Elected officials run to represent a specific area and a designated population. It is a pretty basic concept and one that you overwhelmingly voted to enshrine in the North Dakota Constitution. Yet, it appears not all of our legislators are abiding by that concept and recently passed Constitutional amendment. The latest example was sent to me by a reader and involves Rep. Bill Oliver.
In the 2016 election,
86% of voters passed Measure one
. The measure, “Relating to Legislator Residency Requirements” amended
Section IV of the ND Constitution
. The residency requirements for Legislators you approved follows. Note, “An individual may not serve in the legislative assembly unless the individuals lives in the district from which selected.”
This measure was brought to you by a bipartisan movement in the 2015 Legislative Session. S
enate Concurrent Resolution 4010
was sponsored by Republican leaders, Al Carlson and Rich Wardner, and Democratic leaders, Kenton Onstad and Mac Schneider. It passed both chambers with large majorities showing strong bipartisan agreement.
The reason this was brought forward was because of a history of elected officials moving out of their district during their term. People representing Dickinson lived in Fargo. Individuals representing Fargo lived in Minot (and may still). People representing one part of Grand Forks lived in another part of Grand Forks. Members of both parties were guilty so both parties put forward a fix.
The same day 86% of voters approved the constitutional amendment, District 4 elected Bill Oliver of New Town. One of the many newly elected Republicans in the 2016 wave election, he served in the 2017 session. According to readers in District 4, Oliver has since moved to Thief River Falls, MN and is managing an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Store there. Oliver has made reference to his new position on a Facebook post dated November 4th.
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(Tyler Axness is a talk show host on the Mighty 790 KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. His program, “Afternoons Live,” can be heard weekdays from 2 – 4 p.m. Axness is also the creator and writer of @
NDxPlains
, a blog dedicated to transparency and accountability in North Dakota politics. Follow Tyler on Twitter @TylerAxness.)
