Mayoral Candidate Forum: No Barriers

Minot does not need a dictator, it needs leadership that listens, collaborates, and actually follows through. The changes I want to make do not require a king, they require a council that is willing to work as a team and stop kicking the can down the road.

That said, if I could snap my fingers and make three major changes, here is what I would do:
First, I would overhaul the city budget process. We need a zero-based approach that forces every department to justify what they spend; not just assume they get what they got last year. Taxpayers are tapped out, and they deserve a government that treats their money like it matters. We would eliminate waste, reset our priorities, and fund core services first. We have started to do this, but there are still some issues from what I can see.

Second, I would fix our development process from top to bottom. Right now, trying to build or start a business in Minot is slow, frustrating, and inconsistent. We would streamline permits, reduce red tape, and make sure city staff see the private sector as partners, not problems. Growth should not be strangled by process.

Third, I would build a real infrastructure plan. No more one-off projects with no long-term strategy. We would prioritize needs over wants, rank projects by impact, and tie every dollar to a timeline and outcome. Infrastructure is not exciting, but if we do not get it right, nothing else matters.

As one member of a governing board, I want the council to work together for REAL change, push for accountability, and refuse to be silent when things get off track. I do not believe in top-down leadership, I believe in hard conversations, clear goals, and doing the work together. The title does not need to say Mayor or dictator to make a difference. It just takes someone willing to lead.

If I had a year as a “dictator” of Minot, I would focus on removing barriers to building and development. When I think about housing in Minot, I think of days, when neighborhoods like Green Acres were built by local contractors with vision and grit. Developers like Craft Builders moved dirt with machinery and vision, not with layers of red tape and engineering reviews (no offense to the engineers). It was about common sense, private investment, and a desire to build something lasting.

That spirit of entrepreneurial freedom is something we’ve lost. Today, even small projects face a gauntlet of regulations, delays, and added costs. That stifles innovation, limits housing supply, and makes it harder for young families or first-time buyers to plant roots here.

But as one member of an elected council, I believe we can still make meaningful change. That’s why I’ve suggested the Economic Development Committee recommend to the council to form a Land Development Committee, to take a hard look at what’s getting in the way of housing and growth. This committee will work to identify and eliminate unnecessary barriers, streamline processes, and help government really hone in on what its role is in all of this.

Without the barriers of needing other council members approval,I would move forward with my agenda as I’ve described in my platform all along. I would get our water all cleaned up,I would transition the police department assets to the sheriffs office so that the people are directly in charge of law enforcement leadership,and I would lower taxes by eliminating non essential positions and vehicle/equipment maintenance. I would also withdraw from special interest entanglements we have most likely including the league of cities.

I have no desire to be a dictator, but as the question is framed that way, I would do by dictate what the City Council is going to have to do as we complete the budget process for 2026: sort out the priorities and eliminate what is unaffordable, unpopular, or less in priority. I note that there is a limit to what the City Government, dictator led or not, can rightfully take on solo to solve, for example intractable shortage problems of childcare, housing, and workforce. Some of these require partnership and collaboration to affect improvements. One other issue I perceive that a dictator can’t solve is negative attitude. If I could work my will, I would replace those spreading negativity with optimist problem solvers.