Nancy Edmonds Hanson
Mayor Shelly Aasen Carlson says that Moorhead’s biggest challenge in years to come will be how to handle the exciting growth that lies ahead.
Like the rest of the F-M metropolitan area, the city has experienced strong growth over the past two decades – the second time in its 150-year history that numbers have swelled dramatically. The first, in the two decades that followed World War II, saw the city’s population nearly triple. That speed braked over the next 30 years, eventually slowing to little more than a crawl during the 1990s.
But then Moorhead took off again. In the past 23 years, the community has grown by almost 40 percent – the fastest-growing city in outstate Minnesota, second only to Twin Cities suburb Shakopee — and the boom shows no inclination to slow down. “Clay County is the fourth fastest growing county in the state,” she notes, “by far the fastest in outstate Minnesota. The majority of its growth is here in Moorhead.” (The city accounts for 45,000 of the county’s 67,000 citizens.)
“Our challenge is going to be finding smart ways to keep up with that level of growth,” the 52-year-old mayor emphasizes. “Population studies tell us it’s only going to continue for the foreseeable future.”
Part of the reason is Moorhead’s potential for physical expansion. “The Metro Diversion is going to place some limits on Fargo fairly soon,” she predicts. “We have no such constraints on our side of the river. We’re wide open, especially to the south.”
When she came to Moorhead from Minot, North Dakota, in 1990, heading city government was nowhere on her “to do” list. Carlson majored in paralegal studies at Minnesota State University Moorhead, then went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration in 2005.
She worked as a paralegal in the city prosecutor’s office after graduation and later was named director of victim services for the Clay County state’s attorney. She has also been involved with the North Dakota Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition and has volunteered with the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center.
Since 2016, she has worked remotely as project manager with the Minnesota Elder Justice Center. Among her responsibilities: developing a curriculum for law enforcement officers on investigating allegations of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of older men and women, as well as vulnerable adults.
“I’ve always been at the intersection of criminal justice and advocacy,” she explains. “I have an inner passion to insure that victims are made whole and that people are held accountable for their actions.”
After more than a dozen years working in the public sector, Shelly says, she began to consider running for the city council. “Our children were a little older, and I finally felt I had time to serve the community in a different way,” she reports. When she announced her candidacy for the Ward 2 seat on the city council, she admits, “I really didn’t know what I was doing. Luckily, my friends and family were more than willing to help.” She and husband Ron, who owns Signature Home Technology and Security, have two children. Jordan, 21, is a senior in management and marketing at the University of North Dakota, while McKinnon, 24, studies history and business at North Dakota State University while serving in the North Dakota Air National Guard.
As Shelly knocked on doors in her east-side ward, one point came up time and again. “People really wanted to see something done with the Center Mall and downtown Moorhead,” she remembers. Opportunity would knock soon after her election in November 2018. Less than a year later, the city council would ink a pre-development deal with Roers Development. Today that process has begun to take visible shape.
Carlson’s role was unexpectedly magnified two years into her term as a council member when Mayor Johnathan Judd resigned in early 2021. His appointment to a judgeship in the Seventh Judicial District left the mayor’s seat open. According to Moorhead’s city charter, the vacancy required the city council to appoint one of its members to fill out his term.
The vote for Carlson was unanimous. She was sworn in as Moorhead’s 33rd mayor in February 2021. She went on to win her own full term last November with a resounding 83% of the vote.
With three years of leadership under her belt, the mayor points to tangible progress toward the city’s dream of downtown renewal. Ground will be broken soon for the new $32 million community center and regional library that the mayor calls a centerpiece for redevelopment; she was among advocates who campaigned hard to pass the half-cent sales tax that will fund its construction.
Residential and commercial plans for the site of the Center Mall are taking shape, she hints, though little has been publicly announced to date. “Stay tuned for more news early next year,” she promises.
Meanwhile, Carlson’s mayoral responsibilities have kept her on the move … around the city, where she’s a fixture at everything from the Moorhead Business Association’s annual meeting to the Christmas kick-off Tuesday at the Rourke Art Museum, and to destinations much farther afield.
Last week, for example, she headed to Washington, D.C., with other local leaders to consult with the region’s Congressional delegation on local priorities, then a quick flight home to set off by car for Willmar for the fall conference of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities. She’s first vice president of the coalition, which lobbies the Minnesota Legislature on behalf of communities outside the Twin Cities; Moorhead is the group’s largest member.
She expects to be back in St. Paul, along with her colleagues, when the next session begins in January. “Getting the $14.71 million we need to get our flood mitigation across the finish line is our top priority,” she asserts. “This will be our 15th year of lobbying for it in St. Paul. We’re nothing if not tenacious.
“I was naive, I think, about the amount of lobbying that’s involved in this job,” Shelly admits. Her recent trip to D.C. is the third in 2023 alone, and she has been part of at least eight missions to St. Paul since January.
Here at home, she has been deeply involved with the Metropolitan Flood Diversion Authority board, which directs development of the 30-mile, $3 billion diversion project. Its chairmanship rotates between the mayors of Moorhead and Fargo and the Cass County Commission. She chaired it during her first year as mayor and will take up the gavel again in 2024.
All told, Carlson’s mayoral duties require at least 20 to 25 hours in a typical week. Accommodating the job’s demands has required paring back the hours she spends on Elder Justice Center business from 40 to 32 hours a week. Yet the self-described extrovert claims to enjoy the pace, as well as the sense of accomplishment that comes with reaching goals that benefit the community she loves.
Shelly bridles at critics who compare Moorhead’s suitability for business with its west-of-the-river neighbors. “Being a border community anywhere does come with challenges. Dealing with two different sets of regulations is never easy,” she acknowledges. “But we have made tremendous progress in leveling the field.”
She cites Minnesota’s tax disparity reduction credits that limit property tax paid by local businesses to 1.6%, matching North Dakota rates: “The state pays the rest of the tax burden,” she explains. “Last year we got $10 million from the state to close the gap.” (The credits also apply to East Grand Forks, Dilworth, Breckenridge and Ortonville.”
Another border city program, the Enterprise Zone workers compensation tax credit program, permits businesses to apply for credits to reduce what they pay for Minnesota workers comp insurance to match North Dakota’s rates. Meanwhile, the state’s homestead tax credits benefit homeowners mightily when it comes time to pay property taxes.
“Optimistic? Absolutely! I’m really looking forward to what’s coming up for Moorhead,” the mayor emphasizes. “I hear from a lot of people here who feel the same way. We’re fired up about where our community is going. The excitement is palpable.”