Grand Forks Mayor-Elect Brandon Bochenski wants to improve downtown & education system

Bochenski will take office on June 23rd.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — “I noticed a lot of things in the community that are being glossed over and I thought I could do something and I felt I had a skill set for the city and my wife says you can sit at home and complain or you can go out there and do something, so we made the decision right then and there to make a difference,” Bochenski said.

Brandon Bochenski ended election night on Tuesday with over a 10 point victory against Mayor Michael Brown.

He says there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

“We have been mainly focused on our downtown sort of at the expense of other areas of town, I have talked about expanding those tax incentives to different areas of the city to hopefully spur some population growth,” Bochenski said.

Bochenski is also focusing his efforts on making Grand Forks more business friendly as well as improving the city’s education system.

“We are not funding our schools as well as Minot, as well as West Fargo, as well as Bismarck, so we are really lacking there so the city really needs to tighten up so there is more money to go to the schools,” Bochenski said.

He is also saying he will differ from his predecessor by not seeking reelection beyond a possible second term.

“It will be one term or two, I am a big fan of term limits I think that’s a big problem in the Senate and in Congress so if you can’t do what you were going to do in eight years then it’s time to step aside and let somebody get inside with new ideas,” Bochenski said.

Bochenski plans on improving relations between the local business community and city hall by creating an open door policy where people can come to voice their concern.

The Mayor-Elect says there will be a lot of work ahead him but he is ready for the challenge.