Five candidates have filed for three open seats on the Minot City Council in the June 9 city election. Another five candidates have filed for two Minot Park Board seats to be filled in June, and five others have filed for three positions in the Ward County Commission’s November election.

The filing deadline was Monday.

Incumbent city council member Stephan Podrygula is running, along with Scott Burlingame, Tom Ross, Carrie Evans and Roscoe Streyle.

Incumbents Jim Rostad, Shelly Weppler and Alan Walter filed for county commission as did former county commissioner Larry Louser and newcomer Howard “Bucky” Anderson.

Anderson is a graduate of Bishop Ryan High School in Minot and North Dakota State University, with a master’s in education leadership from the University of North Dakota. He was an educator for 39 years, the last 24 years at Minot High School’s Central Campus. He also coached wrestling for many years, starting the wrestling program at Des-Lacs Burlington High School.

He has farmed and ranched in Ward and Burke counties since 1980. He has also served on the Des-Lacs Burlington School Board as well as other local boards.

Rostad, who also serves on the Minot Public School Board, was first elected to the county commission in 2016. A native of Carpio, he lived in Minot for 20 years before moving to rural Minot, where he has lived the past 20 years. He owned Minot Finest Collision Center for 20 years.

Walter, of Minot, was first elected in 2012 and is a former Minot public works director. He served in the National Guard and has been on the Garrison Division Conservancy District board for 18 years and is on North Dakota Water Users Board. He also was instrumental in the early development of the Northwest Area Water Supply Project.

Weppler, president of the St. Joseph’s Community Health Foundation, has served on the commission since 2012. A Minot native, Weppler served in the U.S. Army as a military police officer in Germany. She holds a business degree from Minot State University and master’s degree in philanthropy and development from St. Mary’s University, Winona, Minn.

Louser served a term on the county commission from 2014-18. A Garrison native, he has resided in Minot since getting out of the Navy in 1965. He was an economics teacher at Minot High School from 1969 to 1978 and later became a Minot Realtor.

Podrygula is a clinical and health psychologist. He was most recently appointed to the city council in July 2018 after having served a year following council reorganization. He previously served on the council in 1998-2002 and 2004-2008 and has been a Minot resident for more than 40 years.

Evans grew up in Minot and graduated from Bishop Ryan and Minot State University. She left the state to pursue her master’s and law degrees. She went on to work in the areas of domestic violence and human rights. She spent 27 years living in Carbondale, Ill., Baton Rouge La., Toronto, Washington DC metro area and Baltimore. In 2017, she returned to Minot.

Ross, a Minot native, works at Gooseneck Implement. He has served on a number of local education and business committees and boards.

Streyle is a Minot banker who served in the North Dakota House of Representatives from 2011 to 2018.

Burlingame is executive director at Independence, Inc., and has served on numerous boards and coalitions. He serves as the chair of the Minot Area Recovery Organization, a startup nonprofit tasked with addressing the local addiction crisis, and he is vice president of the Minot Nonprofit Alliance.

Incumbent city council members Shannon Straight and Josh Wolsky are not seeking re-election.

Running for the two seats on the park board are incumbents Cliff Hovda and Steve Wharton, along with Ken Kitzman, retired executive director of the Minot Area Community Foundation; retired educator Jeff Risk; and Justin Hammer, a Realtor and president of IMM-Investors Management & Marketing. Hammer holds a degree from University of North Dakota in parks, recreation and leisure studies.

Even-numbered legislative districts will be on the ballot this year.

District 40 Republicans have endorsed incumbents Sen. Karen Krebsbach and Reps. Matt Ruby and Randy Schobinger. Filing in the Democratic column for House are Kalyn Dewitt and Robert Kibler. Kibler is a businessman and professor at Minot State University. He has served with the 82nd Airborne and 75th Ranger Battalion.

District 38 Republicans have endorsed incumbents Sen. David Hogue and Reps. Larry Bellow and Dan Ruby.

Judge Doug Mattson has filed to retain his seat in the North Central Judicial District.

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Six file to run for Minot school board seats

Three four-year seats are up for election on the Minot Public School Board.

As of 2:30 p.m. Monday, incumbents Jim Rostad, Mitch Kraft, and Mark Lyman have filed to run again. Justin Ahmann, Michael Gessner and Bonny Berryman also had filed to run. The deadline to file was 4 p.m. Monday.

The election will be held on June 9. Voters will also decide whether board minutes should be published in the county newspaper of record.

– Andrea Johnson