KROX is continuing our 2026 Election coverage with an introduction to the three candidates for the Crookston City Council in Ward 2. The candidates are Tyler Arndt, Travis Oliver, and Matt Rosu.
We asked each candidate a series of questions, and their responses are included below. KROX reached out to Tyler Arndt for an interview but did not receive a response.
Tell us a little about yourself and your family.
Oliver: “My name is Travis Oliver. I have a spouse named Anne, and I have three girls: Ava, Hazel, and Piper.”
Rosu: “My name is Matt Rosu. My wife’s name is Heather Rosu. We have three boys: Richard, John, and Brian.”
Why did you file to run for the Crookston City Council?
Oliver: “I believe in Crookston. I think we got a lot going on, and I’m part of the school district, and I want some of these kids to stay here, and I want to make sure there’s opportunities in the future, and I think I bring a lot of energy and everything that’s needed in the position, and that’s why I filed. I want to give back.”
Rosu: “I have been to many city council meetings and seen a lot of times when you go there, the city council doesn’t, from my perspective, it doesn’t look like they like to hear from city residents, and I just felt like it was time to maybe change some of the rules at city council to allow citizens to be able to talk during line items in the middle of meetings, to be able to discuss specific things in the middle of meetings, I’d like to change certain rules to allow more citizen participation in meetings and just allow more citizen involvement so that’s not just the public forum in the first 15 minutes. So that’s kind of what irked me the first time, and first made me decide to run was the treatment that I got when I went to city council meetings.”
What previous experiences do you have that will help you if you are elected to the Crookston City Council?
Oliver: “Well, for a while I was a construction manager, which you know managing 80-90, people is a difficult task. I transitioned into teaching, so I’m still managing 80-90 people. They’re just much younger, and that’s a challenge. Every day is six, seven class periods, and I also teach at UMC, so I’m helping to develop the next round of teachers that are going to teach CTE and agricultural education, and I think just those two things alone. I’ve been on multiple boards. I’ve been a part of multiple discussions of different groups in town. Ox Cart Days is one of them to ring a bell. Just all those little things you take part in. I think encompass a big picture of what Crookston needs, and I think all that experience is what I’m looking for.”
Rosu: “Well, that’s the thing. I’m not a professional politician by any means. I’m just a normal guy. I’m a bus driver with the Crookston School District, and in between my morning and afternoon routes, I’m a groundskeeper. So I’m a public servant already, and I love being a public servant and making a difference every day makes me feel fulfilled, and I just want to serve my fellow neighbors, and I feel like I have a lot of good ideas. My children were diagnosed with autism. I have never been diagnosed with autism, but I think a lot, and I come up with ideas. Even you know, I’m not on the Crookston City Council, but I think about things like maybe we could put the city of Crookston sign out on Highway 29 on that exit for the KT Road, you know, things that get our name out there, just different things, just different ideas, crosswalks across Highway 2 at Gulf Terrace, or improvements. I just think about these things, and I just feel like now would be a good time for me to jump in and and be of service to the community, the city of Crookston.”
Is there anything else that you want voters to know about you?
Oliver: “Most people already know me through the school district or different things I’ve done around the community. You know, I just think Crookston’s special to me, and I think it’s special to a lot of people. And I don’t want to see it continue to decline, and it has, and it’s a lot of little things. But you know, we’re close to Grand Forks, and sometimes that’s a positive, and sometimes it’s not. So I mean, I’m hoping that in the long term, Crookston, we can see some growth, we can see some housing, we can see everything that we need to do to be prosperous and look forward to the future.”
Rosu: “I want to be accessible. I have a Facebook page I’m using as my campaign page right now. I’ve made a lot of videos about these ideas I’ve had, like making a quiet zone. If I was honored enough to win the election, I would change that into my official council member page, so that I would continue to post what’s happening during meetings or the results of meetings. That is where people could send me messages and approach me, message me, call me. Like my address is 200 Golf Terrace. People can approach me. I want people to be able to talk to me. I want people to participate. We are the government. We are the people. We form the government at the very basic level, at the local level, and that is so fundamental to me.”
