Minot City Council member Shannon Straight never intended to serve more than two terms in office, so it should have come as no surprise when the two-term alderman declared at Monday night’s council meeting his plan.

“It’s in keeping with my statement [Monday night],” Straight said Tuesday.

“In my eyes it adds to building a little more public trust for this office and for the community,” he said at the council meeting, “and it puts the onus on the taxpayer to be more involved.”

Straight said that he believes serving only two terms is in the best interest of the public and that giving others a chance to share their ideas would benefit Minot.

Straight’s announcement came in the context of him advocating for at least a discussion on term limits.

At a national level, Straight said, issues might not get the consideration they warrant because legislators have to be concerned about the election cycle.

“That’s not so much an issue here, but it is something to be mindful of,” he said. “It’s easier to make decisions when you aren’t worrying about re-election. I think sometimes we have been too delicate on some issues. I know I have made mistakes and it comes down to accountability.”

Shannon said that on Tuesday morning, he submitted his resignation as liaison to the gathering space committee. The gathering space is one of the issues about which he cited disappointment in the City’s handling.

“I think we’ve made some mistakes.”

According to the city attorney’s office “the city council could implement an ordinance setting forth term limits because the legislature has granted home rule cities that authority and the City has included that power in our home rule charter. With that, if the city council wants to adopt term limits, it could do so by adopting an ordinance on two readings; alternatively, that could be done by an initiated measure that may result in an election.”