Minot council accepts investigator's findings on mayor, moves to fill vacancy and authorize interim signatures

The Minot City Council on [date not specified] accepted an external investigator's report that found allegations of workplace harassment by Mayor Tom Ross were substantiated and took several actions to ensure continuity of city government following Ross's resignation.

Council President Janser opened the special meeting by telling the public she had received a resignation from Mayor Tom Ross that afternoon and that the council would receive the investigator's final report. Tom, the acting human resources manager, told the council the city manager, the prior human resources director and outside counsel engaged an external investigator after a Jan. 28 written complaint from City Attorney Stephanie Stahlheim alleging unlawful workplace harassment by the mayor. Tom said the investigator's report, completed with a final interview the day before, concluded the allegations were substantiated and that no redactions were required before distributing the report to counsel.

The council voted unanimously to accept the report. The move to accept the investigator's findings was seconded by Alderman Pitner, and the roll call recorded six "yes" votes; the motion passed.

After accepting the report, the council addressed immediate governance steps caused by the mayoral vacancy. City Attorney Katie Schmidt explained the legal options under state law: the council may either accept a petition within 15 days to trigger a special election or wait 15 days and appoint someone to fill the vacancy. The attorney and finance director both recommended adopting a short resolution to authorize the council president to sign city banking documents while the mayor's seat is vacant to avoid disruption to routine city operations.

The council adopted the banking resolution, which designates the council president as an authorized signatory for city accounts until the mayoral vacancy is resolved. That resolution passed on a recorded roll call with unanimous support.

The council then debated and voted to signal its intent to wait the statutorily allowed 15 days for a possible petition for a special election and, absent such a petition, to appoint one of the current council members to serve as mayor. Alderman Blessum framed the motion as a measure to provide continuity for city staff and external partners while preserving the public's right to petition for an election; the council president and other members said they supported elevating a current council member for continuity during the interim. The motion to signal that intent passed unanimously.

Council members asked for clarification on several procedural points: whether adopting the banking resolution was strictly necessary given a statutory provision that the council president serves as acting mayor during an interim; how an appointment from the council would affect the appointee's council seat (it would become vacant if a council member is appointed mayor); and how long a special election would take if the public filed a petition (attorney Schmidt said the special election timetable would be pushed out by statutory filing deadlines and would take at least a couple of months to schedule).

Council members also discussed committee responsibilities and short-term governance. President Janser said she would meet with the city manager to identify immediate items to address and planned to serve in the acting mayor capacity for routine matters. The council vice president confirmed she would serve as interim council president while Janser serves as acting mayor.

The meeting concluded with the council noting the legal options remain available to the public: a petition filed within 15 days could force a special election, but if no petition is filed the council plans to appoint a replacement from its membership.

Documentation: The investigator's report and the adopted banking resolution were referenced during the meeting; the report pages were made available to council members and counsel during the session. The meeting transcript records the presentations, questions, motions, and the unanimous roll-call votes on the report, the resolution and the motion signaling the council's intent.