve at the will of the people. As long as they will have me, I am willing to serve,” Frey said. “I have enjoyed my years on the council. I would like to continue. It’s all the will of the people.”

Straight and Sowers hope to bring new vision to the council.

Sowers, a geography professor at Minot State University since 2012, said he wants to put into action what he teaches about asset-based community development. That involves focusing on a community’s assets rather than their negatives to resolve problems.

“The only way good things happen is when people who are motivated in a positive way get involved,” he said.

Sowers wants to open a dialogue with his ward and the city through street conversations each Saturday at noon at Central and Main. He plans to make himself available beginning this Saturday.

Straight, a former AmeriCorps volunteer who operates a seasonal concessions business, said he wants to become more engaged and learn more about the community. He also wants to demonstrate that city government is open for anyone to get involved.

“I want to lead through example,” said Straight, who has been active in two new groups, #MakeMinot and Friends of the Souris. #MakeMinot promotes civic engagement and was behind a ballot measure to reduce the size of the council, while Friends of the Souris envisions improvements for use of the river, starting with a recent cleanup effort.

“I think we have started a good conversation that was long overdue,” he said of #MakeMinot. Because he supports a smaller council, though, he believes he must be willing to help with that transition so he decided to run in Ward 1.

While Straight has worked to promote the council reduction ballot measure, Sowers and Frey do not support it.

“I really like the size of the council the way it is now,” Frey said. Among residents who support downsizing, many want to keep the wards, and so does Frey.

“We are cutting the number of voices, and then those voices could come from anywhere,” Sowers said. “Could I run for city council if there were no wards? The answer is no, unless I have a bunch of money and then I have to do what that money tells me to do. It’s just wrong.”

#MakeMinot is a bad idea, said Sowers, who disagrees with its methods.

“The #Make Minot coalition is trying to tell people what they want,” he said. “I am not trying to make a community (into) something. I am not trying to change it.”

Sowers’ vision for Minot centers around making the community more livable. He wants to reduce crime, fix potholes, slow down speeders, address annoying train whistles and make groceries more accessible in the food-desert that is his ward. He wants to see Broadway become a more welcoming, aesthetic street that’s safe for pedestrians.

He has plans in each of these areas that he says can make a difference and do it cost effectively. For instance, he said, technology exists to place horns at railroad crossings. Oncoming trains would trip the horns to sound and eliminate the need for extended, loud horns on trains. The technology is cheaper than the road reconstruction and safety crossbars associated with railroad quiet zones, he said.

“We need flood protection first and foremost,” said Straight, who returned to Minot after the 2011 flood to help his family rebuild. He would like to see a full penny of sales tax rather than the current half cent dedicated to flood protection to advance the project more quickly.

“Flood control is still a major issue,” Frey said. He also wants the city to ensure existing flood protection is maintained by bringing the dike system up to standards. A maintained dike system and keeping Lake Darling at a lower operating level would create some protection for Minot, he said. He also worries a coming flood insurance rate hike will force already over-mortgaged flood victims out of their homes.

“Insurance will take more houses than the flood did,” he said.

He also would have preferred the council direct more of its federal disaster money to the valley.

“It’s the people in the valley that were hurt. There should be more allocated there,” said Frey, who personally experienced flooding. He is a long-time employee of Thorsrud Supply, which also was flooded.

The candidates all sense a concern in the ward about crime and drugs. They also hear talk about mistrust of city government.

“I personally don’t see that,” Frey said. He believes the city has been open and ethical.

Straight said at times wrong hiring choices or poor decisions can occur, but overall, he sees that the city has great staff. As a standard procedure, he supports adoption of a code of ethics and says he would bring fresh eyes to look at how operations are handled.

“We have to hold ourselves accountable,” he said. He sees the city making progress in becoming more transparent but would like to be part of investigating additional avenues of communication with the public.

Sowers said he doesn’t see city government as broken. Nor would transparency be an issue if people would attend meetings and get more involved. He said council members can lead by example through community service, because if they are engaged, residents will want to be engaged. One of the best moves of the council was the recent recognition of Aaron Bliven, who hasn’t let a disability keep him from involvement in the community, he said.

“A lot of times government can get in the way of progress, and a lot of times what they can do best is get out of the way. What they do best is honor and put somebody forward who we should all look up to,” Sowers said.

Minot’s high employee turnover concerns the candidates, particularly as it affects jobs in public safety. Sowers suggests financial incentives to entice employees to stay. Maintaining adequate pay is one way to help keep employees and avoid losing that investment in their training, according to Straight and Frey. Ensuring Minot is an efficiently run city where people want to work, along with recognizing and thanking employees for their efforts, can help, Straight added.

“I think that goes a long way to make it more of an appealing job,” he said.

On other issues, Straight said the city needs to tighten its budget but also be willing to spend in the short term to save in the long term. An example is investing in automated sanitation equipment and recycling, he said. He also would support streamlining, such as consolidating parks and recreation.

Straight said the city should develop its economy by encouraging young entrepreneurs and creating the type of community that lures young people. Friends of the Souris is making that effort to create a positive community culture, he said.

Frey said he believes the energy industry will come back and agrees that focusing on recreation and activities for young people will be important to the community’s growth. He said he supports community facilities projects but objects to giving local tax dollars to outside taxing entities for those projects.

He supports curbside recycling because it will reduce the waste stream going into the landfill.

Sowers has no quarrels with the city’s spending but sees flood control and revitalizing Broadway as two big-ticket items that should be accomplished someday. Overall, he wants to see emphasis on projects that build neighborhoods rather than create centralized facilities.

On the economy, he said service industries, from filmmaking to call centers, make good fits for Minot because distance to markets doesn’t matter. He supports recycling and seeking to transport large volumes of more valuable waste materials to fund the program.