Bismarck Tribune

By TONY SPILDEBy TONY SPILDE

A very young Bismarck Park Board accomplished its first major task Thursday night, and in the process helped cement its mission statement.

Board members voted to bring longtime Bismarck resident John Sagsveen into their fold to fill a position that will be vacated shortly by 18-year veteran Kris Todd.

Sagsveen, one of four finalists interviewed at a special meeting of the park board Thursday, will immediately help the board further its primary goal of reaching out to the community.

"I look at his business experience and his relationships with people in the community - he can get right into it and work with the community,"board member Paul Quist said. "We're going to be an active board, here to represent the people. We are going to communicate better with people, because that's what they wanted."

In the June primary, experienced board members Tim Mueller (20 years) and Shannon Bakke (four) lost their bids for re-election. Board president Dan Hovland opted not to run. New members Quist, Jennifer DeForest and Mike Gilbertson took their place, joining Todd and two-year veteran Mark Zimmerman. With Todd's departure - she is moving outside the park district's limits - Zimmerman was the most experienced of the bunch.

Board members hope Sagsveen, who will take over for Todd on Oct. 26, will provide further ties to the community. Sagsveen, 64, owned Capitol Lanes for many years, and still owns the building that used to house the bowling alley. He leases space there to the state department of health and human services, among others.

That doesn't take up much of his time, Sagsveen said Thursday, so he has plenty to devote to the board.

His immediate agenda would be to work with the public to gather input about how to plan for the district's future. He wants the board to be progressive, but with a solid foundation in the present. Sagsveen would like to see current facilities maintained properly, then look at what needs Bismarck will have as it continues to grow both in terms of population and geography.

"This is the best place I've ever lived. We've got a great system of parks and rec and I would like to see that continue," Sagsveen said in his interview. "… I understand the recreation business. It takes money to run this thing. As a park board, we need to figure out how to get that money."

Sagsveen said he would be in favor of certain partnerships with service clubs and corporate sponsors. He also said the defeat of the sales tax measure in the June election, which would have provided money for many projects on the park district's wish list, doesn't mean people aren't in favor of additional recreational opportunities.

Sagsveen is not the first with that surname to serve the board. His brother, Murray, was the board's attorney in the 1980s and '90s.

The board also interviewed finalists Jon Mielke, Carl Young and Michael Schwartz. Todd recused herself from the process. After the interviews, board members each ranked the candidates and anonymously submitted their choices to Zimmerman and the board's attorney, Pat Ward.

The park board's next meeting will be Oct. 26, where Todd will step down and Sagsveen will assume her spot. He will be up for re-election in two years.

(Reach reporter Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tony.spilde@;bismarcktribune.com.)