Why are you running for the position of commissioner and what qualifies you for the position?
As a Bismarck native, my roots are deep and my commitment is to build the best Bismarck possible.
As a successful business owner and archaeologist, I believe in Bismarck’s potential so much that I have put everything on the line to build three home-grown businesses, including an archaeological consulting firm, a downtown coworking space, and a real estate company that is renovating an historic building for commercial tenants. My million-dollar consulting firm creates good jobs for Bismarck families and gives back to the community. I work every day to balance smart growth in our community with respecting our past and present. I have expertise with budgeting, contracting, financing, and regulatory compliance, and those are the skills I will bring to the City Commission.
While I focus on economic prosperity, I also root for all of Bismarck and its citizens: I have worked hard to save Bismarck’s neighborhood schools, to make them more inclusive; for example my family launched an endowment for Bismarck’s new inclusive sports program that ignited a community campaign this Spring raising over $43,000 for the program. I believe the success of Bismarck can be inclusive.
What is your top priority if you were elected to the position?
The issues we face today are all related to Bismarck’s continuing growth and prosperity. Years of collaborative, community-based planning have resulted in a valuable series of smart road maps for Bismarck’s future. I am running for the City Commission because I want to make sure our community wisely manages its growth and reaches those goals. As the only business owner running for the City Commission, I would use my 25 years of business expertise to focus on:
• Infrastructure: Finding infrastructure funding solutions that don’t further increase property taxes or special assessments;
• Smart Growth: Encouraging economic growth while managing sprawl and capitalizing on infill and renovation opportunities, protecting our neighborhood schools and planning for population growth;
• Making Sure Small Businesses Are At the Table: The overwhelming majority of Bismarck businesses are small businesses. I will make sure the perspectives of small business owners and employees are heard; and
• Sensible Preservation: Preserving our historical structures and our town’s unique character wherever possible as we continue to grow.
What do you see as the most significant challenge and how would you address it?
Managing growth has been Bismarck’s biggest challenge. I am proud that Bismarck is ranked nationally as a “Best City” in which to start a business, for millennials, for seniors, for women entrepreneurs, for jobs and careers, for work environment, for fiscal performance, and as a secure place to live! We’re doing a lot right! But We Can Do Better!
• Workforce: More than half of Bismarck’s employers expect to add staff in 2018, and all are concerned about attracting and retaining employees. We must appeal to a diverse 21st century workforce, and I will encourage new ways to connect these new colleagues and neighbors to our close-knit community networks once we get them here. I also enthusiastically promote “growing our own” workforce for careers in the sciences and humanities, so that Bismarck’s kids, who are so inclined, don’t feel compelled to leave to pursue careers in those and other fields.
• Quality of Life: Growth brings challenges in affordable housing and increases in police calls and patrol activities. We need to find ways to give the police, fire, and emergency responders the resources they need. We need to encourage housing diversity for our workforce, including affordable choices for people of all salary levels, such as the elderly and people with special needs. We should encourage infill and redevelopment, as well as mixed use planning. We must address our city’s challenges especially homelessness and behavioral health issues. I support the recommendations of the public private partnerships and community task forces that have been addressing these pressing issues, and I will work to find effective ways the city can implement them.
• Business and Entrepreneur Backing: While Bismarck has many dynamic large employers, we can and must do better to support our small business and entrepreneurial communities, as small businesses are the backbone of our economy and essential to vibrant communities.
I’m running for City Commission because successful growth is tied to community connection and is a long-term proposition – and that’s the vision our growing city needs.