Jill Schramm/MDN Minot mayoral candidate Paul Pitner speaks at a candidate forum sponsored by Minot Area Chamber EDC June 25.

Mayoral candidate Paul Pitner wants residents and visitors to view Minot as a place of opportunity.

An advocate for economic development, he said he would continue to support the efforts he began when first elected to the Minot City Council seven years ago.

“It’s been more than a buzz word for me,” said Pitner, who will face two other council members, Mark Jantzer and Rob Fuller, along with Josiah Roise in the Aug. 5 election.

Pitner, 36, who operates a rain gutter business, grew up in Minot, leaving the community after high school.

“I had no intention of ever moving back,” he said. “I moved back here because of an opportunity with the (oil) boom and I started my business. I want younger generations – I want my kids – to realize those opportunities. I want my kids to realize those opportunities before they leave, because Minot is a great community. It does have a ton of potential.

“I think we’ve had a lot of wins in the last handful of years. I’ve championed some of those things,” he added. “I’ve had policy ideas. I’ve had program ideas that I have worked very diligently on and had them come to reality. Worked on them to become reality through collaboration too. It’s not just me saying, ‘Do this.’ It’s me working with city staff. It’s working with community partners and making these things become a reality that drives investment into our community, that drives small business opportunities.”

Pitner recently proposed a land development review committee to connect property owners, developers and builders to jumpstart housing development.

“One of the biggest things that I see as a hurdle for the city to get past is housing growth. Right now, we have a high demand and a low supply, so price goes up,” he said. Meanwhile, the city has about 200 lots with infrastructure but no housing, he said.

“We’re not seeing those developments go up. There are little pockets here and there, but how do we really add fuel to the fire,” Pitner said. “Because when you build more homes and these lots go from garnering $200 or $300 a year in property tax to $2,500 to $3,500 a year in property tax, that should lower the burden on everybody else.”

Pitner has faced criticism over his support of the downtown Facade Improvement Program, a city economic development initiative, because of family members who have used the program.

The Facade Improvement Program had been a recommendation from a study by the International Economic Development Council as part of Minot’s National Disaster Resilience program.

Pitner explained his parents were preparing to invest in a new facility to pursue a business idea when he encouraged them to consider buying an existing downtown building as a better option as they neared retirement.

“They decided to go that route. I was never part of the financials. I don’t have a vested interest in this,” Pitner said. “Yes, they are related to me, but I have never once benefited from this program personally.”

He noted his parents also own rental residential properties in a north Minot block that was added to the Renaissance Zone to incentivize improvements to blighted business properties along Broadway. Pitner said his parents have owned rental properties throughout Minot.

“Everybody wants to poke holes and say this is self serving,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of people that would ever throw their hat into the ring to be a part of trying to make the community better when we have this constant mud-slinging.”

Pitner was the only candidate for mayor whose recently released financial disclosure showed no donations.

“I don’t take money. I chose to run. It’s on my dime,” Pitner said. “I don’t want to owe anybody a favor. I don’t want to owe anybody a vote. It was my decision and my choice to try to make Minot better. If my message resonates, people will vote for me.”

“The difference between being the mayor and a member of the council is that as the mayor, you are the embodiment of Minot. You’re the face. You’re the brand,” he said. In his mind, the mayor needs to be “a good human.”

“We need to be respectful. We need to be open minded. We need to have integrity. We need to be a good example for the rest of the community,” he said. “I’ve got four young kids. I try to live my life as a good example.”

Pitner said he believes he can work with whoever is on the council and with constituents who might hold different views.

“Constructive conversations are pivotal to growth. Controlled conflict is where growth happens,” he said. “It’s OK to disagree. It’s actually really good to disagree on things, because that’s when compromise happens. That’s when new ideas come out. That’s when progress is made.”

Pitner said he makes decisions he feels is best for the community based on all the information available and welcomes the public to weigh in. He said he favored the town halls that the city had been conducting prior to 2020.

“It was fun to see the community building through those,” he said.

The council regularly hears from residents concerned their taxes are too high, but Pitner noted taxes provide for the level of services that residents say they want.

“Are there efficiencies that we can find? Absolutely, and we’re trying every day,” he said. “To think that we’re just sitting back and it’s business as usual is a misconception. And actually, if you look at what council has done, even last year, which was a heavily-subsidized-with-reserves budget, we’re nowhere near the top of taxed communities.”

Pitner acknowledged the debate on the council about how much money should be held in cash reserves. He also referred to the bill for repairs to the Third Street Bridge as a reason for the city to be happy it has reserves.

Undercapitalization isn’t productive because taxpayers will pay one way or the other, he said.

“The way we move Minot forward is together – collaboration, controlled conflict, constructive conflict. Those are the ways that we move Minot to the direction it needs to be. I’m not really interested in moving Minot backwards. I’m not interested in going back to the ’90s or ’80s or early 2000s when I was growing up, because that’s a town that people wanted to leave,” Pitner said. “I want Minot to be a place that people want to stay when they come to visit. And I think we can do that. I think through partnerships, I think through wise spending, smart spending – not more spending, but through wise investments – we can take Minot where it needs to be.”