david ebinger

I served 40 years working in public safety at the local government level, 32 of those years in a supervisory or command position. For the last 12 years of my career I served as Chief of Police of the Moorhead Police Department, where I gained knowledge of the needs of our community as well as the local partnerships that have resulted in so much success over the years. I have served as a County Commissioner over the last four years and am the current Chair of the Clay County Commission.

• Work for expanded mental health services for Clay County, to include working for State funding for a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) for juveniles.

• Completion of the new dispatch center for the Red River Regional Dispatch Center along with successful implementation of Next Generation 911 (NG911). This should include working with the legislature to direct additional State funds to the counties for Dispatch Center operations.

• Support for growth and competitiveness of Minnesota businesses in the Fargo-Moorhead marketplace. This should include additional Border Cities legislation to level the playing field with North Dakota businesses.

Many challenges and opportunities will present themselves in our community in the next five years. I am going to focus my response on the issues facing Clay County. Despite the many successful partnerships we have had with our sister-community to the west there are some distinctive differences in the positions of Cass County and Clay County within our respective states.

Clay County does not have the primacy in Minnesota the Fargo-West Fargo enjoy in North Dakota. As a result, it is essential that we have a presence and a voice in St. Paul to address our needs. Rapid growth is a gift that doesn’t occur without costs. Clay County will need more State funded infrastructure projects to meet the communities demand for roads, water, sewage and solid waste demands.

Public safety needs are also a consideration in a community where criminal activity is increasing as our population grows. Lack of police applicants and competitive practices of other law enforcement agencies have created a critical shortage of staff to respond to the needs of Clay County, in particular in the City of Moorhead.

Consistent lobbying and keeping the growth and potential of our county in front of mind in St. Paul is essential to address the distinct needs of the Minnesota side of the FM Metro area. We need to maintain our partnerships with the Cass County side, but it is essential that we gain capacity in getting the needed support from our own State government.

There are a number of workforce and business initiatives, that are sponsored by the Greater Fargo Moorhead EDC and the Chamber, that take advantage of the generous funding provided by the State of North Dakota that merit a limited amount of support from the Minnesota side of our community. A marginal amount of residential growth on the Minnesota side may be anticipated when our North Dakota neighbors expand businesses in their communities. However recent efforts that focused on recruitment of North Dakota locations for both business and residential growth promise little benefit for Minnesota partners.

As a result, it is essential that Clay County invest in Minnesota projects and entities that will address the needs I have identified in Question 7. Organizations like Downtown Moorhead Inc. and the Moorhead
Business Association are essential in establishing support for growth in Clay County. With the redevelopment of Downtown Moorhead and the growth in our smaller Cities like Barnesville, Hawley, Glyndon and Dilworth we must focus resources to meet needs closer to home. Initiatives to get State funding and bonding as well as lobbying and having a presence in St. Paul are objectives Clay County needs to focus on while, at the same time, maintaining a reasonable contribution to our regional partnerships with our North Dakota neighbors.

The MetroCOG study clearly demonstrated a need for housing that is evident in many communities across our nation. Clay County has a limited role in housing issues. We do provide funding for housing through our Social Services Department. The State funds the county receives are distributed to the Clay County Housing Authority (CCHA) and Lakes and Prairie Community Action Partnership (CAPLP). These are funds generally used for emergency housing or public housing needs.

Commercial housing development is mostly a function of the municipal zoning and planning departments of our cities. Some of these issues are handled by Clay County Planning, however given the rural nature of the properties involved it does not involve a great deal of housing stock.