Commissioner Dave Piepkorn
FARGO (KFGO) – Two Fargo city commissioners will recommend removing the designation of Commissioner Dave Piepkorn as Deputy Mayor at the next city commission meeting.
Commissioners Arlette Preston and John Strand will bring the motion forward. In a memo, Preston and Strand wrote commissioners should be respectful to one another and the residents of the city, and should not be hostile, degrading, or defamatory.
They also wrote “derogatory and abusive treatment toward others will not be tolerated by this body.”
“As a governing body, the Fargo City Commission has the obligation, indeed the accountability, to police our members’ behaviors,” Preston and Strand wrote. “With this in mind, the following resolution is being proposed: To rescind Commissioner Dave Piepkorn as Deputy Mayor.”
Piepkorn has made several comments in recent months at commission meetings that have sparked controversy.
On Oct. 3, Commissioner Denise Kolpack responded to comments Piepkorn made regarding people he found outside his downtown business and the Engagement Center.
“I was doing some perennial maintenance and there were two very intoxicated Native Americans sleeping right next to my building,” Piepkorn said at the meeting. “I called 911, and they came and rousted them out. So, I followed to see where they went. They went to the Engagement Center. It’s enabling. That Engagement Center has got to go.”
Kolpack indicated that the comments violated the code of conduct oath commissioners take. She called on Mayor Tim Mahoney to address the comments, saying he has a responsibility to uphold the code of conduct.
“When a commissioner speaks with opinion and without fact, and incites a conversation without data, not only is it demoralizing, it has a chilling effect,” Kolpack said.
Mahoney reminded Piepkorn that he ‘vowed to do better’ and said the commission needs to keep to ‘facts and figures.’
“It is dangerous to use opinions or ideas that don’t necessarily cover that,” Mahoney said. “I think we also have to be respectful of other nationalities and people.”
Preston said the Engagement Center is ‘a help and not a hindrance’ to those in need.
Last month, Piepkorn spoke on safety downtown saying, “it’s time to take back downtown.”
Piepkorn has said he wants a larger police presence to crack down on what he calls harassment and aggressive panhandlers. He said the perception is that downtown is not safe and it has to be addressed.
KFGO News reached out to Preston and Strand who declined to comment. Piepkorn, Kolpack, and Mahoney could not be reached for comment.
The meeting is scheduled for Monday.
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