Local nonprofit leader Scott Burlingame announced Tuesday he is running for Minot City Council in the June 9 election.

Burlingame is the executive director at Independence, Inc., and has served on numerous boards and coalitions. His local projects have included working as part of a stakeholders group to fund Minot’s first family homeless shelter using National Disaster Resilience Program dollars through the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He serves as the chair of the Minot Area Recovery Organization, a startup nonprofit tasked with addressing the local addiction crisis, and he is vice president of the Minot Nonprofit Alliance.

“I owe a lot to this community, and I am running because I feel I can use my skills to make things better,” Burlingame said. “I have spent my career having to set a budget, to live within the confines of that budget, and understanding that while money can limit how much we can do, a lack of funds should never be used as an excuse not to do the best we can.

“I also believe my experience in engaging with the community will allow us to bring the right people to the table, helping the city to get things done right, and save the taxpayer money,” he said.

Burlingame is collecting signatures on his petition for the office and said he looks forward to having a conversation with the voters of Minot on how to make the community stronger.