MOORHEAD — Moorhead City Council on Monday, Aug. 14, appointed Sebastian McDougall to fill the Ward 4 city council seat left vacant since Steve Lindaas resigned from the position in June.
Owner of Waters Edge Consulting LLC., and a member of the city’s public service commission and park advisory board, McDougall will fill the void for the duration of Lindaas’ remaining term, which ends Dec. 31, 2024. Lindaas
resigned his seat to work with the federal government, and was not allowed to weigh in on his replacement.
McDougall was chosen from a field of six candidates
and selected in a 6-1 vote. Council members Ryan Nelson, Heather Nesemeier, Laura Caroon, Larry Seljevold, Matthew Gilbertson and Chuck Hendrickson voted in favor of McDougall. Council member Deb White voted in opposition.
“I feel very strongly that Sebastian McDougall would be fit for the Moorhead City Council,” Hendrickson said, noting that he has worked with McDougall in the past on the park board and on the Moorhead public service committee.
White had originally voted in favor of candidate Trent Gerads, however the council voted 4-3 against Gerads. White, Caroon and Nesemeier voted in favor, while Gilbertson, Seljevold, Hendrickson and Nelson voted in opposition.
White appreciated how passionate Gerads was in his interview about making sure citizens felt invited to weigh in on city decisions, along with his experience working to provide affordable housing in Moorhead. “That is of course a key issue that we’re faced with in our community right now is that we have an affordable housing crisis,” she said.
While it was a “tough” decision with great candidates across the board, Nelson favored McDougall for his history of service to the city along with his years spent volunteering for youth athletics.
Echoing his support, Seljevold said that he’s known McDougall for years through the park board.
“I applaud everyone who applied to be a candidate,” Caroon said. “It made me feel really good that so many people were interested in serving, and for so many different reasons.”
McDougall will be sworn in at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, and is expected to hold his seat until the end of next year, unless he is elected to another term.
“I think that anybody who steps up and wants to serve the community in this way needs to be commended,” Mayor Shelly Carlson said, encouraging all the applicants to pursue seats with the city again in the future.
“We have an incredible community,” Carlson said. “The more that get involved the better.”
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