City Commission - Special Meeting

I'll call this special meeting of the Fargo City Commission to order. If we could do roll call, please.

Gullickson? Here. Peterson?

I am here.

Strand?

Here.

Turnburg? Here. Beauches?

Here. All right. Thank you, everyone, for making time on such short notice for us to gather. This is follow-up business from our Monday night meeting with the goal of finalizing commission liaison assignments. I know at the Monday night meeting, it was proposed to have this as a brown bag workshop But what we realize is that an action needed to be happening, especially with some of the commissions. Mead Gullickson has a question to refer that to Commissioner Strand first and work through the department that way. And then one of the things that really stood out to me there is, especially as we go into the budget process, is participate and advocate for the budget priorities of those departments. Those are kind of the key themes that are within that governance policy of what we're trying to assign today. I think the bulk of our conversation will likely be on department liaisons. But one thing to be of note is if we do have any movements beyond what's in front of us today, that there may be some committees or boards that will naturally move with that appointment just to make sure that things are in sync and that continuity of conversations and decisions that are being made across those boards and committees. With that, for the public's purpose or anyone else watching, these liaison assignments were put together after I had the opportunity to visit with each one of the commissioners, moved things around from what had traditionally been done, as my understanding is from the previous mayor, that If a new commissioner came on, they often would inherit the list from the predecessor or one of the previous commissioners that was no longer on the board. And so move these around to be more like buckets. So kind of creating themes. And as we talked about on Monday night, that's where I put the different themes departments and then each of you being assigned to one of those buckets essentially. And then there was conversation up here to have more of a conversation about where those departments are and perhaps where people want to go with that. I think it's a good part of the discussion that happened on Monday night was you know we don't always have to do things the way they've always been done so especially I think you know whatever decisions get made today for us to make sure that one year from now in July we're having a conversation again about assignments and that opportunity for us to have the discussion again and so kind of have that rolling conversation on an annual basis to see how that works for this commission specifically. So with that, what I'd like to propose to the Commission, and you may have some comments too, and I think we can certainly have a little bit of discussion before we get into any formal actions. But I'm suggesting, or what I would like, is that we use the proposed assignments that I provided for Monday night's meeting as our base. And if anyone has any suggestions for moving anyone or anything, that that's done through a formal motion. That way we're doing one item at a time. And you'll see that we have Mr. Redlinger and Ms. Dierig at the podium over here. Their purpose there is primarily they're running the tech that's in front of us. So as we make these changes, we'll see it in front of us. And then at the end, once we've done any movement or all the movements, then pass everything or make a motion for it as a slate to move forward so there's clarity. So with that, commissioners, any points of contact or Commissioner Peterson?

Mr. Mayor, thank you. So first, to my commission and our team members in the city, I apologize. This is my fault. But I think it's a good thing. I'm proposing we replicate something similar we did at the county. And that's the team approach to this. Everyone has a say. Everyone has a voice. We are all equals. We are all peers. Some of us have certain interests. Some of us don't. So that's my place where I'm coming from in this. And remember, I started by saying I'm pretty much fine with where I'm at. So I'm not looking to shuffle or push I'm looking to make sure we have dialogue. I'm making to look sure that we are all happy with where we are and that we all can succeed. And Commissioner Gullickson will touch on you in a moment because you're serving two masters right now. And that's a good thing because I think there's some synergies, like you and I spoke prior to our election, there's some synergies that might actually work for all of us in local government, all of us that are fans of local government. So obviously with your schedule being pretty complex, I want to make sure you're set up to succeed. And that's not on me, that's on you. But from my perspective right now the things I have work so again first an apology I don't mean to ruffle the feathers of anyone. I'm not trying to upset the apple cart or rock of the boat so to speak I'm simply wanting us all to have a voice so we can all succeed and move our city forward no more no less There's nothing more to it than that and to share with you We don't always get what we want as a reminder some of you know the city staff certainly does I'm sure most of us don't the county also has an appointment to the Fargo board or Fargo dome I wanted that for all of my 12 years. I served exactly zero years on the Fargo Dome Authority. It was Commissioner Vannio and then Commissioner Steen. And that's OK. I lived. That's why I learned that we had a spot here, which I guess I knew but didn't think of until the mayor set this out. And I said, hey, here's my other chance to get the thing I didn't get to do for 12 years. So we all don't get what we want sometimes. And I personally am a witness to that. And that's OK, as long as we have trust. And I think we do, as long as we have a good commission. And as the mayor just said, keeping each other informed is of the utmost of imparity. And frankly, I'm going to ask all five of us to work harder than any four commissioners and one mayor have in previous history. That's what I want to have happen here, because that's a victory for all of us. So with that, Mr. Mayor, I can discuss my suggestion. How would you like me to proceed, or how would you like us to proceed, Mr. Mayor?

Yes, let's go with just some general discussion, then any motions will go from there. So Commissioner Strand?

Thank you, Mayor. My sense is that a good starting point would be, and I reached out to our legal counsel to remind me, and I think we should all be reminded, what are our existing policies and ordinances that affect the process we're involved in? And I appreciate that there's desires with new members here to address and change culture, but culture in the city environment is rooted in policy. And it's rooted in ordinance. And that's where we begin. So if you're okay, Mayor, I would ask our legal counsel, Mr. McLean, to just remind us what are our ordinances and policies affecting and leading to the implementation of liaison assignments.

So we have a home rule charter, which I sort of discussed on Monday night, and that's Article 2, Section 5 talks about liaison assignments, which would be the department at the very top of our spreadsheet. And it says at the very end, if the mayor's office, sorry, the individual assignments will be proposed by the mayor and approved by the governing body. So proposed by the mayor, approved by the governing body. And then... Similar but not identical when it comes to the committee's and the board Liaisons section 7 says a member of the governing body may serve as a participating member on any board commission or government units as may be Determined by the governing body which would be the City Commission Appointment to these entities shall be made by the mayor and confirmed by the governing body. So while we say proposed And appointed it's all meaning the same thing. The mayor would make the recommendation. It's up to the City Commission to approve that recommendation. I

Thank you, Mr. McLean. Anything further, Commissioner Strand? No? Commissioners? Commissioner Trenberg?

I think, too, it's important maybe to clarify for us, because when I was new, I just kind of went crazy and got so involved in everything, and overstepped sometimes, but as the liaison, you are the point of contact, and if other commissioners have questions or issues or ideas, then they need to go to the liaison of that department, is that true?

Yes, that comes from our governance policy, not from an ordinance or Home Road Charter, but that's what our governance policy provides.

But it starts with Michael, and then it goes to whomever, and then discussion goes from there, correct?

Yeah, so someone, if you had the engineering department, like you have Commissioner Turnberg, they would reach out to Michael, reach out to you, and then you would be involved in the conversation with Commissioner Gullix if she had a question about engineering. Yep, thank you, just to clarify.

Thank you. Anything else? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and move forward if there's any adjustments that are being recommended.

I do have one more question, Mr.

Chair.

Is there anywhere in our governance policies to have these, how were they described, cabinet meetings? Should that be with the mayor and liaison or should that be with department heads? Is that actually in our governance policy?

Are we referring to the cabinet meeting that happens Monday mornings before the city commission meeting? Okay, so there is a cabinet meeting each Monday before the city commission meeting, which is all the department heads and usually the mayor. There is an agenda too. It's usually talking about items that are pertinent to the city and every department head goes around and sometimes we have no updates. Sometimes we do have updates. Problem is we can only have, unless that's to be a public meeting, we can only have two of you in that meeting anytime. And sometimes that meeting does not happen. It's not automatically every Monday before a city commission. Sometimes there's no agenda items or sometimes the mayor is out of town. We also have governance meetings as, Sometimes all five city commissioners come together. We talk about our governance policies. And that is a public meeting, obviously. We usually do that in the Red River Room. The media is invited. The public can show up. We have two different types of meetings there. But the cabinet meeting is usually just for the department heads to give the mayor an update about what is going on in their departments the last couple weeks.

Thank you.

Mayor, if I might, just to continue on, this is a real relevant discussion, especially as we are new. What I would suggest, Commissioner Turnberg, is you'll often, as usual, there's times you just hear from people, and they don't know whose portfolios are whose, but my recommendation would be is typically respond back to that person, let them know you're alerting administration of their issue, and you're bringing the liaison commissioner into the discussion so that at one fell swoop, you're not under, you're also getting the ball moving with administration in the city as you're replying to the citizens' issues.

Right, and I like to get back to people personally, but then to also CC the liaison or Michael or however, just to make sure they know they've been heard and that we'll be working on it, but yes.

Mayor, if I may say one more thing about the cabinet meeting, and maybe to clarify that a little bit, a lot of times it's for the other cabinet members to update the other cabinet members. It's more for the department heads sometimes to update the other department heads. HR will tell us this is a new policy we want to put into effect, and they'll get feedback from the various department heads. So a lot of times I say it's more of an internal meeting that's really for the department heads. The mayor is always invited and is usually there, but I say it's more internal than it is so much even giving updates to other mayors. I should have clarified that.

With that, any suggested changes from the proposed commission liaisons? Commissioner Peterson.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. I'll basically touch on the things I touched on during our last meeting. One of the things I would like Commissioner Turnberg is, as I just spoke to, the Fargo Dome. And again, I only really actually have two requests of the entire list. So if that's a no, you're not going to hurt my feelings at all, but that's one request I make respectfully. The other one Commissioner Gullickson the economic incentives committee this one is near and dear to my heart You and I'm this is as much a question as it is a statement. You're gonna be said a lot in the next four years because it's true We were never kept updated at the county regarding things like TIFs and pilots the city of Fargo Just went and did things that's my understanding of what transpired with this with the school district as well so senator You will recall two sessions ago, I showed up with my suit and tie on with my good friend, Representative Scott Wagner, and proposed a bill that forced the city to then force them to ask both county and schools to approve pilots and TIFs. Three people testified against it, the owner of Epic, an executive at Epic, and Jim Gilmore. I believe it passed unanimous in the House and I think it passed unanimous in the Senate. When Senator Roars presented it to you and your peers, he said it's a follow the law bill because the city of Fargo was not following the law. So we had to create legislation to force the issue. What I would like to do, and if you want to keep this, you're not going to hurt my feelings too, but I'm going to ask a lot of you if you do, and one of the most important things I'd want you to do if you keep this is, and there are partial lists, I've seen them, but I want Our peers our neighbors now our courthouse and our friends in the school board to fully understand where taxes are not being paid there should be a comprehensive list of tips a Comprehensive list of pilots as well as when they were put into place And this is why I'm sort of looking at you saying I'm going to add I would love to do this I can even graphically do this myself with help from staff but I'm gonna push you pretty hard to get this information and make it fast too, because our friends like you are making decisions on their taxes, right? You're deciding on your budgets for next year already, just like we are, because state law requires that. So figuring out an education piece that the public and other elected political subs can understand, clear and concise, a list, even graphics, so we can understand what taxes are not being paid and for how long, and most importantly, when they were enacted, I think is incredibly prudent. I'm willing to do that and then some. I see that, Mr. Mayor and Commissioners, I see that as part of that committee's work and education piece. So if you would like to keep that and do that, respect, but I'm going to push you pretty hard. I'm happy to do it myself because, again, it's going to be a lot of work for you. So that would be my two requests, would be the Fargo Dome and then economic incentives. And as I said before, having me on the Red River Regional Dispatch Center, it's a great board with great people, an amazing organization. And if the mayor wasn't on it, I'm regurgitating what I said prior, then I would ask the mayor to do it because he needs it. It's part of the police liaison. I suggest that would be more prudent in your bucket with fire. If not, Commissioner Turnberg maybe, because I'm taking one of hers, asking respectfully to take one of hers, and then that would get you looped into the new governance structure, the budgeting of said governance structure, as well as both fire, police, dispatch, and ambulance services, right? Because they all walk through that place. And that team is the group that's responsible for telling our first responders where to go. and sort of operationalizing the will of their leadership. So those are my three things. So Fargo Dome, economic incentives, I would like both those, no big deal if not. And then I would suggest that dispatch go to somebody else. Again, happy to serve, not a problem, but I think it may be more prudent to have someone else take that. So those are my thoughts, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, and again, respect to you. Thank you for letting us do this. Thank you for the open dialogue. I will shut up now.

Thank you.

A lot of these comparing from two years ago are exactly the same, and even Commissioner Strand and I have some of the same departments, and the mayor's role is almost completely the same. What I would like, especially since I put so much work into the public safety sales tax and getting that passed and helping fire and police and developing those relationships. I would like fire and police along with communications and governmental affairs. Chad can absolutely have the Fargo Dome. I think it also makes sense that you take the Fargo Dome authority and we could switch and I could do airport authority. Because that would go hand in hand with the Fargo Dome and then that's pretty easy. So I just think I have great relationships with both police and fire and I think that would really benefit them and what's been done in the past and how the tax should move forward, how the department should move forward. And those are just two departments I'm passionate about. Public safety was the number one thing I ran on. And I just have a background

communications so that makes sense to keep that any other suggestions for changes Commissioner strand Thank You mayor I'm just curious for my sake I know our you and I had discussions could you apprise us of what type of discussions you had with each of each of us about these potential appointments and how you, with us individually, went through that process? Please.

Yes, Commissioner Strand and each of you, I had the opportunity to spend some time with in person. Department of Liaisons was a part of that discussion. So I know for a number of us, a number of you, it was actually we all ended up meeting on the same day, kind of lined up. And then Commissioner Golickson was out of town on vacation, or no, you're at conferences. So it was a little bit later for that. So I was taking input from the conversations we had there about things that we wanted to work together on, goals that you had. Some of you explicitly named specific departments that you wanted to prioritize. So try to match some of those up. Of course not giving, everyone didn't get everything they wanted, but that's the way it went. And then followed up with you all last Thursday to walk through what was going to be proposed for Monday night.

Mayor, might I ask Commissioner Peterson a question so I understand it better. Help me understand why you want the Parkland Dome. So I just know what your mindset is and whether that's a blessing or a curse to them if you were appointed to it.

I am a North Fargo kid and an NDSU Bison. It's just no more complex than that. Simply. I actually worked at the, so I opened the Domino's Pizza store there in 1990, I think, when we first opened it. So I was one of the very first vendors. It wasn't me personally, obviously. I'm a broke college kid just opening a store for 10 bucks an hour after my pay raise. Anyway, but it's, I'm a Bison and a North Fargo kid. No more, no less.

Commissioner Gullickson?

Thank you. I know you did some work with staff as well, trying to find out the appropriate fits and lining up various buckets. And so I don't want to subvert that work either. The EDIC, did you feel, was there a sense among you, your staff, that that lined up in that particular bucket?

Commissioner, so in your, looking at your column, engineering and planning, the committees and board liaisons that line up with that were tied to that. So EDIC was included as part of that, just again, within planning specifically. As we continue the conversation about the land development code, INCREASED CONVERSATIONS PUBLICLY ABOUT INCENTIVES AND HOW WE DO INCENTIVES AND SO FORTH, SO IT WAS TIED IN THERE. I DON'T, YOU KNOW, I KIND OF LOOK TO STAFF IF THEY WANT TO ADD ANY INTERJECTION ABOUT THAT SPECIFICALLY, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THAT NECESSARILY NEEDS TO BE TIED THERE, SINCE IT WILL BE A, THAT WILL BE A CONVERSATION WE AS A COMMISSION WILL BE HAVING A LOT OF DISCUSSION AROUND GENERALLY, BUT SO I'LL, MS. DURG.

THE ONLY THING I CAN ADD IS I KNOW THROUGH THAT LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, WHICH WE ARE LOOKING that will go on a little bit longer, but one of those recommendations will be joining Renaissance Zone and the EDIC. They do a lot of dual evaluation, so it would make sense to make it one committee. So that's the one thing we are looking at doing through that land development code rewrite.

Thank you. Any other just general discussion? I know two commissioners made some suggestions. So what I'd ask is that if there are changes being formally proposed, that we do that through a motion and a second and a vote. Just so again, it's clear we're moving things from this proposed piece here. That way it's very clear to everyone what's happening. Commissioner Peterson, then Turnberg.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. With that, I would make a motion to swap both myself and Commissioner Turnberg. I would swap myself into Fargo Dome, and then obviously that would carry through the Finance Committee as well. And then she would take Airport Authority. That's my one-for-one motion.

And you would have Fargo Dome Authority?

Correct.

Yep.

Okay, so I'm going to repeat back the motion. We would be moving the Fargo Dome Department Liaison to Commissioner Peterson, the Fargo Dome Authority Finance Committee to Commissioner Peterson, and then the Airport Authority to Commissioner Turnberg. Yes, sir. Is there a second?

I will second it.

Thank you. Discussion?

Mayor, just for clarification, it'll be the Fargo Dome Authority Finance Committee and the Fargo Dome Authority both. So it'll be Fargo Dome, Fargo Dome Authority Finance Committee, and Fargo Dome Authority all going to Commissioner Peterson. Commissioner Turnberg would be getting the airport authority, if I understand the motion correct.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. McLean. Any discussion? Commissioner? Commissioner Turnberg.

I just, Conversationally, are there any of these that conflict with your schedule for the school board and those meetings? I imagine you probably are busy with meetings there, too. Or will there be points where you'll have to recuse yourself when certain topics are brought up in the city commission? I don't believe so. No, we've explored those options, and so far it hasn't been an issue in many years past. Okay. And then, Mr. Mayor, are you planning on resigning from the Senate to because then that would be four months that you would be gone, correct?

Yes, I'll be resigning within the next month.

Oh, okay.

Any further discussion on the motion? Commissioner Strand.

So the motion is to swap the Fargo Dome basically with airport authority. Bingo. With Commissioner Turnberg. I just simply resist this approach to these policy discussions. I think that we need to live with, you know, we have a brand new mayor who got a significant mandate from the public. And part of the expectation of the mayor is to do this. And he's done a, the mayor has done a good job with this and trying to juggle, hurt a bunch of cats, frankly. And I think we need to not undermine the expected role of the mayor the first day we're in office. I think that this is a discussion that should happen through policy. I don't want to have every single time the mayor is advancing something that's within his purview that we're just going to go at it and go, well, we don't know if we like what you did, Mr. Mayor. And I appreciate it. I do. But to me, policy and procedure is exactly where we need to be and in the lane we stay in. And I don't want to, through votes and through actions, undermine that and turn that upside down before we even discuss the policies. We have new members here. Let's get together and talk about our policies and talk about our procedures and vet them and get a sense of each other as we do that. But this approach to that is absolutely not my recommendation, and I will not support it.

Any further questions? Commissioner Peterson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commissioner Strand, I respect your opinion, but I think this is exactly what the policy says we're supposed to do. The mayor makes a recommendation and the commission approves it. The fact that the commission has never done anything pushing back, for lack of a better term, doesn't make it wrong today. The mayor has no more power than any one of us. He has one vote, as do we. This isn't dictatorial. The governance policies say very well, and I could not agree with you more. I want to follow the governance policies, period. And in the past, in no disrespect to the prior leaders, it sounds like I'm being disrespectful, and I'm not. The prior mayor did things, and I'm not entirely sure the commission knew he was doing some of those things. And some of those things were maybe missed, whether they were in consent agenda or whatever. That can't happen anymore. We are equals. There's no supreme power here at the dais. And again, just because things weren't done a certain way or there was no, and again, I'm struggling for a term. I don't want to say resistance, but maybe there was a lack of desire from the mayor to engage the board. So the mayor just did things. I don't think that's the right way to do it either. The right way to do it is to get the five of us at this desk and say, what would you like to do? What do you think is the best? And again, I'm coming from the place of my strengths are planning, inspections, building, development. I've done it for 30 years and I've done it pretty well. None of those things are in my portfolios right now. And that's perfectly fine. I like what Mayor Beauchesne did because a lot of these things I need to learn. This is a win for me. Right? Could I do more things in other departments? Yes. Could I do maybe better work than some of you and not just being disrespectful, it's just my areas of expertise? The answer is yes. But I'm following the mayor's lead. And again, this is selfish too, because these are folks that I don't know and infrastructure that I don't understand yet. So this is a good thing for me. But that's coincidental. If I was on, I don't know what it would be, but the point is, If I really wanted to push hard and validate why I'm pushing to these areas, I could do that. And I could make a rational, professional, both public and private observation. I'm not. Something as simple as switching a couple things is pretty reasonable to me. I think this is what should have been done the whole time is my point. So I understand your place. I'm not trying to undermine Mr. Mayor. Please do not. And that's why I led with this in the first meeting. This is not meant to undermine the mayor's authority. It is simply to do what I promised I was going to do and what I heard my mayor also saying, collaboration. I'm for that. This isn't meant to kneecap or anything, whether in your seniority, either. It's simply meant to, I want to have an open, honest dialogue about what's going forward. And these, I'm taking you at your word, Mr. Mayor, these are also going to rotate. So I'll get to my spot sooner or later. All of us will. But right now, a couple subtle tweaks, I think, make some sense. And again, for me, specifically with dispatch, that to me, for putting things in buckets, that's out of my place. I think one of... One of the three of you, I don't see it fitting with Commissioner Strand, but regardless, that one doesn't seem to fit in my bucket. So someone else should take it. And again, I have previous experience. I'm happy to do it. So Commissioner Strand, respectfully, I understand. I'm hearing you. I am. But I'm not doing this to be an obstructionist or combative. It's simply saying what I know is what I watched happen successfully for 12 years, and I didn't get everything I wanted either, and that's okay. Thank you.

Any other discussion? Okay, and just before we go to a vote, staff, it's clear what the motion is and what we're moving? Okay. All right, with that, we'll take a roll call.

Peterson?

Yes.

Gullickson? Yes. Yes. Strand?

No.

Turnburg? Yes. O'Shea?

Yes.

Mr. Mayor?

Mr. Peterson.

So then I'll just touch, I'm going to try to go one by one to make this as easy as we can. Does anyone agree that dispatch should not be under me? And it's okay if you think I should keep it. It's perfectly fine. I'm just saying my suggestion is that someone else should take that.

And what I'll speak to the general question is my rationale for putting that under you was your previous experience with the organization and the county. So again, if you're willing to give it up and someone else has interest, I'm.

Mr. Mayor, I'm willing to do either. I just, whatever's the best for this board. I just saw it for Commissioner Gullickson as an asset. But again, happy to keep it. You're not going to hurt my feelings if you don't want it.

May I ask a question? Mr. Turnberg. Did we switch the Fargo Dome Authority Finance Committee?

Yes, ma'am.

In addition to the Fargo Dome Authority, so you have, okay, good. Because we could certainly, I could take, if I'm allowed to have fire and police, I could certainly take Red River Regional Dispatch, which would seem like a good fit, along with the ambulance service oversight. Suggestion there.

I apologize, but I am unwilling to give up fire because I've started to build relationships and like you, I have strong feelings and support for our public safety too. So that's the good news because I had asked for fire and police. And I was told earlier on, by our former mayor that police is an appropriate fit for the mayor because of the emergency nature and public safety of that piece. So I apologize, but I'd like to hang on to fire.

Well, I've built two years of relationships with the fire and worked very hard with their sales tax and they trust me very much. So yes, I did ask for fire and police. And just because something has been done a certain way for many years doesn't mean it has to be repeated that way. And so I think when you do have two people come in and seniority should have some play here. So if we're talking relationships, I mean I have probably 12 personal cell phone numbers of firefighters alone that I contact on my phone. Talk to the chief quite often. I met with the police chief yesterday, and we are working on some things. And I will continue to work with them, but it just gets to be muddier because then it's going through all different channels.

Sure. And I understand that. I respect your position, but I would like to retain police. Or I mean fire. I'm sorry, fire.

Are there any other motions?

I move that fire and police stay as recommended by the mayor.

Second.

There's a motion and second to keep police under Mayor Beauchesne and fire under Commissioner Gullixson. Discussion? Commissioner Peterson.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And as a reminder, I'm taking everyone at their word that we're rotating portfolios. So while we may not get our wishes today, I think that we can get them eventually. And again, taking our team at our word. So that's what I'm going to say.

How often will these rotate?

What was initially discussed was having an annual conversation. So again, that would probably ask us to go into our governance and if we need to institute that so it's more formal. But Commissioner Peterson?

Yeah, sorry Mr. Mayor to dominate here. We always kept health. So within social services, one of the things that I want to talk to you about too was that understanding the acronyms in some of these things is extremely difficult. I'm very lucky. My wife is a social worker, so I had to learn some of those things organically just because of her labor. But to Commissioner Turnberg's point, there may be, depending upon the staff input and then commission input, there may be times when you hold them for a couple of years because it takes a full, and again, I'm going to talk to Health Commissioner Strand, that's your portfolio now. I think you understand it pretty well, so I'm not concerned about you, but let's pretend I was put in there. I would recommend that I would hold that portfolio for two years, because it takes that long. And I don't know if you can parallel that with anything else, but the point being, sir, is that it may be prudent to have them held on occasion, depending upon the topic, because again, understanding is much respect to Commissioner Strand for keeping health, but it takes time to learn some of these things.

Well, and how Commissioner Strand, how many years have you had health?

I believe two years and then I had had it way back when I was brand new because I was so passionate about the opioid epidemic. But then Commissioner Preston. Fulfilled that proposed portfolio for at least four years. And bear with me, my brain is not always on it today.

Well, I'm just curious then how some of these, if you have several people requesting the same department, how you're choosing who they go to. Are you taking any seniority into consideration here?

Going back to the original conversation, I created buckets. So when I was looking at these departments and some of the priorities that folks had shared with me, looking at how they might work together and also help increase collaboration within the city as we look at efficiencies and budget and opportunities to cross cross collaborate. So for that, so for Commissioner Strand specifically, he and I are gonna be talking about some renters issues. So things that touch a lot of what the renters are involved with fall under there. Engineering and planning used to be separate, but because of the work that's being done with the growth plan, EDIC, land development code, we discussed putting those together for that to be in the same portfolio as those conversations continue moving forward. My original proposal for you, Commissioner Turnberg, involved more of the facility side of things. So that's where you have the Fargo Dome, the library as part of that. So you retained the library and then received communications government affairs based on your interest and background on that. And then with Commissioner Peterson, it was the utilities as a bucket itself. So that was the decision how I proposed these. It really wasn't about seniority or who had what when. It was about how do we look at, how can we as commissioners help lead that collaboration amongst these departments.

It was my rationale. But then the rationale with fire. Since I have seniority, two people have asked for it. I'm just curious why I'm not getting fire.

So that really came down to the fact that, yes, several people asked for fire, but Commissioner Gullixson only had two departments then, and at that point you had four. So it was about evening out some things as well. Any further discussion on the motion? Discussion? Hearing none, we'll go to roll call vote. Mayor, could you remind us the motion, please? The motion from Commissioner Strand was to keep fire under Gullickson and place under Beauches. Staff, is that clear? All right, great, thanks. All right, we'll do roll call vote.

Strand?

Yes.

Gullickson? Yes. Peterson?

Yes.

Turnburg?

No.

Beauches?

Yes. Any other motions? Commissioner Peterson.

So, Mr. Mayor, nobody wants dispatch. And again, I'm not trying to hand them off.

I'm looking at you, Commissioner Bellison. Commissioner Peterson and Mayor Beauchesne. That could be a fit for me with public health and with the range of the lanes I'm in there. I've often had some thoughts and questions, what I hear nationally about dispatch and how it affects triaging and how we triage locally. And I'm not privy enough to know what we do locally, but I do know there's a lot of that conversation nationally, and it's a really critical part of public health. and public safety response. So if nobody wants dispatch, I would be happy to swap or volunteer for that.

Commissioner Peterson.

Commissioner, it's not that nobody wants it. Please, I love what you're saying. I think there's, my main mission is I think there's a better fit, again, no disrespect, Mr. Mayor, I think there's a better fit, plus the educational opportunity, how they're run now. With the governance structure having been reinvented, I think it's prudent for a new face to show up. Obviously, none of us are disappearing from any of these things, so we'll still be available, not just with the institutional knowledge, but obviously a participation at the dais. So with that, I would make a motion, if I may, Mr. Mayor? Commissioner Peterson. I would like to make a motion to transfer the dispatch, regional dispatch center, to Commissioner Strand. And that would be the end. Sure.

Is there a second?

Second. Thank you.

Discussion on moving Regional Dispatch Center Board to Commissioner Strand. Discussion? Hearing none, we'll go to roll call vote.

Strand?

Yes.

Turnberg? Yes. Gullickson? Yes. Peterson?

Yes.

Boucher?

Yes. Commissioner Turnberg.

Did we make the motion to move the Economic Development Incentives Commission to Commissioner Peterson?

I don't believe that has been moved.

I will make that motion.

Is there a second?

For sake of discussion, Mr. Mayor, I will second. But then can I ask a question?

Yep. I'm part of the discussion.

I have not heard Commissioner Gullixson say she does not She wants me to take it. So if you want to keep it, again, perfectly fine. But for sake of discussion, I'm asking you, if you want me to take it, I will. If not, I will be a, my friends call me a pleasant pest, because this is incredibly important to me. So I will be pestering you in the most respectful way, most sincere way. I just think there's an education opportunity that's being missed right now. And specifically with sitting on the other board, which is why I'm not not mad that you're keeping it right uh but i think the educational opportunity is substantive for both the public and our friends uh that are at the other local political subdivision so you're willing to keep it and willing to put up with my fat face yes commissioner

Yes, I would be more than happy to work with you on that, and that was going to be my question. I was actually entertaining the switch because dispatch is an interest of mine that does align with public safety, but I also appreciate Commissioner Strand stepping into that. I think that's a good lineup as well. So that would be my question, is can we kind of team that up?

Well, I'm going to follow governance policy. So you are my liaison. I will be directing questions to you. And no, please, I am here to help you too. Obviously, we have an amazing skilled set of people here in City Hall. I have 12 years of doing this myself, plus both locally and legislatively. So I can be an aid to you as well. So happy to vote no on this. would appreciate that and i'm only cautious to make the change because it ties into all the other pieces that i have so i feel like that might be a hole if we swap it mr peterson mr mayor thank you i just didn't want to volunteer you for what i'm know i'm going to ask you to do and it's not like it's going to take 60 hours a week but i i always feel guilty knowing that i can tackle something and then i'm going to put a burden on a friend of mine to say I love these things. You may not. So putting something I have a passion in on your back isn't fair to you. So that's the only place I'm coming from here. So I'm happy, looking forward to it, and it's going to be wonderful. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Or we could work together and work on our strengths. And with you already having 12 years of experience with this, Chad, and it is like drinking out of a fire hose. when you start on the commission. I still would move to move the Economic Development Incentives Commission to Commissioner Peterson because of his experience and how passionate he is about this.

Any further discussion? Commissioner Strand? We do have a motion on the table.

Is it the same motion?

Yes. We're discussing that motion.

I will chime in.

Commissioner Strand?

I really sincerely believe that this is one of the most important topics we face right now. We, of course, are going to address housing with a newly created task force and others. We have a legislative session coming, and with the cap implemented by the legislature on us and the impacts of that, with the apparent momentary disagreements between the county and the city with regard to terms of incentives and approvals of incentives. When I was on the school board years ago, I asked the same question, well, why isn't this being discussed? And the answer I got was, well, they had members sitting at the table representing the school district, so they felt they had a voice there. But I really sincerely believe, and we don't have our director of that program right now, I don't want to see, I want us to have serious honest discussions about look backs and claw backs and accountabilities. If somebody's applying for and receiving tax incentives and breaks and they're at the, using the word loosely, public trough, there needs to be accountability. We don't even require people to give us reports, whether they qualified and did what they said they were going to do in order to qualify to get sometimes millions and millions of dollars. So I really think this is a serious discussion that, from the ground up, we look at our neighbors. We weigh everything about incentives, the pros and the cons of every approach. What are others doing? We don't want to put our community at risk, but we also don't need to give away the farm. And if we do give away incentives, let's hold people responsible for what they say they're going to do. Whoever gets this portfolio, that's all I want. That's not all, but I'm hoping that surfaces.

Any further discussion? The motion is to move Economic Development Incentives Commission from Gullixson to Peterson. Hearing, oh, Commissioner Gullixson.

May we look towards city staff for some insight here, please? How you feel they either fit together or could this serve under somebody else? A little bit of insight, please.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor and Commissioners. Thanks for the good discussion. You're absolutely correct. The city of Fargo, really ever since the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Commission our committee got together as well as us reforming our taxes and review committee we've always kind of had the ability to move people in and out of those roles this is certainly consistent with that that's completely to the discretion of the commission but yeah this is all makes a lot of sense and that's certainly fine and we can work with that so even if that portfolio were to move to commissioner peterson

yeah absolutely we will support the commission if that be your desire and wish absolutely we can work with that okay thank you you bet any further discussion mayor uh could i ask commissioner peterson what are your views on look backs clawbacks and accountabilities as you've seen this from the county and you're now over here

Mr. Peterson. Mr. Mayor, thank you. I think you and I are probably closer in lockstep than some might believe. I believe in 100% accountability. And one of the things I've discussed in the past, and Commissioner, you and I have discussed this, in fact, prior to my appointment to this board. I served on the Renaissance Zone board for years and very blessed. Mayor Mahoney made a, I think, a very good choice in appointing me to that board as a de facto liaison to the county commission, the logic being more complex than putting someone in the room, as Commissioner Strand hinted at, you have someone in the room, so then when it approaches that next local political sub, you've got someone there that was attending and spoke and had thoughts and was educated as to what the procedure was and why the project is before you, right? You're building an advocacy, again, for no other term. But long story short, in this discussion, my pet peeve is exactly what Commissioner Strand just said, is that people would tell us they're going to do X, but with the best of intentions. I don't ever believe anyone was lying to us. Sincerely, I don't believe they were. And things just sort of went awry for whatever reason, and you wound up with a situation that was substantively different than what they presented before, and they're asking for their neighbor's money, and had received their neighbor's money. We never went back and said no. In addition to that, the incentive lengths were one of the things that I, as a county commissioner, always struggled with. I don't believe we have, we incentivized one project for 10 years, and it was actually stepped after five, and that was the Castleton Soybean Plant, $400 million regional investment. That was a different thing, that was a different beast than a gigaplex in some portion on a green field here in town that someone deems them not being okay to pay taxes for 10 years, right? Different machines were affected differently. And very rarely did we, if ever, go over seven years. And the logic being no more complex than this. Again, I say that phrase a lot. But things are very simple if you want to whittle them down. If your project needs 10 years, 15 years of no taxes to survive, your project's not viable. And Commissioner Steen said it wonderfully. We had the second phase of the Edge Artist Flats by Chubb's Pub come before us. And to their credit, they were very honest. They were honest the first time. They were even more honest the second time. When Commissioner Steen, Commissioner Rick Steen, County Commissioner, said, if you're not paying taxes for 15 years, what makes me think you're going to come back here in year 16 and be willing to pay? And to her credit, she said, oh, we're never paying taxes. But good for her for being honest, sincerely. Other developers would not have been that honest. So I struggle with things sometimes, Commissioner Strand, and I'll, again, I could pontificate about this for weeks. So I think that, I think we can do a better job and I'm going to leave it at that. Thank you for the question, sir.

Thank you. Commissioner Gullixson.

If I were to agree to transfer this to you, because I believe you do have the strength and the knowledge that perhaps the city could benefit from two things. Could I be your friendly pest? And then secondly, and I hate to do this to Commissioner Strand, but then would I be able to get Red River Dispatch so that that would align with the fire piece?

Mayor? Commissioner Strand. I would be absolutely OK with that. Which that might need a different motion being as we've addressed it.

Correct. That's not part of the question. Commissioner Peterson.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. This is awesome. This is how it's supposed to work. So thank you for your willingness. Again, had this not gone this way, that's OK too. It wouldn't hurt my feelings. I'll stop there. Gratitude.

Thank you. Mayor, I move we amend the motion to not only move economic development from Commissioner Gullickson's portfolio over to Commissioner Peterson's portfolio, but that we instead swap the Red River Dispatch, despite an earlier vote, we swap the Dispatch from Commissioner Peterson over to Commissioner Gullickson.

Mr. McLean, a friendly amendment, does that require approval of the first and seconder?

Yeah, we'll have a first and second. We'll vote on whether to amend it. If it's amended, we'll vote on the amended motion. It's only a second to the amendment.

So, Commissioner Strand, if I could ask, can we just move forward with the one motion and come back with a second motion?

Yes, you may. Thank you. Good thinking.

Thanks. Appreciate that. Any further discussion on the motion to move Economic Development Incentives Commission from Gullickson to Peterson? Further discussion? We'll call vote, please.

Ternberg? Yes. Peterson?

Yes.

Gullickson? Yes. Strand?

Yes.

O'Shea?

Yes. Commissioner Strand, did you have a motion?

I did. I would move to revisit the discussion about the dispatch. And despite an earlier motion, we instead move it from Commissioner Peterson's portfolio over to Commissioner Gullickson's portfolio.

And I think, sorry to correct you on the spot like this, I think the proper motion, because we already moved it, would be to move it from Commissioner Strand to Commissioner Gullickson.

Thank you very much. Correct.

Thank you. Is there a second?

Mr. Mayor, second.

Commissioner Peterson, thank you. Any discussion on moving the Red River Regional Dispatch Center from Commissioner Strand to Commissioner Gullickson? I stopped drawing lines on my sheet because I was confusing myself. So thanks for your guys' work on that. Any further discussion? Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote.

Strand?

Yes.

Peterson?

Yes.

Gullickson? Yes. Turnberg? Yes. Boucher?

Yes. Excuse me. Commission, any other motions to be made? Commissioner Strand?

I have a question which perhaps could precipitate into a motion. I don't think Nicole is still here in the room, but it's my understanding that when we reinvented the Native American Commission and it went to the community that we would maintain a liaison relationship with the Native American Commission into their future and just to have some bridge to us officially. Real honestly, I would recommend Commissioner Turnburg for that because she had a huge voice and role in community members stepping up and participating in the reinvention of the Native American Commission out into the community. I don't know if you'd be up for that or not, but I know you know some of the players, the people. I think it would be a good breath of fresh air to have somebody who isn't part of the legacy of what I was where we dismantled them. but instead you helped rebuild them. So I'm just advancing that topic because I don't know that we've addressed that little fine point of having them have a liaison into the future.

And I'm happy to keep up those relationships. Is that something, do we need to actually have that in city policy or can I just do that on my own to make sure that since we dismantled the board, but I'm will make myself available to them. And I text back and forth with those members.

It's my general sense we promised we would create a liaison relationship. Maybe Brenda might remember, and I know Nicole was closer to that.

Mr. McLean? So I think on the July 20th agenda, we'll have the Native American Commission on that. It has not totally been disbanded. So that will be likely on the July 20th. And with that, we'd probably do the liaison assignment on July 20th.

Thanks for that clarification. Any other motions? If there are none to move anyone, I would ask for a motion to adopt the slate as in front of you on your screen. This is updated, correct? Correct. In front of you. Correct. With all the movements.

It's all moved.

Thank you. Is there a second? Commissioner Peterson's raising his hand. Mr. Mayor, second. Thank you, Commissioner Peterson. Discussion on the slate. Discussion on the slate.

I'll say one more thing, Mayor. Commissioner Peterson, this is a good process and we're going to get a good result out of it. Let's put this, let's fine tune these approaches into our policy so that in the future it's not just so happenstance or a moment affected.

Commissioner Peterson.

Mr. Mayor, I second that motion, Commissioner Strand. This is what I want to talk to Mr. Boucher, Mayor Boucher, after just about five minutes of saying some of the things sort of Anyway, I second your motion, Commissioner. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further discussion on the slate? Hearing none, we'll do a roll call vote.

Gullixson? Yes. Peterson?

Yes.

Strand?

Yes.

Turnburg? Aye. Beauches?

Yes. All right. Thank you, Commissioners, for your work. Thank you for our team for pulling this together on such short notice. shows the dedication everyone has to get in this process forward. And we'll continue to explore how we move forward as a team. Some points I just want to make for our commissioners. And what I appreciate about the conversation happening here is there's clearly a desire to have more conversations. And what that's looking like, especially in a condensed next month or so, is the idea that we'll be having a couple brown bags on a couple of topics. And that is also tying at the same time as our budget conversation. Wanting to make sure we're not wearing everybody out, especially with the budget workshops coming up in two weeks and managing time away that some have scheduled already with the travel season. So just know that you'll be hearing from, well, maybe we can even talk about this. So first of all, one thing I'd like to have on the topic as soon as possible, and I'm actually meeting with planning this afternoon, is just a discussion on the growth plan, all the ancillary plans that go with that, and then the economic incentives as part of that. I want to lay that groundwork as we continue to get things coming before us as things continue to evolve into the fall. So that's one of the priorities. The governance conversation, so a review of the governance policy and any discussion, any changes there. And then we'll have the ongoing budget discussion. You know, as I visited with Mr. Redlinger and Ms. Derig about that, we recognize that that's a lot in the next three to four weeks, especially managing travel schedules. But one idea I threw out, and again, this could just be a topic of conversation for a couple minutes if you want, is Are we able to maybe reserve every other Tuesday and just pick a day and a time that would work for folks schedules that then team, the staff can plug some of these in and we don't have to do a, how is everyone's schedule looking? I don't know if people's schedules are more prescribed than that and you can't have that and we need to do it week by week. That's fine too. But just an idea out there as we look at these different ongoing conversations. Commissioner Peterson.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. I am available at your beck and call. pick a time with the exception of a little bit of struggles next week. I typically, and this is, I think this is prudent too. I'll just say this. So the way I conducted myself for 12 years at the county commission was my calendar was public. Everyone knew where I was. The team members knew where I was, the department head, staff. And that functioned for two reasons. A, transparency. You all knew what I was doing. And then B, for scheduling meetings. Our team members that were in our administrative wing could double-click through my schedule and say, OK, instead of the survey monkeys that we're all probably frankly tired of, we were able to better coordinate where we're at. So just to let you know, when this gets populated, I'm hoping that our team upstairs as we discussed, is going to populate my next calendar year full of meetings. That's the way I've always conducted myself. So if I'm missing a meeting, it's purposeful. I can't say, oh, I didn't know about the meeting in March. No, you've known about it for seven months, dude. Nice try. A, again, so you'll all know where I'm at. So near term, I'm at your beck and call. Let me know what works, and I'll make it work for you and work for the team. And then B, you will all know where I am at and what I am up to. And again, I expect all of us to work hard. And Commissioner Gullickson, to your point of saying pleasant past, I expect that of all four of you. I expect you to bother me. And to my team and administration as well, I expect you to nag. And you can talk to Mr. Wilson. Mr. Redlinger. Mr. Wilson is awesome. And he knew, poke, poke, poke. And these are good pokes. These are good things. So thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Turberg.

May I just clarify our budget workshop? I have it on my calendar. I just want to make sure we're all on the same page. Is next week, Monday through Wednesday, 8 to noon? Two weeks up, the week of the 20th. Did we get it updated? That was the last. Very good to know. Yeah, I'm glad you asked. So the 20th, 21st, and 22nd will be the budget workshop.

Correct. And I'm going to look to the team generally 8 to noon, except Tuesdays 9 to 1, I believe, because we had to adjust for a standing commission meeting. Correct? Correct.

Yes, Mayor and Commissioners, we can absolutely get revised calendar appointments out just to make sure everyone's got the updated information. And then Mayor Beauches also mentioned these series of special meetings. One additional special meeting we would like to consider before the month is out is on the 27th, 28th, or 29th. In those few days, that last week in July, PERHAPS A FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING TO RECAP THOSE BUDGET WORKSHOP DISCUSSIONS AND REALLY GET THE DIRECTION FROM THE COMMISSION AS TO NEXT STEPS AS WE PREPARE FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET AND LEVY FOR 2027. SO THAT WILL BE A THIRD SPECIAL MEETING BETWEEN NOW AND I'LL SAY THE NEXT THREE TO FOUR WEEKS IN ADDITION TO LDC PLANNING AS WELL AS PERHAPS A GOVERNANCE DISCUSSION. THANK YOU.

MR. TRUMP?

MAY I ASK WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THE DEPARTMENT HEADS TO BRING TO THE BUDGET WORKSHOPS? Last year was our first one, but we had a variety. We had some that came in with elaborate, very detailed plans on how to cut, and some came with nothing. But I would like to see, and I'm sure Commissioner Peterson as well, detailed reports, if that includes salaries, what's being spent on vehicles, everything, so we can actually go through line by line. I think we really need to dig into this.

Yeah, so what I've been made aware of with the process, and you're right, the experience you guys had last year was the first time in that round, and Director Thompson made the comment this morning to me that there was a lot of learning on the staff end of that, too. So my understanding is that there's a lot more consistency that's gonna be presented in those budget workshops, recognizing that departments only have 15 to 30 minutes, depending on what's allotted to them, but we will receive information the week prior in the form of a binder, And if you want more in-depth, please reach out to Director Thompson. and the finance department, and she said she'd be willing to provide it, just would like as much lead time as possible as they manage vacations and getting that all out and everything.

So if you want more information, she's willing to provide it.

Thank you. I think Commissioner Peterson's already had that conversation with them.

And Mayor and Commissioners, if I could add, our goal is to get that binder to you by Wednesday, the 15th of July. You'll have plenty of time to read that ahead of the workshops. And then that will also be put in a digital form, so it's on the website and it'll be viewable electronically as well. So if You want to take it on a portable device and take it with you for weekend reading before we get into those larger discussions. We will have more time this year than we had last year to get into those detailed discussions. We certainly want to listen to the commission but really get a good consensus from the board before we leave the month of July so that we know what we're approving and what will be changed and edited between now and I'll say the first part of August. So look forward to the conversations and we look forward to supporting the commission however and whenever you would like to meet.

Thank you. Commissioner Strand and then Commissioner Gullickson.

Thank you, Mayor. It's occurring to me, for example, with the airport authority now, it's going to be Commissioner Turnberg is taking over the airport. And I really look forward to you being at that table with them. And I know you're very close to the former chair, Paula Eckman, and so on, and you're going to have fun. But one of the thoughts that is in my mind is their next meeting is next Tuesday morning at 8. If you're okay with it, I wouldn't mind introducing you to them And letting them know, I've been there for like six years, and just pass the baton, so to speak, and then depart. But just let them know who their new liaison commissioner is, and so you know where you're sitting and just feeling comfortable. It might be prudent for all of us as we're passing any batons to apprise the new person who's coming in what the history is. and what they're walking into and pass them and introduce them if it works so that there's a congeniality to this in the public sense rather than just some new face dropping in. But anyway, I look forward to you being at that table. You're gonna really, and I know how enthused you are about that.

I know they really, really liked having you there and I would be honored if you would pass the baton to me at the meeting.

I think it'd be a good fit for anything like that and especially that one. Perfect.

Thank you. Commissioner Gullickson.

Well, I just wanted to circle back to the finance and budget discussion. I wanted to say thank you because my understanding was that last year was the first year that was tried. And so I appreciate what was learned through that process and then beefing it up for us a little more this year. Thank you, because I want to go through it real closely as well. So thank you.

All right. That is everything I have on my notes. Anything else for the good of the order team? Hearing none, I'll adjourn us.