JILL SCHRAMM/MDN Josiah Roise, right, speaks at a mayoral candidate forum in the Carnegie Center on Tuesday, May 19, as Mark Jantzer listens at left.

Minot’s two mayoral candidates presented differing perspectives on Minot’s government at a candidates forum Tuesday, May 19. The Minot Alliance of Nonprofits in partnership with Minot Area Council of the Arts and Independence, Inc., sponsored the forum.

Mayor Mark Jantzer, who is seeking reelection after seated following a special election last August, outlined the need to finish flood protection and the Northwest Area Water Supply project as well as address housing, childcare and workforce.

“And of course, essential services are extremely important, and we need to make sure that we are able to maintain and fund the services that all of us depend on from the city, certainly including public safety, police, fire, as well as our water supply, sewer and water treatment, roads,” he said. “I hope to continue working on those.”

Josiah Roise, who previously ran for mayor in the August race, argued the city budget has multiplied many times in the last two decades while the population has not.

“You look at the amount of city personnel that we have and it is close to that of Fargo and Fargo has three times or four times the population that we do, and so, we’ve been going the wrong direction,” Roise said. “Property taxes can go down. My goal, my mission, is in one term to bring the mill levies down to zero.”

Asked about city government support for nonprofits, Jantzer said there is a role for direct involvement in needed services, which is why the city supports Minot Commission on Aging, First District Health Unit and others.Beyond that, nonprofits typically are able to rally support for their work to ensure it is accomplished, he said.

“The best thing that the local government can do when it comes to nonprofits is really get out of their way,” Roise said, “because I’ve even seen it personally in Minot with some nonprofit groups where the government gets their hooks in too deep and actually can shut down a whole operation to the benefit of absolutely nobody.”

Roise said his pursuit is to lift restrictions from people so they can thrive. When the government is not predominantly involved, the community steps up, he said.

“I’ve been in construction for 20 years, and the business owners around Minot, they build outside of Minot because there’s too much fine red tape and regulations, and we need to back off of that, and we need to let the people thrive,” he said.

‘You’re not going to find someone who will work harder than I will,” Roise added. “I’m ready to see better times in Minot. I’m proud of the people of Minot. I have friends and family here, and I believe that you guys can thrive under better management. There has been so much shameful waste in the past, and there’s nothing we can do to undo that, but we can learn from it and we can move forward and we can do better going forward. It’s time to pass the torch. My opponent has been in for 18 years, and there’s not going to be any new tricks coming out of that sleeve. There’s just not. There’s a lot of new blood coming in. I think things are going in a good direction in that regard.”

“Minot is a good community, and I’m proud to live here, and I’m proud to represent Minot as I have in various roles for a number of years. Things are not terrible in this community, and I think most people understand that,” Jantzer said. “So, are there things that can be improved? Certainly. But I will tell you that, like most of our grandparents or great-grandparents who came here and homesteaded, yeah, we’re pretty self-reliant, and that’s great, but we still need the essential city services that are provided, and I want to make sure that those are maintained. A lot of that happens because of partners that we’re working with every day, whether that’s down at the Legislature, in the state government, our governor, whether it’s at the federal level with our congressional delegation, our senators and representative, and it’s important that somebody represent the city and work with those folks to make sure that they understand what Minot needs and what Minot’s position is. That’s the role that I accept and I’ve done that kind of work, and a record speaks for itself.”