City Commission - Regular Meeting

begin the meeting with pledge of allegiance. I invite you to join us. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Roll call, please. Copac here. Here. Strand here. Turnberg here. Mahoney here.

I apologize. We had like a short agenda so we had to modify it a bit to have a bigger agenda. So, uh it would be one of the shortest meetings on record but uh we had a few things we had to add. So, is there a motion to approve the order of agenda moving items seven and 8 from the consent agenda to the regular agenda withdrawing item 29 from the consent agenda and adding additional item the regular agenda to consider appointment to the municipal airport authority. So move. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor say I. I. I. Motion carried. Is there a motion to approve the minutes of the May 30th, 2026 regular meeting? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Uh all those in favor say I. I. Motion carries.

Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda items 1 through 36 including items 78 which have been moved to regular agenda and item 29 which has been withdrawn. I move second. Roll call vote, please. Epcorn. Hi. Strands. Yes. Pulpac. I. Turnber. I. Mahoney. Hi. Agenda. Presentation of the 2025 fire department annual report. Chief Gary Loren to explain. Guys have been busy. I keep hearing about fires all over town.

You'll notice uh you guys have got me nervous. I just put on a clean shirt and I just put pen all over the pocket. Um, good evening. Wear dark uniforms like the police. Then you wouldn't have that problem.

Exactly. That's why we have That's a good idea. Um, I'm going to present tonight is a is a brief overview of our annual report that's that's now listed on the uh city's website for review that you're all welcome to dig into deeper. Um just to start with two of the kind of external agencies we use to verify and validate a lot of the information that we do and provide out to the public. One is our accreditation model through the commission on fire accreditation international. Um and the the data there in our slide shows there are approximately 326 fire departments accredited in the United States. And then of those um approximately 123 also have the insurance service office ISO rating of class one which we do here in Fargo. So two two statistics that we're very proud of. Um as part of the process especially through the accreditation model we develop in a strategic plan. And this slide highlights five of the planning goals that make up the foundation of really everything we do in the department. Um these five planning goals are listed here and they're also uh delineated in our annual report. I'm not going to read these specifically to you. Also, one of the things that we use in the department that we reference a lot are our core values. um these core values were came up um through a committee hearing or not hearing but through a committee of of of a lot of the members within the department that collectively develop these values that represent the department. Uh the acronym that we use on the left of the screen here is pride is is the one that we take a lot of pride in. um some of the statistics for the department throughout the year. You can see our total call volume in 2025 was 14,592

incidents total number of incidents. And if you look across the screen there, you can see for the last 3 years, it's been fairly steady with just a slight increase. There's not been a drastic increase in calls, but they are steadily increasing. Um in 2021, the the steep decrease in calls there you can see was related. That was the COVID year. That's when everything got locked down. People were more inside and there was just less happening. Reflects that big dip back then. But this year, and then of that 14,592, about 60% of those calls are uh EMS calls. Um you know, part of the reason we provide the EMS service that we do is because we're strategically located throughout the city. We have our eight fire stations spread out fairly equally around the city. And of that 60% of EMS calls, approximately 5 55% of the time were there before the ambulance. So that does make a big difference. And then fires. Uh one of the things that of the services that nobody else in the city for sure provides. Um we had a total of 224 fires in 2025. And at the top of the slide, it it's the cause of those fires. unintentional, undetermined failure of equipment or heat source, and intentional. And when you look at the the unintentional call, which is the largest mount, that doesn't mean that we didn't know the cause. That means the cause was fairly obvious. For example, something that's intention or uh un unintentional was somebody accidentally thought that their ashes from their fireplace were out, put them in their garbage can in the garage. That was an accident, you know. So something like that is an unintentional fire and it doesn't mean we don't know the cause. It just means it was fairly fairly obvious. And then the types of fires, you can see where they're located. Building fires was 95 97% or 97 of the total number of calls

with the passenger vehicles and the dumpster fires. Um the next one over the origin cooking fires uh where they occurred in the kitchens. The top three were kitchen, porch or balcony and garage. And then of the structure fires, the top three causes were radiated conducted heat from operating equipment. That generally reflects to some type of cooking fire, smoking materials, and then electrical arcing. Um, these causes are are fairly consistent with the national average of of what occurs across the country for the leading causes of fires. As far as fatalities and injuries, these are civilian injuries and deaths. And in 2025, you can see we had one death related to fire and six civilian injuries. Slightly higher as far as the injuries compared to our 2024 numbers. When you look at dollar loss related to fires, uh, in 2029, just under four million. Now, I think it's important to emphasize that these numbers are estimated at the best that we can. Uh, when we're completing our incident records, um, we try to come up with one of the required fields as a dollar loss estimate and using price per square footage, things like that is where that number comes from. Of that uh 3,900,000 approximately 1,840 of that was residential type properties and 700 uh and 3,000 was motor vehicles. The remainder is different types of structures, commercial, um retail, other property types like that that make up the dollar loss in 2025. Another

component looked at is our total response times. Um, and so these numbers, just to give a little background exactly what that means, what this time reflects is the time the dispatch center picks up the phone, the 911 call until our apparatus arrive on scene. Within that block of time, there's actually broken down into three components. One is the call processing time. That's the time it takes the dispatchers to process the call. The two is the turnout time. That's from the time our firefighters receive their page until they're on in route to the scene. And then the travel time, that's the time it takes for the apparatus leaving the se the uh fire station or wherever they're located until they arrive on scene. So that's what these numbers reflect. And then the 90th percentile, that means 90% of the time our first unit on scene for EMS calls was 8 minutes and 31 seconds. That's taking into account all three of those components I just listed. Um, and then the goal is is derived from NFPA standards. The National Fire Protection Association has standards that delineate how quickly an apparatus should respond as a goal and then um how many people and all those things are based on the on the NFPA standards. Now, we're just slightly above those standards and through our accreditation model, we know that that's well within the standard of deviation for those NFPA response times. So, overall, we do a very good job.

Gary, does that change for size of city? So, for instance, if you're in a bigger metropolitan area, more traffic, more issues, does the timing which do they come out with, does that ever go up? Generally not. that standard for the travel time. New York City, Boston all have that same time frame. They do have the same standard. Now, what you'll find in those big cities is their stations are a lot closer together

and it's not uncommon for them to run a lot more people out of one station just to get to that effective response force. The last column I think we should talk about a second too, the ERF, that stands for effective response force. That's again using NFPA as a guideline of how many people that should be. But what that effective response force means is the number of apparatus and number of people arriving on scene to a specific type of structure fire. So that ERF uh the 1020 is what the NFPA standard is for a for a specific type of structure fire. And then our actual performance is 13 minutes. So considering that we're getting five units, a ladder truck and battalion chief on scene in that amount of time from anywhere in the city 90% of the time is a pretty good number. Um, and equally the most recognizable component of a fire department is all the fire trucks and the apparatus and our firefighters on the scene making the calls and doing doing the calls that we do every day. A less recognizable but equally in uh important component is our public education and our community risk reduction and our fire prevention program. In 2025, we were assigned 6,489 inspections and we completed just about 8,300. And that the reason for the more is because of the reinspections. When they find violations that are significant enough to require a reinspection, that's what that number means. Uh public education, we made contact with 3,900 adults during uh public education events. And that uh the the last bullet there were 80%. That means for every time we had a fire alarm or a fire, 80% of the people had evacuated the building or all of the people had evacuated the building 80% of the time.

Um, one key point in 2025 was we reoccupied fire station 5. Um, if everybody recalls, this was a station that had structural issues. It was failing on the living side. the building was settling into the ground. Um, and so the part that was rebuilt is on the south side of the building. This is all of the living area where where my cursor is moving around. The apparatus floor was left intact. Um there was updates done in there to the heating, cooling, um air handling systems, things like that in in and the isolation of the turnout gear and the um equipment so that those offging carcinogens don't enter into the living area and then the living area was completely rebuilt. Um another shout out to the city of West Fargo for allowing us to run out of their headquarters station during the time of this remodel. that was a a huge bonus that they provided to us. So, thank you to them. This slide is is highlighted as specialty teams. Um, in reality, these are core functions that the department does every day. Um, some of these because of the type of training and the amount of uh training it takes to maintain the proficiencies in those skills, we we kind of refer to them as as specialty teams. But they're they're more than that. There's there are service that we provide every day. Um and while it's not on this slide for the the commission and the people in this room, we also provide regional response for hazardous materials and technical rescue to the southeast quadrant of North Dakota. There's four of these teams or four cities in the state that provide this resource in Fargo being one of them. Bismar, Minot, and Grand Forks being the other three. But we spend an incredible amount of time, our people do, maintaining the skills and proficiencies in those two specialties

being technical rescue and hazardous material. And this uh slide reflects a number of calls locally in each of those disciplines. Mayor, might I interject with a question that chief? Um your your information here right now in front of me touches on some of the questions I had. If you have a a rescue or an emergency or a car fire or an emergency response, does your do your people care where anybody's from, if they're a resident or if they're a non-resident or if they're a citizen or any of that stuff? Absolutely not. And do we have any way of if that happens providing service to people who travel through our city? Do we bill them? No.

It's a service we provide.

It's a service we provide to all of our residents and visitors. Thank you. And then to uh the final slide reflects the recruitment and retention. Um and just to recap, if we go back to our original five planning goals, all of the things that we do within the organization reflect back to those five goals. And so one of them is recruitment and retention. Um we put a lot of emphasis onto that. And last year we had uh the two recruit classes, class 12, class 13. And in Fargo we brought 12 new firefighters into the department. Uh we've got a recruit class happening right now. A graduation will be in May. Each recruit class is about 18 weeks long. Um but it's just the start. It it doesn't make them a fully trained out on their own firefighter. It gets them the skills and and um familiarization that they need to become part of the crew and then they spend a lot of that first year training. Uh we only get to touch a lot of the things in the class two or three times. And so they need to continually touch those things and train with their crews to become proficient. So it's it's not just a oneanddone. It's it's a journey through their whole career. And a lot of the things that we do, I like to call them low frequency, high consequence events. How we maintain that proficiency is training. Um those those technical rescues, the hazardous materials calls, stuff, the big ones that we don't have every day to maintain those skills requires training. And that's why it's so important to our to our business. And with that, I stand for any questions.

Any questions, Mr. Pipcorn? So, Chief, my my question is so when a 911 call comes in and an EM EMS goes or a truck or your fire truck goes, how does that go? Can you talk about what who makes that decision and how it goes?

Sure, Commissioner Pepcorn. We the 911 call comes in and the first thing to do is determine the nature of the call. Is it a motor vehicle crash? Is it something's on fire? Is it somebody's in the river? or if it's an EMS call. And then once they determine it's an EMS call, there's a system um that they use to categorize the type of EMS call. And so by ask asking questions and then how the respondent answers those question determines the level of the call that we're going on. We have alpha calls, bravo calls, Charlie. There's a A through E matrix. E being the most severe. Those are your cardiac arrests. Those are the traumas. Those are the life-threatening calls. And then depending on the type of call is what determines the level of the dispatch. So for example, an e- call is going to get police, fire, and law enforcement all dispatched to. The lesser calls will get lesser resources. Um, oddly enough, a C call isn't necessarily more important or critical than a B call, but it's the call and then that the call handling guide determines what resources are sent.

Great. you know how many people will show up then some people would say alpha would be worse so it's nice to know that E is worse friend thank you and and just to follow up on that a little bit commissioner also when the first unit gets on scene they will often like let's say we've sent an ambulance fire truck and a police in a police car if they get there and determine that maybe it's not as severe as what the dispatch thought it was they will downgrade people and then that also dictates the the meth method of response, whether we're all going lights and sirens, one unit is, things like that. Thank you, Mr. Strand. Thank you, Chief. You you you were in our department before. I was.

And then you went north to Grand Forks and led their department and then you came back to our department. And while you were gone, uh, the the members of your department, among others, and the police as well, led a public effort to get support and prevail in a vote for a public safety sales tax, which is a work in process, but I'm just curious as as your tenure goes and you're looking back in your moment present arriving here, how's the morale in the department and is it working? And where are you seeing that all landing right now? on the general. What are you what's the lay of the land in your department right now? Because there's always moments where they're not always happy with us or their city or their services or their pay or their compensation and so on. How would you measure that for so we have a sense of your gauge of the department right now?

Sure. Well, to start with kind of a a little joke about firefighters is there's there's two things for sure that firefighters don't like and that's change in the way things are. So, um, take that with a grain of salt. But overall, I actually feel like the morale in our department is is quite good. Um, I I is it always going to be perfect? No. Um, I think it's some of the things that we're working on uh for the future is is is encouraging to a lot of the members. Um, I know what happened last year with the public safety sales tax and the the things that has transpired since then has has been a big uh plus within the organization. Um, I can tell you they're committed to the community. I mean, they they love their jobs. They love what they do. They love engaging with the other organizations, the law enforcement in the community, and that really is their primary goal. Um, I don't think for a minute at when I go home in the evenings or it's a weekends that I worry about the department. They're they're going to meet the needs of the community every day, all day. Um, as I I said earlier, overall the morale is good, but we I can't rest on my laurels. We have to, you know, listen to the employees, see the recognize their concerns, answer their questions the best that we can. But I also think it's important to realize that we can't make everything perfect. We have some challenges in the city. I mean, these 3% property tax caps, um, the cost of goods and service, so everything has gone up at a trajectory like this. It's going to require all of us to look to the future, do extensive planning, and be as fiscally responsible as we can. Just because we have the public safety sales tax doesn't mean we're going to get to buy everything we want. That's impossible. And so my job is to make

sure we're spending the money in the right places and then also listening to our employees and ultimately providing the service to the community that our citizens expect. Thank you, Mr. Copac.

Yeah, I I will just add um appreciate the question. There was a in fire did their own employee survey um about a year plus back and those results were very positive. Certainly, there were some things that were identified. Um but commitment to community, community support is very important to them. Um and passion for the work and what they do was was very loudly stated. Um, I think the chief is also being humble as most chiefs are about um saying the morale is is great. I can tell you I have regular meetings with fire department, with management, and with local 642. And I think um very much appreciated besides the morale being very good is the communication um and the visibility of the chief with the teams and all stations. And so I just wanted to add that because I've had many conversations around that. And and just to to finish on that, communication is always a key. You know, whether it's an incident, you do any afteraction report on a formal level or within the organization, communication is always hard. And for the fire department in particular, we're very decentralized. We have eight stations and three different shifts. Getting this message out to the stations and then getting feedback the other direction, it it takes work. It takes effort every day and it's it's it's a difficult task. Um, but when we are successful, it makes a big difference.

Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you, Chief. Good job. Good report. Thank you. Item 38, appointment of police chief. When this came up, there was some confusion a little bit about our ordinance. Now, what I wanted Mike to go into is a little bit about the ordinance in regards to the police chief selection and have him do his presentation. We have six speakers in regards to that. So, I think what we'll do is have the him explain it, have the speaker speak, and then we'll go into the motion issues. So, Mike, if you want to go ahead.

Great. Thank you, mayor and commissioners. Good evening. Uh, thank you for the time. I was asked to put together a few slides on this topic and I did that over the weekend and I what I want to do tonight is also summarize where we've been. So, I just have seven slides. I'll provide a summary of where this conversation started about a month ago and then where we are as of this evening. This is a uh information that you saw in previous presentations. This is just the appointment procedure as defined in city ordinances. Chapter 4, the police chief, as highlighted and underlined, is in fact an appointed officer of the city of Fargo and that is subject to final commission approval uh after we get through a selection process. I also want to just uh raise attention to chapter 7 as well. This is a recruitment uh provision that is contained within our civil service provisions of the city of Fargo. Uh we are unique in Fargo and that we do have a civil service system. Not all cities have that but the civil service procedures are one uh that do require the announcement and posting of vacancies. That is a requirement. Uh that is not something that I have been able to identify a waiver or any kind of suspension of the rules that is available to me or to human resources uh to not post a vacant positions. But it really does apply I also want to note here to all city of Fargo positions uh any city of Fargo positions that are covered under the civil service. So, not our temp seasonal positions, but all of our full-time people are most certainly covered by civil service. That provision applies. And so, uh, competitive process is also entailed and and described in chapter 7 as well as the application procedure. So, I thought it'd be helpful again to kind of look back over the last month. And so, I start first with where we began the conversation on March 16th. This was what really became our first option for a series of events and a schedule that could guide us in the police chief vacancy and move us towards the eventual appointment. This was what I call the uh kind of a hybrid approach. It's one that bridged both the current commission as well as the future

commission. and it's one that had quite a bit of activity already occurring uh getting underway, but then also really deferring to that future city commission for the eventual appointment of the new police chief designate. And so depending on if there was an internal or an external candidate, it could be somebody appointed as early as August or September and perhaps later than that. And then later about uh just now two weeks ago on March 30th, we really had a discussion around a modified option. And I really I call this option 1B. So we have one alpha and one Bravo. In one Bravo, we also talked about a position posting uh that was still going to occur, but it was one that was going to close more in the mid June time frame or the end of June so that the selection committee could gather in uh well into July and then complete its work in August with the appointment being as early as August 31 if we had an internal candidate uh with the chief designate or perhaps as late as October if we would have to go through that full vetting process and that full background process. this which is quite extensive uh in police. It's the most extensive background process that we have throughout the organization. This is really the consensus position after we left it on uh March 30. And then finally, what I created this weekend was a second option. It's really a third, but really a second option for discussion tonight. Uh just a hearing from commissioners. I've heard from uh several commissioners, but this would be an option that would allow us to advance that process even a little bit more quickly, try to get the position posted yet this week, closing that in a two-eek period, and then determining uh where we'd want to go with the selection committee in the first few days in May. And so that would be potentially interviewing candidates, say May 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., and then presenting a chief design on May 11 if it was an internal candidate and perhaps later. Uh I was in visiting with Jill today. We felt the

July 6th is likely as quickly as we could move if it would be an external candidate. These were also some feedback points that came up in the last two weeks from commissioners just various elements that commissioners may or may not want to see. You know, if we had external candidates, for example, would you want to have an open house, a roundt discussion that would be facilitated by HR within the department as well as perhaps a written exercise or a scenario response, a mock press conference, a tour. Um, probably most importantly and the the piece I heard pretty clearly was that uh should there be outside candidates that do apply for the position as well as internal candidates that we really need to make sure that time is protected in the schedule to hear about vision for the position and how that candidate uh would intend to lead the Fargo Police Department and all of our sworn and civilian staff. I also just pull in for example uh the city engineer search in 2023 as an example of where we do have experience in the city of Fargo at the department head level of doing an expedited search process. This is probably our most condensed department head search that we've had certainly in my nearly 10 years here. That was roughly a 3 to four-week advertisement process and a one week of interviews where we had a single interview. So that format was not doing the virtual first round interviews and then inerson interviews rather this was pointing to just a single interview when Mr. Nakmoose was selected and we did utilize the selection committee as well as a written exercise. So to date this is probably our most condensed department head search process that we've ever had. I don't believe we've done anything shorter than that. Just some policy considerations as well um that again we can talk about as it relates to civil service. Uh given that this is a department head position uh and it does have recruitment and appointment procedures that are defined in the city ordinances. We do want to

make sure that whatever process we utilize is a comprehensive one that's really protecting the interests of the employer and the city of Fargo. We want to mitigate risk whenever we can and any other kind of potential challenges to our process. So consistency I I've always felt with our civil service system because we are a civil service organization that consistency is really promoting that predictability for our inside and our outside candidates as well as the organization. It's something that's been a hallmark of this organization for several several years. Uh and that is something that we really want to be sensitive to as we think about uh creating potentially different precedents or different approaches within the organization. So I was asked specifically about that by a commissioner. Wanted to make sure that I included some comment about that in my brief remarks tonight. So my last slide is simply this. We are looking to confirm uh that search process, its schedule, its timeline, and then also I'm looking for input and feedback from the commission about any additional elements that you would like to include for the finalist candidates when we get to that point whether we do that mock press conference, whether we do any other kind of roundts within the department. But really uh looking for that direction and that authorization to city staff to proceed with all of the necessary steps so that my team the HR team has got everything that we need from you to support one of these three options. Again option 1 A was really that hybrid approach that we talked about a month ago. Option 1B which was the last uh substantive discussion we've had in this topic was the kind of delayed start waiting until after the election. Then this option two that I developed simply as a potential uh for the city commission, there is no staff position here, but simply a potential motion that should you want to go to a more expedited schedule, I'm asking tonight a potential motion would be to direct city administration to proceed with that option to expedite that and then our HR team and I would work collaboratively on moving this forward as quickly as we possibly could. So I will leave it at that. I'm happy to answer any questions at this juncture. I

know you have speakers tonight as well, but just wanted to show uh your various inputs uh that were reflected in my comments tonight. I've heard from many of you over the last two weeks, and I appreciate that feedback. Just looking for that consensus now as we move forward. So, thank you very much.

Any questions of Michael? And our first speaker, please, Jacob Ma. Hello, I'm Jacob Maus. I've been with the Fargo Police Department for 11 years. Thank you for this opportunity. Uh, this is a letter of support from the sergeants of the Fargo Police Department regarding the appointment of interimm chief Travis Stefanoitz. Uh, dear Mayor Mahoney, Deputy Mayor Kpac, Commissioners Pepcorn, Strand, and Turnberg, administrator Redinger, and Assistant Administrator Derek. As sergeants of the Fargo Police Department, we write to express our strong support for interim chiefs Travis Travis Stfanoitz and our belief that he is the right leader to serve as the next chief of police for the city of Fargo. The undersigned sergeants represent much of the supervisory leadership responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Fargo Police Department. There are currently 24 sergeants within the department and this letter reflects the perspective of those supervisors who wish to express their support. From our position within the organization, we work closely with the officers and staff delivering police services to our community and see firsthand how leadership decisions affect both the people performing the work and the overall culture of the department. Based on our experience working with him over the many years, we have a high level of confidence in interimm chief stfanoitz and the leadership he brings to this organization. He is approachable and listens carefully and he makes a genuine effort to understand the challenges faced by officers, supervisors and staff. He leads with professionalism, fairness and clear expectations which has earned him the respect and trust of many throughout the department. Interimm Chief Sir Fonoitz understands the Fargo Police Department because he has grown with it. Many of us have worked alongside him throughout our careers and he understands both the realities of the job and the responsibility that comes with serving this community. The Fargo

Police Department is built on strong relationships and shared experiences and interim Chief Stanowitz has been a part of that culture for many years. In many ways, he is family to this department. At this time, continuity and steady leadership are especially important for both the department and the community we serve. Confirming interimm chief's fowence as chief of police in a timely manner would provide stability for the organization and allow the department to continue moving forward without unnecessary disruption. We respect the responsibility of the city commission and the administration carry in selecting the next chief of police and we appreciate your continued support of the Fargo Police Department and the men and women who served this community. Respectfully the sergeants of the Fargo Police Department.

Heidi Witzel. Good evening. I'm Heidi Witzell. I'm an investigator with the Fargo Police Department. I've been employed with them for about nine years. I write in support of interimm chief Stefanoitz, dear Mayor Mahoney, Deputy Mayor Kpac, Commissioners Pepcorn, Strand and Turnberg, administrator Redinger, and Assistant Administrator During. As police officers, investigators, detectives, and civilian staff employed by the Fargo Police Department, we write to express the support for interimm chief Travis Stfanoitz and our belief that he is the right leader to serve as the next chief of police for the city of Fargo. Interimm Chief Stfanoitz has already demonstrated the leadership, judgment, and work ethic needed to guide our organization forward. During his time serving as assistant chief and now as interimm chief, he has shown a strong understanding of the department and the needs of both the employees who work here and the community we serve. With more than 20 years of service to the Fargo Police Department, interimm Chief Stfanoitz brings a significant institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of the department's missions, operations, and challenges. Many of us have worked with him throughout our careers and have seen firsthand the professionalism and commitment he brings to the job. Interimm Chief Stfanitz has developed strong working relationships with our partner agencies and with members of the media. These relationships help strengthen cooperation across jurisdiction and improve communication with the public. His ability to build and maintain trust both inside and outside the department contributes to a positive working environment and helps support the success of the organization as a whole.

He has demonstrated the ability to lead during challenging situations while maintaining clear communication and strong collaboration across divisions and with outside partners. His leadership style encourages input and accountability which has earned the respect of many throughout the department. Appointing interimm chief stfanoitz as chief of police would allow the department to continue moving forward with stability and continuity. His experience within the organization and his understanding of the community place him in a strong position to lead the Fargo Police Department into the future. Interm Chief Stefan Witz has earned the trust of the men and women who work with the department through constant leadership, dedication to the profession, and for those reasons, we respectfully express our support for his appointment of the next chief of police for the city of Fargo.

Rusty Jacobson.

Good evening. I'm Lieutenant Christy Jacobson. I've been with the police department for a little over 19 years. Mayor Mahoney, Deputy Mayor Copac, Commissioners Pepcorn, Strand, Turnberg, City Administration. On behalf of the Fargo Police Department's Lieutenant Group, we respectfully submit this letter in support of interim Travis Stavanoit's appointment to the position of chief of police. Interm Chief Stanowit's long-standing commitment to this department along with his extensive experience and thoughtful leadership make him well suited to guide the Fargo Police Department into its next chapter. The appointment of interimm chief Stefanos would provide stability for the Fargo Police Department while helping ensure the continued safety of our city and the well-being of our staff. His leadership positions him to effectively manage the evolving public safety needs of our community while maintaining a steady and supportive environment for the men and women who serve within this department. We believe his appointment would have a positive impact on the progress, priorities, and long-term goals of our agency. Over the course of more than two decades of service, he has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to the welfare of our staff and the safety of our community. A strong advocate for employee wellness, he has been instrumental in developing programming that supports the physical, emotional, and professional needs of the members of this department. Interimm Chief Stfanos is deeply invested in ensuring that the Fargo Police Department personnel receive the highest quality training. He has played a significant role in the development and guidance of training initiatives, including the establishment of the department's first Fargo Police Academy. Nearly all current employees have benefited from his instruction, mentorship, or strategic oversight at some stage of their careers. His professional demeanor is exemplary both within our ranks and throughout the Fargo community. He consistently demonstrates respect, fairness, and integrity, enabling him to build strong, productive relationships with staff,

community members, and regional law enforcement partners. His ability to connect with others while maintaining the highest standard of professionalism reflects the values we strive to uphold as a department. In terms of possesses a combination of long-term institutional knowledge of our agency and a forwardthinking vision, he is able to honor our past while strategically positioning the department for future success. His fiscal responsibility includes a strong understanding of our AY's budget, ensures the best interests of both our staff and the community we serve. For those reasons, the Fargo Police Department Lieutenant Group supports interimm chief Travis Stefanoitz. Travis Moer. Good evening. Travis Moer, Fargo Police Department. I am the neighborhood services division commander. Been with the department just a little over 22 years. This is a letter of support for interimm chief Stefanoitz dated April 9th, 2026. Addressed to city manager Michael Redinger, assistant city manager Brenda Derig, Mayor Tim Mahoney, and commissioners. The division commanders of the Fargo Police Department are submitting this letter of support for interimm chief Stefanoitz as the next chief of police for the Fargo Police Department. Throughout his career, interimm chief Stefanoitz has demonstrated unwavering professionalism, strong leadership, and a deep commitment to the safety and well-being of our community. This leadership is demonstrated on a daily basis within the walls of the Fargo Police Department by his calm approach to conflict, his wellthoughtout decision-making, his countless efforts to ensure a positive healthy work healthy working environment for all

Fargo police staff members, and his genuine cander when interacting with civilian staff, officers, and supervisors. Interimm Chief Stfanoitz leads by a people p people first philosophy by ensuring every department member feels heard and validated. Interimm Chief Stfanoitz is known for fostering collaboration, encouraging transparency and consistency, modeling integrity in every aspect of his work. His ability to connect with officers, community members, and partner agencies reflects a leadership style that builds trust and drives meaningful progress. He has shown exceptional judgment during critical incidents, a dedication to developing officers through mentorship and training, and a forward-thinking approach to modern policing. We are confident that interimm chief Stefanoitz possesses the experience, character, and vision necessary to guide the department effectively into the future. His his commitment to accountability, community engagement, and officer wellness makes him the only choice for this very important role. In closing, um I've been with the department for 22 years and I have never seen um our department rally around an internal candidate for the chief of police like what is being shown here tonight. Um from the officers in attendance to the officers that um can't be here and to outside agencies. Um for that, thank you. Um and this letter is signed by Captain Matt Christensen, Captain Troy Hanig, and Captain Travis Moer. Thank you for Thank you for the opportunity. and Hogan. Mr. Mayor, commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Superintendent Daniel Hogan with the

North Dakota Higher Patrol and I come from Bismar. I'm here to offer my strong support for appointing interimm chief Travis Stefanoitz as chief of police for the city of Fargo. I've worked closely with Chief Stfanoitz for many years and our relationship has been built on trust, collaboration, and a shared commitment to public safety. I've seen firsthand his ability to lead not just within his own department, but across many agencies. Two examples stand out. First, our work together on the Fargo Police Academy where he played a key role in bringing partners together in advancing modern highquality training. Second, our coordination during law enforcement funerals over the past decade. Some of the most difficult moments in our profession where he consistently demonstrated professionalism, compassion, and strong leadership. In today's environment where agencies face budget restraints and increasing demands, collaboration is more important than other. Chief Stefanoitz understands this. He leads with a regional mindset and has been instrumental in maintaining a strong relationship and partnership between the Fargo Police Department and the North Dakota Higher Patrol. He brings integrity, stability, and proven leadership at a time when it matters. Based on my experience, I can say without hesitation, he is ready, he is qualified, and he is the right re leader for the city of Fargo. I respectfully urge you to appoint him as chief. Thank you,

Jeremy Schaefer.

Evening, mayor and commissioners. My name is Jeremy Schaefer. I'm just a resident. I just wanted to go ahead and throw my input in for this. I had already thought this after the last meeting. Um, if interimm chief Stefano Wix has already, you know, decided that, hey, this is something I want to go ahead and do. It would maybe just make sense if he's actually has the drive and the will and wants to have the position instead of being asked or forced into it. It would just make sense that he did it. And then look at this. All these people, man, it'd be great if the city meeting was like this all the time. Appreciate y'all being here for that. That's fantastic. Couple things I kind of thought about. I know he was on the Jay Thomas show. And look at him too. He looks good sitting over there. He's like he's like the rock just a little missing a little bit of sunshine too. So that's all right. Uh was on the Jay Thomas show if he's already been with the service since 2002. There's I mean there's always the aspect of cool we can have someone come in who's had more experience, bigger city, more crime, blah blah blah. But he can see it that Fargo really honestly is a nice place to live. There's not a whole lot that kind of happens. And one of the examples he had said is, you know, if we have one assault one year and then the next year we have two, you can call it 100% increased stat. it's still really not that big. So really what I'm trying to say is the guy understands what it is as far as what what crime is like in Fargo and just being around with the community and you know all the support that's behind me right now. He knows exactly what he's doing for the job and um it just makes sense if he wants to go ahead and do it. Again, we have to do our process how you have to do it, but if he's willing and able and wants to run the job, might as well go ahead and let him run it. Thank you. That's all the public speakers we have tonight. Uh, Commissioner Turnberg.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. After two years of not being allowed to speak directly to Fargo police officers, I have had many conversations with police recently, including a two-hour conversation with our interim chief, Stefanoitz, and also two-hour conversations with captains. I did a ride along this weekend, Saturday until 1:00 a.m. I was able to see firsthand what our officers deal with and listen to what is needed to serve our entire community from the most marginalized citizens to business owners. This is why I want to speed up the selection process. I hope you take into consideration the support interim chief Stfanoitz has, the healing that needs to take place immediately in our police department, the savings to the city by his appointment, and the message it sends to younger officers that if you work hard and excel at your job, you too can succeed and be promoted. Chief Stfanoitz has wonderful ideas that cannot be implemented if a costly nationwide search takes place and a chief is not named for months. His hands are tied. No ability to make muchneeded changes. He has to compile the next budget all while preparing for the biggest job interview of his life happens simultaneously with no assistant chief. Keep in mind that unlike the retirement of our fire chief Dirkson, which was months of notice, we had two weeks notice of our former chief's retirement. This appointment does not set a precedent as the West Fargo Police Department appointed their last chief, Pete Nielsen. He has flourished in his position and made a huge impact on the city. I believe Chief Stefanoitz will do

the same. Legally, the city only has to post this opening in the forum, not for months, just days. Please hear the support of his fellow officers and other local chiefs, captains. Colonel Daniel Hogan of the police department does not that support does not happen without the cooperation of adjacent police departments. For the first time in years, we have Morehead, West Fargo, and the Sheriff's Department all in agreement with the appointment of Chief Stfanowitz being the right move. The fact that none of these high-ranking officers will be applying for this position because they agree interim Chief Stfanoitz is the best person for the job. The feedback from the community confirms that we want a local hire and not another import who has no idea about how our community works. I fear this is turning into a camp campaign issue which saddens me. Last week I know even Commissioner Copac had inquired about the appointment of the interim chief permanently. I was a police wife. I know what solid police leadership looks like and what poor leadership leads to. We need to heal and move forward and it needs to happen now. I would now like to read two letters from high ranking law enforcement officers. Sheriff Jesse Jonner was here earlier. He had a previous commitment that he had to attend to. I also have the West Fargo Police Department chief. And I do believe, Michael, that the Morehead Police Chief has sent you an email as well. Dear Mr. Mayor and members of the Fargo City Commission, I am writing to offer my recommendation for interim chief Travis Stefanoitz to become the chief of police for the Fargo Police Department. Over my time working with the Cass

County Sheriff's Office and serving as Cass County Sheriff, I have had an opportunity to work alongside IC Stfanowitz in several roles both professionally and personally. Professionally, I have worked with with IC Stfanowitz in his role as assistant chief, as a SWAT operator, as a sergeant overseeing the Fargo Police Department's training division, as a patrol officer, and a dispatcher prior to his employment with the Fargo Police Department. I have been high in I have been involved in high stress, rapidly evolving situations with him. What I can tell you is that in this type of environment, IC Stfanowitz makes calculated decisions that place public safety at the forefront. He is calm, collected in his thought process processes, is very knowledgeable in tactical planning and execution. In addition, his decisions in these circumstances are professional with the highest regard for community and public safety. Personally, I can tell you that IC Stfanowitz is responsible, family oriented, outgoing with a personality that forms positive professional relationships. Over the past few years, some of those professional relationships have been strained because of recent chief leadership. But I have full confidence that IC Stfanoitz will restore these muchneeded relationships and collaboration to serve our citizens both effectively and efficiently. In fact, IC Stfanoitz has already in his short time as interim chief increased that communication and presented offers of collaboration and partnership. One of IC Stfanowitz's key strengths is his ability to see the big picture while also addressing the individual needs of

the diverse community he will serve. IC Stfanoitz understands that building trust with the public is not just about law enforcement, but about creating lasting partnerships that can have a real and meaningful impact on the safety and well-being of Fargo residents. IC Stfanowitz will be progressive and has briefly discussed with me his strategies for improving community engagement and promoting transparency. In these strategies, I believe IC Stfanoitz will bring his experience and training, but also the emotional intelligence, strategic vision, and personal integrity required to guide the department through the challenges of modern law enforcement. For these reasons, I am confident that I see Travis Stfanoitz would be an outstanding chief of police for the city of Fargo. His leadership has already proven transformative and I am certain he will continue to drive positive changes in the department and the community as a whole. Thank you for considering this recommendation. Please feel free to contact me should you require any additional information. Respectfully, Jesse Jonner, Cass County Sheriff. And one more letter. Dear members of the Fargo City Commission, I am writing in support of interim police chief Travis Stfanoitz for appointment as the next chief of police for the city of Fargo. During his time with the city of Fargo, Chief Stfanoitz has demonstrated the leadership, professionalism, and commitment essential for guiding the Fargo Police Department. He has shown dedication to public safety while continuing to build trust within the community. His ability to lead with integrity, communicate effectively, and make thoughtful, measured decisions makes him an exceptional candidate. His

experience within the department provides valuable internal knowledge, positioning him well to address current challenges and future needs. His commitment to building strong relationships with surrounding law enforcement agencies, partner organizations, community members, and local community groups reflects a balanced leadership style, and a genuine willingness to collaborate with a forward-thinking approach that emphasizes accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement. His leadership fosters confidence within the department and the community it serves. For these reasons, I support the appointment of interim chief Travis Stefanoitz as the chief of police for the city of Fargo. I am confident he will continue to demonstrate qualities that are in are increasingly essential to modern law enforcement. Sincerely, Pete Nielsen, Chief of Police, West Fargo. With that, I make the motion to post this position Tuesday, April 14th. Close the posting Friday, April 17th. Put this appointment on the April 12th meeting for approval. This meets the requirements and what is needed.

Is there a second? Mayor, could somebody repeat the motion, please? Could you repeat the motion, please? I make the motion to post this position Tuesday, April 14th. Close the posting Friday, April 17th. Put this appointment on the April 27th meeting for approval. This motion meets the legal requirements and is needed.

And does this cover the requirements of our ordinances? The only thing required by ordinance is that we have to post a job in our official newspaper which is the Fargo form and on our bulletin boards. Outside of that, it literally leaves it to the appointing authority, which is the five city commissioners on follow any of our normal procedures for department heads. I would leave that to the HR Michael to answer the normal procedures. Jill, does this follow how we usually do it for department heads, a three-day posting?

So, Mr. Chair, while Jill is coming up, can I just make a few comments? You and I were on the search committee the last time and I think the the one thing that having a a thorough search it gives you an opportunity to learn more about our about our department. I I don't know if you feel that way but it was it was a good experience and Chief Stefanowitz might be the final candidate but it we owe it to open it up and see what what else is out there. It also is a good opportunity for the leaders that are within our police department. we had other other u members of the department apply for the position as well and so that might happen and so you have to look you have to give the opportunity to see what's out there that that's that's part of our responsibility thank you Mr. Sure. Yel.

Yes. Good evening, mayor and commissioners. Typically for a department head level position, we are posting usually 3 to six weeks and that allows time to get to those more targeted recruiting opportunities. So, for example, with with the police department, we would be posting with the IAP and other, you know, other external targeted recruiting opportunities would be the the norm. You know, as Ian had indicated, we don't have a written requirement of a minimum or maximum time period, but the norm for department heads would be in that 3 to six week time period.

Mr. Strand, do you have any other questions on the motion? Otherwise, I'm looking for a second. Mr. Chair, you might make one more point. Yes.

I would also say this may not be the normal situation, but also a department head only giving two weeks notice is not normal. In our department is is in dire need of immediate leadership. There is not one internal candidate that is going to apply. and every other police chief has also and sheriff has also given their backing and said they will not apply. That is known. Everyone is welcome to do a ride along now and speak to officers because we couldn't before and doing so is quite informative. Do I have a second?

Motion dies for last. Have a second. Commissioner Copek. So, I just want to say once again, Mr. Chair, it's important to give an opportunity and not to rush this. This this does not need to be rushed. It's a very important hire. Uh, and also with the change in the, you know, the makeup of the commission and the mayor, that's an important thing as well. So, to try to rush this into two weeks, uh, that that's I'm glad it failed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Call back.

Yeah. First of all, I I want to begin by by saying I have complete confidence in Chief Stefano as well as the rest of the police department. And I I sincerely mean that. I just want to make a couple of points beginning practically. Practically, we have a city ordinance that explicit explicitly states we need a process to be followed. Additionally, because of civil service requirements, not following the rules may result in future problems for the chief should civil service remedies ever be needed. As one citizen wrote today and citing from the the regulations, the civil service system exists to ensure that hiring and promotion decisions are conducted through structured merit-based procedures designed to promote fairness, consistency, and administrative integrity. These provisions have historically governed appointments within city employment to reduce subjectivity and limit the influence of informal preference indicators such as personal endorsements or political support. I also believe that Chief Stfanowitz deserves a process of integrity and in no way should ever want the community to have doubt that he is the best candidate if he's selected. through a legitimate process and and and not by being appointed. By circumventing the process, our community will not hear what Chief Stfanoitz's vision is for his department and our community, nor are we bringing our community along when they are very much central to community policing and support. Now, having said that, since the original proposed timeline was presented, there have been real challenges presented by not moving more quickly to hire a permanent chief. First, it will be very difficult for

anyone to balance being the interim and also preparing to be the candidate. Every new leader has their ideas and recommendations and some may mean to change or even be challenged. So I completely understand the conundrum here. Secondly, we have a real budget crunch deadline and process also related to what I just said with some tough decisions ahead and getting the permanent chief in place to fully participate in that process is critical. So for those reasons, I did ask not not for options for an appointment, but to expedite the process, ensuring it is proper and transparent and confirms a new chief with full capacity to engage in the budgeting process and continue to serve Fargo implementing their vision and strategies. Lastly, and while my first police ride along was two and a half years ago, given the upcoming change in leadership and as part of due diligence, last week I did three consecutive days of ride alongs with officers from each of the shifts, day, evening, and overnight. Sincerely to those officers who volunteered to take me, officers Moan, Bartell's Grove. Thank you. And once again, and I mean this sincerely, there were two calls that literally changed my perception of Fargo and reinforced my great respect for for the police and all public servants and team Fargo who serve Fargo. I left inspired and grateful and I can unequivocally state that the police department does not have a toxic work environment and in fact many of the changes and additions made have been appreciated and this was direct feedback from the officers with whom I wrote including the focus on wellness and health which has been mentioned today quality of life changes and investments in technology and staff.

Fargo can very much continue to be proud of all of our public safety team members and their leadership teams. And so for those reasons, I would support option two to expedite the process. I think it's a mitigating strategy here to get the chief the chief in place um because of the external circumstances of the budget ahead of us and the support that we see here, but doing it with process transparency in the right way. Is there a second? You have a motion. Do I have a second? Are you doing a second? Is there a second to that motion?

Whatever the next motion is, this is an expedited thing. So you're really going from option 1 A, we went to 1B, which basically puts it into the next commission. If you go to option two, he could, if he is selected, he could be in the position May 11th, and he has to have his budget dirty by May 15th. So yes, indeed, that would expedite it. That's probably the fastest you could reasonably do it with our ordinance.

Let me just add that that was very misleading to say that what I proposed was not legal. That is exactly what is in in the bylaws of the city. I had a meeting with the city attorney. We only need to post for one day. You have all of this support. This is just political theater.

Well, I wanted to offer that typically when we do a selection, we're able to have the it's proposed person be able to speak the vision to the community. And what a lot of people have said is they want the community to be able to see what his vision is. And I portray Yeah. A lot of the officers know, a lot of other people know, but the community has to know. In fairness to him, he needs to have the ability to articulate what he's going to do. I'd say Commissioner Pepcorn and myself, when we sat on the committee that picked Zabowski, we had excellent candidates and it was only when the people out their vision that we separated the candidates and chose leader. So part of the issue in process is just allow that process. Let's say nobody applies. He'll be the selected one. And whether you expedite it or expedite it one week does not seem reasonable to ask people to apply for this position when they see all the support within the force. It'd be a formal thing to try to be the police chief right now when you see all the letters that have been done. It's kind of tainted the water. So it does make it difficult.

Mr. Chair, communic.

So Mr. Chair, I support 1B. Um and and the interesting thing you talked about the concerns right now he's the chief and right now he can start doing stuff right now. Don't shake your head. He's the chief right now. So right now I I met with him on Friday. There's lots of stuff we can start working on today and we are going to start working on them because there's lots of problems in downtown and a lot of the problems are within our control the city of Fargo. And so it's going to be great because we can make changes right now. And I told him, I said, "Hey man, you might be a short-timer and I might be a short-timer, too. So, let's go." And so, we're going to start working on resolving a lot of these issues and a lot of them are making our police department's job difficult. Our own staff is making their own job difficult. So, there's stuff that we can fix and we don't have to wait for any of these things. We can start right now. And I think if he's the best candidate, then he'll be appointed. That's how it goes. This is awesome. the the impressive showing of his fellow workers, but we got to do our job and find out the best person out there. Maybe it's him, maybe it's not. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Commission.

Yeah, I just want to I want to response be very clear that my statements in fact have nothing to do with political theater. Rather, it was from due diligence that after meeting and having several conversations with Chief Stfanoitz, um hearing from other members of the management team, talking to Mr. Redling or the city administrator about options and understanding and do my homework about civil service the ordinance precedent being set and bringing the community along and transparency. So those were the objectives that I'm trying to achieve here by doing it the right way but doing it in expedited fashion because of the realities of an intern being a candidate in these circumstances with a budget right in front of us. So I just wanted to clarify that.

So there's question about a second. I will step down and and make a second to the motion. Further discussion. Mr. Chair, Mr. Gerber.

The chief cannot implement the changes that he would like to do. If he changes everyone's schedule and everybody has to redo their daycare and schedules and their spouse's schedules and then we have a new chief in two months, what does that do to our employees? That's not thinking of our Fargo employees. And Chief Stfanowitz knows that his hands are tied. He's unable to do the things that he wants to do without being named the chief and then getting an assistant chief to help with all of these duties. and the rest of rank and file falling in line. Mayor, which motion did you second?

Option two. And that motion was advanced by Mr. Copek. Mr. Copc. Okay. I wasn't clear on that. So, Mr. Chair, can I make a quick comment? I oppose option number two. We This is very important hire uh and we don't need to rush it. Uh and we shouldn't rush it. That's not appropriate. And so I I would support 1B uh but I would not support option two. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Turnber, was there a second on option two? I I second now. Very good. I will.

So that means Deputy Commission, Deputy Mayor Copek is at this moment running the meeting. Well, he seconded it. So he had to relinquish the chair to second. You can designate one of the other three commissioners to run the chair on this specific motion. Hey, Commissioner Strand, you're designated.

Who else would like to speak? If not, I will take the liberty to share my thoughts. Um, there's absolutely no doubt about it. We have a front runner for our position that's open. There's no doubt about it that the support in the ranks is immensely quantifiable and significant. And that's really important. It's also important, however, we follow our rules. You know, we're I'm looking at a world room full of law enforcement people that for the moment it emotionally feels like people are telling us to abandon our rules. The laws are the rules. rules or laws and and there's, you know, I I just think that that's basic stuff. You know, I'm not experienced at a chain of command world. You all are. And so, I've been doing some homework over the weekend about chain of command environments. And what happens if there's a a a rankor in the ranks that doesn't like your appointments, your leadership, you know, and and that's kind of what we're facing right now is is a real strong message from our rank and file employees in the department directing us what to do. Yet, we've already decided the process. It's been there for years. generally speaking. And Commissioner Turnberg, I want to thank you for your your heart and your emotion and your willingness to move things forward and put things front burner and to take the risk and to take the the flack that comes with standing up like that, you know, but I also believe it's our job, too. We you represent you represent the department. We represent the people.

And there's there's there's two ends of that teeter totter. We are the servants of the people. We are at their beck and call to serve the people. And I don't know what the people's thoughts will be when we vet and discuss a police chief, but I'm guessing there's diverse views there, too, that we need to learn and hear from about. That's our job. You know, it's also our job to have due diligence and dot our eyes and cross our tees and make sure what we do is right and proper following the rules according to Hy. So, I I can't thank you all enough for confirming to us that the appointment of the interim chief is absolutely the right decision for the moment. It's clear. I don't think losing a couple months is going to be the end of the world. And I think in the end we can all know we did our best to make sure that whoever is appointed by either this commission or the next commission is the best servant for the public that can be come up that they can come up with. So I appreciate everybody here. I just really think that um my view is we we we we just follow the path we're on like we would any other department head. We have other departments opening up. What will this mean if we turn this upside down tomorrow and then the airport authorities at some point we're going to have a retirement of an executive director. We have other departments that we're going to have transitions in team leadership. What does this do to that process and what's the president do for that? Okay, I'll stop. Mayor, you have something to say. Commissioner,

well, I think some things changed, Commissioner Pepcarn, since the time we talked about when we're going to appoint the chief. And one of the things that changed is he made us aware of variety of things that are into the lake and happen. He is reluctant to do some shift changes that would put more officers on the street. He's reluctant to do some command changes that would change and maybe get more officers on the street. He has the inability to do a variety of things until he gets assistant chief. So sometimes in expediting it, it makes that clearer. I think right now, even if you had a appointment delayed for two weeks, Commissioner Turnberg, I'm not going to find a lot of people apply because if I watch this meeting, it's true that rank and file really prefers him. Plus, everybody else prefers him. You'd be a heck of an ego to say, I'm going to go up against this guy. It looks like he's the front runner, and it'd be very difficult to do that. But the chief who's comes on as a chief, you know, when we you appoint a chief, you have to give the public an opportunity to get to know what he wants to do. So he may have met with every commissioner and you may feel he's the best person, but the public has to do that. The public has to understand his compassion. They have to understand his leadership. They have to understand his vision. So part of what we got in trouble with with Sabolski is he made a lot of good changes. Our wellness program is one of the best things we ever could have done. But he's done a lot of things that changed the force and changed what happened. And lo and behold, when you make a lot of changes, there's some people we lose or some people we gain. But if the chief has the support of the public behind him, it's harder. It's much harder to try to get rid of it. It's much harder if he has civil protection that we could fire him without cause if we just appointed him. If he goes through the process, we have to have cause. So that protects him. Anybody wants that protection that's in this position? So, John, the only reason I would like to proceed faster is there are variety of reasons Travis is has vocalized. Doing a budget, doing the

things that need to be done. Commissioner Pepcorn wants downtown safety this summer. That's one of his priorities. He's got some ideas of how to do that. All that would take the ability of the police force to agree with the changes he wants to do. And he's very right. if a new officer or new police chief comes in. When we went to 10-hour days, that was a huge change. We lost a lot of people. But we went to 10-hour shift, suddenly all our officers had two weekends, which with their families was exceedingly important. And it's been really an important change for them, which I think was fantastic. And just as my position of the lison, I think the best interest of the community would be to do an expedited option was his option two. And I think it yes, the other new commission or whoever comes on board doesn't get to get that. But we have an opportunity to put a a rather remarkable person in that position. And if some other people will apply, but commissioner, what will happen if they see any of these tapes, I don't even know if we'll get other applications, but we give other people the opportunity to step up. Gary Lorenzo had left the department. He went up to Grand Forks. When we first talked about the fire chief, it was an insider and insider. We're going to appoint an insider. We got two good candidates. That's who we're going to appoint. And guess what? Gary won because Gary did a great job of presenting his vision, what he wanted to do. A police chief is one of the key persons in the city. They have to present their position so the rest of the community can either figure out this is a great guy. We got to get him. Or they can figure out, hey, there's some things about him I'm worried about. Not saying that about you at all, Travis. I think you're a great candidate. But I think that the public gets the right to weigh in. So that's the only reason I'm very strongly in position to support option two. Is there any other discussion? The motion on the table is for option two, which would expedite the schedule to posting on the 14th position close at

28th. May 5th to 6th would be selection committee interviews. and then May 11th if it's an internal candidate or July 6th external candidate appointment. That's the motion on the table right now. Any further discussion? Any further discussion? All those in favor of roll call. I'm sorry. Roll call vote, please. Coac. Hi. Mahoney. Hi. Peporn. No. Strand. No. Turnberg. Hi. Can I have the chair back? Absolutely.

Item seven, concur. The findings in fact imply penalty matrix of $500 first offense of liquor license violations identified by L IV. Will Fisher to explain.

Good evening, mayor and commissioners. Uh my name is William Wisher, assistant state attorney. I'm here on behalf of the auditor's office with Angie Bear. Uh first a little background on why we're even here today. In the past, all liquor control board uh compliance violations were first brought to the LCB and then the commission. However, this summer, the state was busy and tinkered with their statutes. Uh now there are some conflicts between city law and state law. When those conflicts occur, we have to go with state law. This is unfortunate because uh the state has made it a lot harder for us to bring some compliance violations forward. Uh despite these hurdles, we've still complied with all the notices and timelines uh to be here in front of you today. So, the plan today is to have two liquor control violation hearings. Uh one will be Elgave and one will be Chili's. Officer Layman will summarize those violations. She was present at both of those liquor control violations. Uh afterwards the business if they are here uh the lency they will have the opportunity to uh admit or deny or give their part of the story. Uh after that if there's any members of the public that have signed up to be heard on this matter I believe they are given an opportunity to speak as well. Uh afterwards if the city uh does find that a violation has occurred, it's important to remember that the threshold is 51% uh preponderance of the evidence or more likely than not. If the violation is going to be considered, I can provide you with the penalties to be considered as well as a motion uh that will specifically detail uh what the finding and penalty should be. So I believe without any further ado, we'll have

Officer Layman come to that stand, give a summary of the violation that she observed at each location. And we'll do this one by one. So this will just be number seven, uh, Alaggave.

My name is Shelby Layman. I'm a Fargo police officer. In conjunction with the Fargo Cass public health, alcohol compliance checks were held on March 27th, 2026. As a part of the compliance check, a person or persons under the age of 21 while under the supervision of the Fargo Police Department enters a liquor establishment and requests alcohol. At approximately 8:00 p.m., I officer Shelby Layman along with Officer Jensen and two persons under 21. They will be called EL and JA who are 19 and 18 respectively went to Elgave located at 2581 45th Street South in Fargo, North Dakota. Elgave has a license with the city of Fargo to sell alcohol and is subject to compliance checks. The four of us sat down at the bar rail inside of Elgave. David Uribe was the bartender. Eel and Ja both ordered alcoholic pina coladas from David. David asked for and received both of their valid IDs. Since they are 21, the IDs are vertical. The date of birth also indicated they were under 21. David provided each alcoholic drink to Eel and Ja. David was provided a citation for the offense.

This time, if there's any member from Algave that would like to speak, now's your chance. Seeing none, I believe now would be an opportunity for member of the public that has signed up previously. If there's any, now would be your opportunity. All right. Now that the commission has heard the evidence, uh if the commission does find that a violation has occurred beyond uh preponderance of the evidence, the proposed uh motion would uh be finding a person employed by the lency Allegave served an individual under the age of 21 liquor in violation of North Dakota Century Code and Fargo municipal code and imposing an administrative penalty of $250 after consideration of mitigating factors. And just a little background on the mitigating factors because this is a first offense. Uh state law requires us to take into account if the business is a um server trained, which this bartender was. There have been no um violations. So I believe it is the auditor's recommendation that instead of the usual $500 fine or excuse me, administrative penalty, it be $250.

Mr. Pipin, would this what liquor control would do? Yes. I'll make the motion. And just a little explanation, too. Usually, this would go to liquor control first, but because of the what has happened with the legislature that's and and we did contact everyone on the liquor control board, so they're aware of this, too. But ordinarily, we would get a recommendation from the liquor control board, but because of what's happened with the state, that's why it's come directly to us. So, we apologize for that, I guess. But, but I I do think we're following the correct process. So, with that, once again, I'll make the motion. Could Steve Sprag do the 500? is no to reduce it to 250. No, I and I think that's a good thing. So, I appreciate that we can do that. Just wondered if Angie was being nice to people or something here. A second.

Is there a second? First moved and seconded. Any further discussion? I have a I have a question.

Mr. I all my life I've wondered about this process and this approach to to to to finding and maybe creating violations sometimes. If we didn't go into these establishments with a minor, I'm not so certain these violations would happen or not. And I know law allows it and I know behavior practice allows it. I know it's common behavior with tobacco and alcohol, but you know, and I I understand. I do, but I'm not so sure why I in my mind it's entrament. Just in my naive mind, that's what it looks like is we're setting somebody up to fail and then we arrest them or charge them for reaching what we set them up to do. And I don't know if it would happen or not otherwise. I just have a cons a I've always had a caution about this this pro approach. That's I'll just get that off my chest. That's my comment. Any other comments? Roll call.

Pepcorn. Ipac. I. Strand. No. Turnberg. I. Mahoney. I. Item eight. concur with finding staff and apply penalty maker 750 to the second offense for liquor violations at Chili's. Uh same background as the first one. This is alleged to be a second offense from Chili's with a prior occurring in 2025 will now hear from Officer Layman on the facts behind this incident.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. I, Officer Shelby Layman, along with Officer Avery Jensen. Uh this was the same date, March 27th. Uh we entered Chili's with two persons under 21. They will be called EL and JA who are 19 and 18 respectively. Went to Chili's located at 39021 13th Avenue South in Fargo. Chili has a license with the city of Fargo to sell alcohol and is subject to compliance checks. The four of us sat down at a table inside of Chili's. Brianna Hackley was our server. Eel ordered a high noon, an alcoholic drink. Ja ordered a specialty alcoholic drink. Brianna asked for and received both of their valid IDs. Since they are 21, the IDs are vertical. The date of birth also indicated they were under 21. Brianna provided each alcoholic drink to Eel and JA. Brianna was provided a citation for the offense.

A notice was provided to the Lency as it was in at Alaggave. If there's any member from Chile that would like to speak, now is your time. Seeing none, now if there's any persons that have signed up for speaking to this agenda matter, now is your time to speak. We had no signups.

Thank you. Uh with that, this is a second offense, as I said, with a June 25th prior offense. Uh the recommended penalty would be $750. That would be consistent with what the liquor control board would have recommended. The proposed motion is as followed. finding a person employed by the lency. Chili's served an individual under the age of 21 liquor in violation of North Dakota sentry code and Fargo municipal code and imposing an administrative penalty of $750 after consideration of a prior offense within the probationary period. Is there a motion? I'll make the motion. Is there a second? We'll second. Any discussion?

My comments are the same. Same. Okay. Roll call. Epcorn. Hi. Colpac. Hi. Strand. No. Shernburgg. Hi. Mahoney. Hi. Thank you commissioners.

Thank you. Additional item recommendation appointment to the airport authority. Uh Rick Bberg was the chairperson of the per authority. John Strand is leazison officer and I was the other person. We went through three candidates, three interviews and uh went through and ranked the three. You have in my recommendation the recommended person who we recommend to appoint to the airport authority. And as Pepcorn says, this is my last appointment to the airport authority. Was tempted to appoint myself but got away from that. But uh I think uh we've had very good airport authority response to a lot of things that happened. Uh finally got our our airport garage and finally got our re remodel. It just took the right people looking and I think they've done a tremendous job. So you have my recommendation.

Mr. Timber, can we repeat the recommendation publicly for the record, please? Uh the recommendation is Brooks Bergam is the person who has been recommended. Mayor, I advance the recommended motion. Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? Roll call vote, please. Strand. Yes. Epcorn. Hi. Colpat. Hi. Turnberg. Hi. Mahoney. Hi. Ladies and updates. We'll start with Pepcorn because it usually says no. No. Aren't you going to tell about somebody's birthday?

Oh. Honestly, I wish I could sing for your birthday, but I just want to congratulate on your birthday, John Strand. And so, uh, I also want to Oh, well, first of all, but I also want to object strongly because you conveniently you were gone when your birthday happened. So, can you tell us about your birthday, John?

Well, I was in Florida hiding from humanity and then I got in a car and I flew to Charlotte and I drove a car 23 hours back to Fargo. So, I'm not so sure my brain's here with me. My retired brigadier general cousin's car, who I drove back to Fargo cuz they're moving back here, he sent me a text. He said, "That's one heck of a feat for a 71year-old." But thank you, and I'm glad you can't sing. That concludes my report. Mr. Commissioner Turnber, I have updates on my Facebook site and happy birthday, Commissioner Strand. I have no updates, Commissioner.

Yeah, I just I have one slide. We had the Fargo Youth Initiative meeting yesterday at Fargo Public Schools and they wanted me to share this photo of them sitting at the DAS at Fargo Public Schools for their meeting. They elected a new president and vice president and began the process for assigning new committee members. They have some new members. Just as a reminder, this was a real success story in what to do with our boards and commissions. And this is now a joint collaborative not only of Fargo public schools and Red River Boys and Girls Club but also not only city commission, park board, hopefully someday the county um and public school system and their intention now is to participate in all of the civic engagement um with those entities and not just the city of Fargo. So it's pretty exciting success story.

That's it. How many students are in that initiative? They weren't all there yesterday. So I'm think I think it's about 15 now. Okay. 15 members. But Mr. Strand,

I'd like to announce that the board of health met on Friday and named Dr. Grant Severson the new chair of the board of health. I I had been the chair. I'm glad to actually glad to have somebody in the medical field be chair of the board of health. I think that's a really good fit. And as long as I'm at it, I think it'd be good going forward that when we have chairs of boards and commissions, we invite them to our meetings and introduce them to the public. You know, like you I just But anyway, Dr. Severson's been there for some time and he's a really hardworking guy and he's their new chair.

Thank you. Public comments. We only have one public speaker, Robera Rigger. Kimber, do you know who she is? No, she's not here. Okay, we're adjourned early. Thank you.