AL Carlson

First and foremost is public safety. Our citizens need to feel safe walking out streets, in their homes, and their kids safety at school. Crime seems to always be in the news. Our budget needs to reflect our commitment to public safety. The second would be property taxes. Even though the city is only about 19% of your tax bill. Spending must be kept in line. I’m a budget hawk—I will be a defender of your tax dollars. There are many more, but those are my top two.

Common Sense- Business Sense. That is how I would describe my qualifications. I had the privilege of being in the state legislature- 10 years as leader in the house. I helped balance billion dollar budgets. In business you must balance budgets- organize projects- and get the job done. I am a common sense conservative, I believe in weighing each fiscal decision on how it will benefit and affect the citizens. I have the skills necessary to be a responsible city commissioner.

Responsible growth. Public Safety. Creating a responsive transparent city government. We cannot tax our residents out of home ownership. Taxes and Safety. We must reevaluate our spending. Fund our priorities, build a strong reserve, return any excess to the taxpayer, and never forget who you work for and whose money we are spending.

Is Fargo the place you want to work and raise your family? Can I afford the housing? If the answer is yes to those questions. Then we as a growing city will be successful. Lower taxes, low crime rates, great schools are all part of this. Commissioners are tasked with providing reasonable yet responsible regulations- low taxes and a safe community. That is our task.

I support the home buyers incentive program. It works, it puts people in homes. As far as Business incentives, they should be viewed one project at a time. They must pass the cost- benefit analyst test. If the numbers work we should do them.. If the numbers don’t work they should not be granted.

I have not read the study, but as a long time homebuilder, we need to increase the number of home owners. Having said that I will state that we can not subsidize everyone into a home. We must partner with the state housing agency, Bank of North Dakota and whoever else will listen to find programs to increase home ownership. The city plays a role with its zoning, regulations, special assessments (a whole other problem) and infrastructure specifications. I will personally work hard on this area.