722: 'I have no idea where he got his numbers'
About this episode
The episode discusses a proposal to change Fargo's city government from a commission to a ward system, featuring insights from former city commissioner Arlette Preston.
Some time before the November general election, Fargo voters will have a special election concerning a proposal to city government from an at-large commission, where each member of the commission (except for the mayor) is elected by the whole city, to a ward system, where the city is split into jurisdictions each with a specific representative. "It would establish six wards and one person elected from each ward," former city commissioner Arlette Preston, an organizer behind this issue, said on this episode of Plain Talk. "The candidate would have to live inside the ward and be elected by people in the ward. So, it would also change from a commission form of government to a council form, which that will remove the commissioners as they are currently assigned certain portfolios and daily interactions with certain departments. It would remove them from that and allow for the city administrator to actually have direct oversight." Former Mayor Tim Mahoney has opposed this proposal, and one of his complaints is the cost. He's said it could cost the taxpayers as much as $500,000 to make the switch, but Preston dismissed that claim. "I have no idea where he got his numbers and he never…
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