Jill Schramm/MDN Mayoral candidate Miranda Schuler addresses a question at left as candidate Shaun Sipma waits after delivering his response at a forum Wednesday in Minot City Hall.

Minot’s mayoral candidates covered lots of ground in sharing their views and decision-making practices at a forum sponsored by the Minot Area Chamber EDC on Wednesday.

“The reason I’m running for mayor is because I believe in my heart of hearts we need to have a change at the top,” said Tom Ross, a current city council member. “We need a leader who’s going to lead for all of Minot, and we need a leader whose record of service in the community is going to provide good, sound judgment.”

Citing poor decisions made in the past, Ross said no one would be turned away from the microphone under his leadership, in reference to an incident that occurred with the current mayor.

Shaun Sipma, who is seeking his second term, said missteps have been few and part of the learning process.

“There’s been so much good that has gone on in this community over the last four years that I hope I’m judged by the wholistic report card,” he said. He cited the relationships built with the state Legislature and Air Force base, noting he would continue that work for the betterment of the city.

He added he has seen the realization of a number of goals, including economic growth.

“I’ve been a very strong advocate at all levels for the City of Minot, and that record stands strong,” he said.

Ross said the city needs to be more aggressive.

“We’ve got to produce victories in economic development. We’ve got to produce victories in tourism, and we’ve got to produce victories for all of our residents, whether you’re in the valley or live on the hills,” he said.

Miranda Schuler is a former council member and current school board member whose term expires in June.

“I take great pride in my listening and problem solving and critical thinking skills. I tend to think of myself as a perpetual learner, and I strive to collaborate to be an impactful community leader and role model,” she said.

Schuler said her decision making is driven by her personal ethics, and Ross also recalled the values of of hard work and humility instilled in him from his youth. Sipma said decisions should be driven by the fundamental priorities laid out by the community. He said it is too easy to let emotions rule, listing the future of a downtown pedestrian bridge as an example.

“There is a tremendous amount of connection to the old bridge,” he said. “But we have so many other priorities that need attention within the community.”

Asked about a late agenda item to amend a previous city manager’s contract, Sipma described it as a situation in which the city lacked guidelines, but through learning from those missteps, a better process is in place.

Schuler said her initial reaction would have been to table the matter for another meeting to bring more transparency to the topic. Ross called it “hands down poor judgment.”

On the issues, the candidates share a priority to complete Minot’s flood protection project and do it as quickly as possible. They acknowledged the threat of tax increases to deal with inflation.

Ross noted property taxes account for a limited portion of the revenue being used to support the city budget, and the city needs to look for more outside funds.

“The increase in property taxes has to show an effective outcome. It has to provide some deliverables for me to vote for an increase,” Ross said. “I also believe in empowering those employees in finding ways to cut property taxes or finding ways to save money and reward them for doing so. We are all in this together. Will there be property tax increases? Eventually, but I’m not looking forward to it.”

Sipma said the city needs to grow its economic base to generate more revenue. However, he added, “The answer goes back to what the community wants and what they’re willing to pay for.”

“I think we’re fooling ourselves if we think that things are going to get less expensive,” Schuler said. “So the only way to reduce that would be either to grow the tax base, cut the services or find another avenue.”

She voiced interest in a legislative candidate’s proposal to reduce residential property taxes by 50% by using the state’s cash surplus.

The candidates fielded nearly 30 questions on topics such as public transit, workforce, addiction recovery, sidewalks, downtown investment, term limits, refugee resettlement, mask mandates, snow removal, landfill and southwest Minot’s quality of life.

Asked about small business support, Sipma cited programs developed in the past four years, such as a program to assist business with storefront improvements and implementation of recommendations from an outside economic study.

“I do believe in economic tools that we have within the city,” Schuler said, “but personally continue to support getting out of their way. Let them do what they need to do because as a business owner myself, I can look at my numbers and I know what I need to do, and any other business owner that’s looking to come or open a business in Minot or have a business here, they know what they need. Get out of their way.”

“We need to make it easier to do business in Minot, whether that’s streamlining the paper trail, whether it’s working together with all the departments,” Ross said. “The second thing is sitting down, talking, asking questions of small business and just shutting up and listening.”

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Candidates clarify campaign funds

Minot’s mayoral candidates described lessons learned in campaign finance at a candidate forum Wednesday.

Minot Mayor Shaun Sipma said he is returning a $2,500 campaign contribution from EPIC Companies after discovering the donation runs afoul of state law on corporate political activity. EPIC Companies is a development firm with various projects in Minot, including those that have involved tax financing requests.

Sipma said the donation came unsolicited. His past campaigns have had only a handful of small contributions.

“This one will go without any contributions,” he said.

Tom Ross’s campaign disclosure showed $4,800 in private donations, including a combined $2,500 from four businesses. He said the donations were incorrectly recorded as coming from businesses rather than from individuals who happen to be owners in those businesses.

Miranda Schuler said she ran on a $200 budget when she was elected to the council in 2014 and sold T-shirts to raise money for about a $400 campaign for school board. She said she has accepted $425 in total from individuals who asked to donate and has turned down several other contributions.

“I don’t want someone to think that money will buy my vote. This is something that I want to do for myself and for my community,” she said.