FARGO (KFGO) – The Fargo City Commission approved a study to look at whether the city should have a full-time mayor and add two more commissioners.
Commissioner John Strand brought the idea of having a full-time mayor forward. He says the time is right because, next year, voters will elect a new mayor.
Commissioner Denise Kolpack added the amendment to add commissioners.
“From the research we just recently received from the community engagement survey, it clearly is something that the community wants us to take a look at from those results,” Kolpack said. “I think it would be a great addition to that research at this time, with a growing city and growing responsibilities across the board.”
Commissioner Dave Piepkorn was the only no vote. He says the commission is in a process of reducing bureaucracy and government, not expanding it.
“The first question, if we’re going to go ahead with this, is how much is all this going to cost? Obviously, it’s going to cost a lot,” Piepkorn said. “You’d have to add staff for supporting commissioners and for a full-time mayor, what’s the salary going to be?”
Mayor Tim Mahoney says the purpose of the study is to answer Commissioner Piepkorn’s questions.
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