Six candidates for the two open seats of the Park Board laid out their stances on issues and answered questions in a crammed basement room of the BSC Student Union on Tuesday night.

Fifty people looked on and listened to the candidates for more than two hours in the forum, hosted by the Bismarck Tribune.

Some of the more prominant issue discussed were regarding ownership of the approved aquatic facility, a park art policy and whether a public vote of approval should be instated for large projects.

For many of the questions, the candidates fell into one of two circles.

On one side, current park board member Mark Zimmerman and Streamline board of director Brian Beattie; these two supported how the ownership of the aquatic facility was finalized and were cautious on instituting a public vote.

On the other side, the remaining four candidates had different opinions. They were Lawrence Nieters, Shawn Weekes, Mike O'Brian and August Werner.

"With two open seats, the people have an opportunity to change the philosophy of the entire park board," said Nieters.

"Either you vote that you like the way it was done," he said, referencing Zimmerman and Beattie, "or you vote for change."

Beattie's relationship with the Streamline was brought into question. He said the organization is nonprofit, with no financial incentive at stake. He added that his campaign was completely funded by himself and private individuals.

"No one in Streamline is trying to pull a fast one on the citizens," he said.

But Nieters countered.

"I see it as a huge conflict of interest, when you're a member of Streamline," he said. "But that's just my opinioin."

Zimmerman answered many questions by referencing the Strategic Plan and pointing out that his work on the board has been with the allocated budget.

"I don't think we're out of control on spending,"Zimmerman said. "We live within our budgets - priorities are based on the budget."

Regarding whether large projects should be approved by a public vote, all candidates were wary of what cost level something like that would require.

But O'Brian, Nieters and Weekes leaned toward support of citizen oversight, as long as it wasn't too expensive.

All candidates were in agreement that an art policy was necessary for the parks to avoid future liability.