FARGO (KFGO) – The public comment period was a major part of a discussion of the Fargo City Commission’s new governance policies Monday.
City leaders have been working on the draft since 2022 to address policies ranging from a code of ethics to public comments, but recent feedback raised questions about whether to continue to allow public comments during commission meetings.
This comes after weeks of residents showing up with signs and banners to demand commissioners call for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Commissioner John Strand says eliminating public comments or pushing them off to quarterly meetings is squelching the voice of the public.
“I appreciate seeing signs and hearing from citizens,” Strand says. “To strip that away from our citizens, to say that they can’t show up and have their speech in our space is not right. And I will fight for their speech.”
Mayor Tim Mahoney suggested it may be more productive to hold public discussions at another time.
“In an open forum, in which you have a town hall meeting, people can get answers because the staff would be there to give the answers,” Mahoney says. “What’s wrong with the dialog right now, is people get to do their complaints, but they get no answers. So, in some ways, it’s an effort to get better communication.”
Mahoney and Commissioner Denise Kolpack say citizens have access to the commission anytime.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to continue the discussion on the draft before approving it.
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