RE-ELECT
RE-ELECT
SHAUN CARLSON
SHAUN CARLSON
FOR
DETROIT LAKES CITY COUNCIL, WARD 1
DETROIT LAKES CITY COUNCIL, WARD 1
Please vote for me to represent your needs in Ward 1!
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What I'm working on
What I'm working on
1
INVEST IN WARD 1
INVEST IN WARD 1
The 2028 rebuild between Rossman and Washington is the biggest north-side project in twenty years. I'm pushing to get it done - and to keep the assessment on your tax statement as close to zero as I can.
2
REFRESH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
REFRESH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Ours is more than a decade old. It decides what can be built near your house and which streets, water and sewer lines get replaced when. As Chair of the Planning Commission, I want a new one written with neighbors in the room.
3
KEEP TAXES MANAGEABLE
KEEP TAXES MANAGEABLE
The preliminary levy was 7.44%. What we adopted was 6.46%. Transfers from our city-owned electric utility and liquor store absorbed about $1.37 million more - a choice the Council makes every December, and one I intend to keep making.
4
SIMPLER RULES, PLAINLY WRITTEN
SIMPLER RULES, PLAINLY WRITTEN
We rewrote the permitted and conditional uses across the business districts so they finally build on each other, and cut the parking minimums that were generating variance after variance. You should be able to read the rules without hiring anyone.
About Me
About Me
Shaun at a glance
Shaun at a glance
I've lived on Willow Springs Road since 2012 with my wife Anna, who grew up in Detroit Lakes, and my 3 Children (Alyssa, Penelope, and Dylan)
I served for 25 years in the North Dakota Air National Guard. I enlisted in 1997, commissioned in 2006, retired as a Major in 2022.
I have a long history of community involvement as a former volunteer firefighter and EMT before moving to Detroit Lakes.
I work in Perham managing technology, budgets, and infrastructure for a Arvig
I'm current the Chair of the Detroit Lakes Planning Commission since February 2023.
I've been one of your Ward 1 representatives since January 2023 and on the Planning Commission since 2021. This means Tuesday night council meetings, Thursday night planning hearings, August budget sessions, and many more special meetings, community meetings, and legislative visits to St. Paul on your behalf.
Lake Lights and Holiday Nights, presenting one of the business awards.
At Detroit Mountain, where the radio club moved its repeater in 2024.
Making the case for the City of Detroit Lakes and Homeschool Rights at the Capitol with Rep. Jim Joy, 2025.
Delivered in Ward 1
Delivered in Ward 1
Three things you can drive past.
Three things you can drive past.
Willow Springs Road
After annexation, my neighborhood was looking at city sewer and water we didn't want and couldn't easily afford. I organized the petition, started an email list, and kept neighbors informed all the way through. The council listened — it wasn't unanimous and there was real debate — and voted not to install it. Then we voted to pave the road instead.
The residents paid for that road through assessments. That was the deal, and we knew it going in. What I could do was fight for the number: the project came in more than 20% under the projected cost, and when the only bid came back a million dollars over the engineer's estimate, we deferred a year rather than accept it.
100 Richwood Road
A closed, blighted car wash on the north side. The redevelopment needed a parking variance to work, and I seconded it. Now construction has started on United Savings Credit Union and a drive-thru coffee shop.
That variance is also what got me looking at the parking standard itself — I want to make it easier to build, remodel, and open a business in Detroit Lakes.
A playground on the north side
The new playground at Lyle Crovisier Memorial Park, thanks to the Boys & Girls Club, just north of Highway 34 near the Boys & Girls Club, opened in 2024. Apart from Roosevelt School, it's the first new playground on this side of town in more than twenty years. This year I asked for a restroom to be added after residents pointed out there were no public facilities available.
How I decide
How I decide
Most council votes aren't close calls between right and wrong. They're tradeoffs between groups of people who all have a point.
Here's what I actually do. I read the whole packet. I listen to the thoughts and ideas of the people it impacts and get engaged — on Willow Springs I ran the petition and the email list myself. If city staff recommend something I don't follow, I ask them to walk me through it until I do. And when I'm worried about how something plays out years from now, I say so on the record, so there's a public marker to hold me to.
Sometimes the answer changes. We've reversed course during my term because residents showed up and made a better argument than the one in front of us. That isn't a failure of the process — that is the process.
If you want to know how I voted on something and why, ask me. I'll give you the details and why I voted the way I did.
Get involved
Get involved
The fastest way to help is a yard sign and a conversation with your neighbors.
Shaun Carlson
Call or text: (218) 234-2815
Email: shaun@carlsonforcouncil.com
Call or text to chat or ask me a question. Want a sign? Let me know and I'll bring the sign by myself.
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