Five candidates seeking to fill three open seats in the June 9 election agreed that loss of trust is a significant issue and some identified it as the major obstacle facing the city. Downtown parking ramps considered a boondoggle by the public, a city manager fired for creating a hostile work environment and frustration over national resilience grant projects all have contributed to constituent mistrust.

“People have lost trust in the City of Minot. It’s embarrassing,” said candidate Tom Ross. “Sometimes when you burn a bridge, you have to get a new contractor to rebuild that bridge. Going forward, we need to bring the people back into the process, and we need to hold the people accountable who burned that bridge.”

Ross said it starts with listening to constituents.

“They have a lot to say. They need to be heard,” he said.

Scott Burlingame speaks at a city council candidate forum Thursday as Carrie Evans listens at right.

“Something that we have to do better at is community engagement,” candidate Scott Burlingame said. “I’ve talked to people – people from various economic backgrounds, people who just moved to town and people that have lived here forever. I hear often that they don’t feel like their voice is being heard.

“We can be more transparent,” he added. “You can be more honest, even if we’re sharing bad information. We can admit when we’re wrong. We can make decisions and stick to decisions, and I think that we can move forward by just doing everything we can to tell the story of Minot and to rebuild that trust, one voter at a time.”

“I am shocked at the level of frustration and anger and distrust our citizens have in our city government,” candidate Carrie Evans said. “If we can’t fix this, it is going to lead to disengagement. It’s going lead to people feeling like this is not the community for them and our families and leaving. We have to fix this, and we have to fix our relationship with our city employees as well.”

Evans said the council can build trust by opening the hiring process for a new city manager to let the public watch.

“This is transparency,” she said. “This hiring process should not be secret. And second, I will not support in any city employment contract a golden parachute clause that provides for any kind of severance for terminated employees.”

“The first step in restoring confidence is coming clean, is admitting that we made a mistake,” said Stephan Podrygula, a sitting council member seeking to retain a seat. “The second thing we need to do is we need to craft an employment agreement that really does make sense. I think the third thing is that when we’re responsible for supervising the city employees, we have to keep an arm’s length. There needs to be a greater sensitivity on boundary issues in multiple relationships and potential conflicts of interest.”

Podrygula said people don’t feel heard because what they are asking for is not affordable.

“You can’t have low taxes and good roads. We are falling behind, even though we tripled the amount of street maintenance,” he said. “So there has to be an adequate reality, and that’s part of where trust comes in and where a city leadership needs to be open about what the challenges are.”

Candidate Roscoe Streyle called for accountability and transparency, starting with eliminating a council executive committee and letting the full council run the city.

“Just listening to the people, as opposed to bureaucrats – that usually works. But it’s an uphill battle,” Streyle said.

Streyle also said the city can improve its relationship with the community by better supporting businesses.

“We need business. The business community needs to be strong for the city to prosper. I just don’t think we’re the most business friendly or the easiest to work with,” Streyle said. “There’s just some areas there I think we need to streamline, and eliminate some regulations and ordinances.”

Candidates found agreement in the council’s decision to fire the previous city manager. However, Streyle and Ross prefer to hire the next manager from local candidates, while Evans, Podrygula and Burlingame want a wider search that includes local and national applicants.

Candidates agreed on the matter of needing more money for street improvements – just one area where Burlingame said the city has been kicking the can down the road.

“But we cannot, absolutely cannot, increase taxes. So we need to be innovative and creative,” he said. “We need to work with our Legislature in order to take advantage of the Legacy Fund, in order to get some low-interest loans as well as some grants.”

Candidates were divided on the city’s direction with curbside recycling. Evans supported holding the course with plans to pursue a program. Burlingame and Podrygula indicated the situation has changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, and Streyle and Ross disagreed with the program before COVID.

They were divided on the city’s flood protection efforts, although all supported the need for flood protection.

“We obviously need flood control, but I think what we need to have been and we need to be now is be realistic about it. The city has over-promised, especially to our rural neighbors,” Podrygula said.

Podrygula explained all entities that benefit should pay and not just the city through its sales tax.

“I’m glad the city’s been generous but I think it’s been too generous and it’s time other people pay part of their fair share,” he said.

Streyle said Ward County needs to contribute a share of its half cent sales tax to flood protection.

Ross said he would increase emphasis on management of the Souris River Basin. Evans voiced concern about finishing the project once the first 60% of the city is protected.

“I would just keep the train on the tracks for the current project and keep an eye to the future on additional protections that we need for our community,” Evans said.

Streyle and Ross listed flood control as top achievements of the city council. Burlingame listed the top achievement as the use of MAGIC Fund dollars to create a loan fund for small business, and Evans cited National Disaster Resilience programs for a career and technical education center and affordable housing. Podrygula liked the planning efforts started by the council.

When it comes to city budget cuts, most candidates said new projects need to be set aside, and Streyle specifically mentioned a new city hall and spending on affordable housing that competes with the private market. Podrygula would not cut construction of a northwest fire station and candidates generally were protective of infrastructure spending. Ross also said he would not make cuts affecting public safety. There was interest in hiring freezes, but Evans said she would not cut employees’ guaranteed pay and benefits.