Fargo voters will decide whether to completely overhaul the city governance system during a special election now set for Oct. 6. The ballot language as set by the city commission reads: “Shall the city of Fargo change from its organization under a commission system of government and become a city under a ward-based council form of government.”
With a “no” vote, citizens will choose to keep the current system: four commissioners and a mayor elected at large. If they vote “yes,” it indicates that they approve a change to a ward-based system with six council members who each represent one part of the city. (The ward system will keep the at-large mayor.)
How the ward system would work
If approved, the city would need to figure out a way to divide the city into six wards with equal population and would hold elections for the six seats at the June 2028 city election. Half of the seats would be up for reelection in 2030 and half in 2032. Following the first election, all council members would thereafter be elected to four-year terms. Josh Boschee, the recently elected mayor — who is now serving as a full time leader following a change approved by the commission last year — would not face reelection until 2030.
Instead of being able to live anywhere in the city, the council members would have to live in the ward they represent. Instead of overseeing a portfolio of city business, council members would not have direct operational responsibilities for any departments. The mayor, who would remain chief executive officer of the city, would only vote in case of ties (the mayor currently votes on all matters) and would possess veto authority that could be overridden by a two thirds council vote.
In early July, city auditor staff validated 4,491 signatures submitted by the citizen group Fargo Wards for Equal Representation. That’s more than 300 signatures more than what was required to prompt a special election. At its Aug. 3 meeting, the Fargo City Commission scheduled the special election for Oct. 6 — the latest date allowed by state law — based on the advice of the city attorney.
Support and opposition
Both support and opposition to the change is bipartisan. Staunch conservative commissioner Michelle Turnberg and more liberal-leaning former Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney both oppose the measure, while petition sponsors Arlette Preston (a progressive) and Tony Gehrig (a fiscal conservative) support the change. Preston and Gehrig are former commissioners.
Preston said she’s in favor of the ward system because “there seemed to be a schism between City Hall and neighborhoods. Truly, with a ward system, there would be individuals that the public could go to that can voice concerns for the citizens. There’s a much more clear accountability to the constituents.”
Fargo has outgrown its governance model, Preston said. It’s by far the largest city in the country that still has a commission style of government.
One of the concerns that Turnberg and others who oppose the measure have voiced is parochialism — that council members would care more about their neighborhoods than the community at large. The nice thing about the current system is that commissioners represent the entire city, Turnberg stated.
“If people don’t feel heard, reach out to your representatives,” Turnberg said. “Be proactive. That’s why we’re in office.”
Preston said council members will still consider what is good for the city as a whole.
“What’s good for the city is going to be good for the ward and vice versa,” Preston said. “I don’t think (parochialism) will happen any more than it does with the current commission.”
Turnberg also added that the ward system is a solution in search of a problem. “To me, (the system) isn’t broken,” she said.
Additionally, Turnberg said it was “upsetting” that the question goes to voters at a special election, when a much smaller percentage of voters are expected to participate. She said it could have been put on the general election ballot — a claim Preston vigorously disputes.
“We didn’t have any choice,” Preston said. “State law requires it be a special election.”
Special election costs and details
At the Aug. 3 commission meeting, city attorney Ian McLean backed up Preston’s argument, noting that recent changes in state law eliminated the city’s home-rule powers regarding election timing, forcing the city to run a standalone, paper-ballot election less than a month before the November general election. For the first time since 2023, the special election will be run by the city, not the county, city administrator Michael Redlinger confirmed.
If the petition would have been submitted a month later, the election could have coincided with the statewide general election. But because signatures were only valid for a year, the latest they could be submitted was June 8, Preston said.
Turnberg and Mahoney also pointed out the added cost of a special election, funding two new representatives’ salaries and benefits, and potential funding needed to draw the new ward lines. These additional expenses, Turnberg said, are inappropriate “in a budget that’s already suffering.” Mahoney estimated expenses could cost upwards of $300,000 total, while Preston estimated the total would be about a third of that.
Redlinger said although the cost of funding two new council members is known (about $70,000-$80,000), the rest of the costs are unclear at this point. The city doesn’t know how many polling sites or election judges the vote will require, or how the absentee ballot process will proceed. (Those ballots will be available by Aug. 27, according to the process approved by the city commission.)
“We are still determining the exact scale of operation,” Redlinger said. “There are likely some (other) costs that would need to be developed…At the staff level, we will honor and accept the wishes of the voters.”
Gehrig said, despite his reputation as being very reluctant to spend taxpayer dollars, he thinks “this is one of the things that you should spend money on. This is not a partisan issue at all. Arlette and I don’t agree on most things, but different parts of town just need different representation.”
Gehrig added he doesn’t “believe that wards is the best style of government for all cities. Every city is unique.”
“But in my mind we’ve outgrown the commission-style government,” he added. “I don’t think it serves the people of Fargo any longer. North Fargo is way different than southwest Fargo. These different parts of town have different wants and needs and we want to represent them as such.”
Gehrig pointed out that over a hundred years ago, Fargo switched from a ward system to a commission. “We’re going back, hopefully, to a council style people want,” he said.
Zoe Absey, a Fargo Park Board member who gathered signatures for the petition, pointed to other advantages of wards. The change would reduce barriers to run for elected office, she said, because reaching one-sixth of the voters is a much less daunting task than running in the whole city, an experience Absey described as “overwhelming.” It’s also less expensive to run and candidates will be able to become experts at issues affecting the neighborhood they’re running to represent.
“It will be much easier for candidates to campaign,” Absey said.
Polls, public opinion and elected officials weigh in
Preston said the pro-ward system group collected signatures at public events, such as farmers markets and protests. They also went door to door.
“It became evident pretty quickly that the support was coming from every neighborhood, various income levels,” she said. “It became evident that there was pretty widespread support.”
A 2023 community survey by Dr. Nicholas Bauroth, Director of Upper Midwest Center on Public Policy, found that 49% of Fargo respondents would probably/definitely support changing to a council form of governance. Nineteen percent would probably/definitely not support the change, and 31 percent indicated they were undecided.
The City of Fargo commissioned a community survey in 2024. The results revealed that 43% of residents would like to see a council form, while 29% wanted to remain with a commission and 27% had no opinion.
Preston said her group will be working hard to push a “yes” vote.
“The fact that it’s a special election makes all of us concerned about turnout, trying to get people to know what the issue is and to know how to actually vote,” she said.
Mahoney said that it’s still early, but he’s heard rumblings about an organized opposition effort, which he said he would throw his political capital behind.
“There’s a huge possibility this won’t pass,” he said. “This is an opportunity. If you don’t want change, you better get out and voice your concerns.”
One of the main reasons Mahoney opposes the change to a ward system, Mahoney is because he believes it would weaken the mayor position and increase the power of the city administrator.
“A strong mayor really makes a huge difference in what you can do as a community,” Mahoney said.
Preston disputes that it would weaken the mayor’s role, pointing to the veto authority the mayor could employ under the ward system. Recently elected Mayor Boschee agrees.
“I think it strengthens the role of the mayor,” Boschee said. “The goal is to produce consensus and provide leadership for the entire council. It makes the city council more like a legislative type body, focusing on where we’re moving the city toward, growth plans … rather than focusing on the day-to-day operations of the city.”
Commissioner Nikkie Gullickson said she was undecided on whether to support or oppose the ballot measure. High Plains Reader declined to talk to commissioner John Strand because he is co-publisher of this newspaper. Commissioner Chad Peterson did not respond to multiple attempts to reach him for comment.
Mahoney stated that he doesn’t believe the petition gatherers explained the change in great enough detail to those who signed. Preston countered that most people she spoke with were pretty knowledgeable and eager to sign.
“It didn’t require a whole lot of explanation because people seemed to know about it,” she said. “If they didn’t, we had a longer conversation.”
The debate continues
Preston and Turnberg debated the upcoming election question on Aug. 4 in front of a crowd of 55 people at the Avalon Events Center. The event was sponsored by the Cass County United Republicans Committee.
Doug Sharbono, a Republican candidate for ND Senate District 11, was one of the attendees.
He said he was originally for the change, but now opposes it because the city commission is 3-2 left-leaning and will have the ability to gerrymander the new council districts, he fears.
Redlinger said staff will do their best to assist the commission or a potential citizen ward drawing committee –in drawing compact wards of equal population that meet the requirements of law. But ultimately, it’s up to the elected officials to pass a map.
Fargo resident CeCe Rohwedder said she attended the debate to study the issue. She described herself as open-minded and attended to learn which way she should vote. When reached after the debate by phone, Rohwedder said she had made a decision: vote “no.”
“The pro side did not provide me with enough reason to vote for change,” Rohwedder said. “I’m concerned about how wards are going to be established.”
Debate attendee Darrek Crissler helped collect signatures for the petition and is an ardent “yes” vote. The health-care administration management consultant said “the needs of some neighborhoods are being neglected.”
“I think Fargo’s due for it,” Crissler said. “Eventually we’re going to have to transition. It seems like the right time. I live in southwest Fargo. We have different needs than the needs of north Fargo.”
