Dana Sande sat slumped in his chair an hour into the Grand Forks city council meeting on February 6. With his tie strewn to the side, Sande, the president of the city council, looked fatigued and even slightly annoyed as an unusually packed crowd of onlookers cheered on Jodi Carlson, a local resident.  “God bless America,” Carlson started when she took the podium during the public comment period of the meeting. “You’re a bunch of fighters,” she said, pointing back to her suppor