I am Mayor Shelly Carlson. I am pleased to say that I am running for Moorhead Mayor in hopes of continuing to serve the Moorhead community for another four years.
I was humbled and thrilled when I was unanimously appointed to serve as Mayor February 8th, 2021. Together, we have celebrated many accomplishments while I have been in office.
We welcomed the Fargo Moorhead Community Theater to Moorhead and with it, the thousands of individuals that visited our community.
We have been fortunate to witness a great deal of economic development. In south Moorhead, Enclave Development is adding two new apartment complexes and business sites. Additionally, First International Bank & Trust will have a new, larger location. Up north, Kevin Batram opened the Moorhead Armory, a beautiful new event center, and soon he’ll start a redevelopment project at the Fairmont Creamery. And very soon, Roers Development is going to unveil an exciting plan for the Moorhead Center Mall.
Our community now has a Sustainability Coordinator whose role is to ensure we are integrating resiliency and sustainability in as many ways as possible.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the revival of mutual aid between our local law enforcement agencies.
My time as Mayor has not been without issues. COVID, masking, and the lack of law enforcement mutual aid were some of the most challenging.
But, there were two that really demonstrated our values and made me so very proud of our community.
When our local mosque was vandalized, our community came together. Our citizens stood together and cleaned the mosque and as a community we expressed that hate has no home in Moorhead.
Then, tragically, seven members of the same family lost their lives to carbon monoxide poisoning. Our Moorhead citizens came together and wrapped their arms around the grieving relatives, offering comfort free of worry over funeral costs.
We can all be proud of each other and the spirit of community that bonds us. I know Moorhead is truly a community unlike any other, and it is an honor to represent my city.
My future hopes and dreams for Moorhead over the next four years are focused on three things. The first is economic development throughout Moorhead, but specifically in our downtown. If a “yes” vote for the community center / library is achieved in November, that legacy project will become an anchor for economic development and be something a multitude of future generations will be able to enjoy.
Second is finishing desperately needed infrastructure projects that connect the north and south sides of our city. The 20/21st Ave underpass project will be completed July 2022, and the 11th St project is slated to start in 2024. There is still funding needed for this project and I vow to get that funding. Between the 2 tracks of the 11th street project 70 trains pass every day causing 5 hours of delays. This is huge public safety issue, but also a challenge when attempting to entice businesses to our downtown. A safe underpass will increase our public safety, increase downtown development and cease to be the #1 reason people are late heading back to work from lunch each day!
Last, is to work with our local law enforcement to determine ways in which to recruit and retain officers to our community. While I realize workforce development is a challenge in all sectors (one that I will also be working on), when you look at Maslov’s hierarchy of needs, safety and security are right after water, food, and shelter. Members of the Moorhead Police Department work tirelessly to ensure our community is safe and WE can sleep at night. We need more officers to ensure the ones we have don’t get burnt out.
I strongly believe my time as Mayor has prepared me to lead Moorhead for the next four years. Moorhead is growing – just look around – there are projects happening in all areas of the city. In fact, our community is the 4th fastest growing community outside of the Twin Cities. We are obviously doing something right and I hope to continue leading this great community for four more years.