Eric Locken

Seven candidates are vying for three seats on the Minot City Council in the city’s June 9 election. Each of the candidates provided comments on their interest in serving and how they would approach city government.

Eric Locken, one of those candidates, wants to add to his volunteer efforts to improve his community by working for the people on the city council.

What motivates you to want to serve on the city council?

I’ve lived my entire life in Minot, born and raised. During that I’ve spent many days volunteering for various people, causes, and organizations in our city that have needed a hand. While doing that I’ve had people come up to me and ask when I was going to work for the people in a capacity that could help everyone at once. That’s what I believe I’m doing here. I’m taking my work ethic and drive to improve my community in the best way possible by working directly for the city council.

What knowledge, interests or personal qualities can you bring to the council that will help you to represent the community?

While serving, advocating and volunteering for multiple different groups in our community over the years, I’ve come to talk to a lot of people and discussed a wide range of topics. I believe that with me being an active member in all things that our community has to offer, I have an ear for people and love to listen to what they have to say and what they value.

Is city spending too high, too little or about right? What approach would you take to setting city spending?

Right now we’re in a very transitional year. We’re tightening our budget in all ways possible. We need to rein in what we can and readjust from there. We need to take a good hard look at what is important for everyone and see what, if anything, we’re willing to go without at this moment.

How do you feel about shifting certain general fund property tax expenses to special assessments or utilizing user fees to hold down taxes?

I do not believe special assessments are the way to go for continuing to build our community. We’re all in this together and I think that special assessments and the way they only affect certain areas could sometimes put groups of people at a disadvantage when it isn’t necessary. If we are to continue growing as a community then we all need to buy into building a better Minot for everyone equally.

Is Minot providing adequate public safety? What needs to be changed, if anything?

I believe that our police, fire and rescue are providing spectacular services to our community in the vision of keeping us all safe. Of course ,as someone who enjoys cycling, I’d like to see more bike lanes rather than just in the NW neighborhoods that are accessible but we can worry about that in future years.

How would you prioritize the city’s infrastructure needs, such as flood protection, roads, watermain replacements, etc.? Are there projects that shouldn’t happen or definitely should?

I believe that flood protection needs to be at the top of our list. I worry that the 15 years we’ve been working on the project will all be for nothing if we don’t get this completed as soon as possible to mitigate risk to our citizens in the valley. I think road replacements are doing a great job at spacing things out to not disrupt traffic through town as much as possible. As much as I’d like to have them all done at once I know that navigating our town would be next to impossible if that was to be the case.

Should the city continue pursuing a police station remodel and if so, how would you like to see it unfold?

The police station definitely needs to be remodeled over the next few years. I think it needs to be done in phases as the budget will allow. For right now I think with all the budget cuts happening, we need to take a look into what needs to be replaced immediately and go from there. I saw originally the city’s plan was to allocate $5 million per year over three years and I’m not sure this year is going to allow that with the choices that need to be happening.

How do you feel about automated license plate reader technology?

I feel as I’ve been back and forth on the ALPR issue several times and with gaining a better knowledge of what it is and how it’s used, I’m ok with it being in the cars and used as a tool to speed up results on who the vehicles are registered to. I do not think I could support them being implemented onto our traffic lights through town to monitor that way. While being used in a car I feel as it frees up additional valuable time to know the car being pulled over and not the officer having to take the time to run each plate during a traffic stop.

What is your assessment of Minot as a community? Are there ways to make it better, help it thrive or maintain what is good about the community?

I love Minot as a community and as a place to live. We’re small enough to where you still know most of your neighbors and safe enough to where you can walk around at any hour of the day and not have to worry about crime at all. With that being said, I think there is always room to grow and make Minot a better place for everyone. I appreciate all the time and resources that Minot parks has put into making our communal park areas really shine in our community. I will continue being a supporter of theirs so we can be known as a city with beautiful parks all throughout it.

Are there other specific issues you want to address if elected to the council?

Bus stop benches and covers. If we want people and our children to take advantage of the bus lines and public transportation that is offered in the city, let’s at least try and put up some places that can keep them out of the wind and bitter temperatures in the winter a bit.