Nicole Mattson

I’ve lived in Moorhead for 17 years with my husband and two kids. For seven years, I’ve served on the Moorhead Planning Commission, including three terms as chair. I’m a dedicated community volunteer, serving in roles from nonprofit board member to community organizer to MoorHeart Award committee member. I spent about ten years self-employed, and have recently returned to a full-time job at NDSU. That diversity of experiences has given me a broad perspective on the needs of our city.

• Smart growth: Increase our property tax base; add more affordable housing units; support our small local businesses when they are impacted by construction projects like the new underpass.

• Public safety: bring a law enforcement skills training center to Moorhead; add other positions to our public safety forces, like outreach workers.

• Communication and participation: stream city council and commission meetings on all the city's social platforms; make city government more open and accessible to all

According to MetroCOG, Moorhead needs to build 3,700 housing units over the next 10 years. In order for us to meet that need, I will advocate for some changes to our zoning tables to allow for more housing options in our neighborhoods, and more mixed use buildings in new developments.

As we grow, we are also seeing challenges with public safety. One way to address that problem is to bring a law enforcement skills training center to Moorhead, so that police trainees do not have to relocate to Alexandria for eight weeks to complete their training.

People choose where to live and work based on the quality and cost of life in a city. We have a lot going for us in terms of quality of life, and more on the way with a revitalized downtown. In terms of the cost of living, we have room to improve in some areas, like access to affordable childcare. I would work with our state legislative delegation to try to expand childcare options for workers.

Our housing shortage is a complex problem that will need to be approached from more than one angle. We can update our zoning code to make it easier to build more types of housing in new and existing neighborhoods. We can increase our housing capacity by allowing for accessory dwelling units when lot sizes can accommodate them. We can offer property tax incentives to developers and homebuyers.