FARGO (KFGO) – Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney announced his run for re-election Tuesday.
He has been mayor for 7 years. Prior to that time, he served six years as Fargo’s Deputy Mayor for Dennis Walaker, and nine years as a Fargo City Commissioner.
Mahoney touted flood and drought protection along with Fargo’s record growth and development during his tenure. He also added his priorities for another term included affordable housing, improving neighborhoods, and better serving the community’s vulnerable population with an eye toward sustainability.
Mayor Tim Mahoney (KFGO file photo)
“We want to be a sustainable community, with a stable tax rate. We’ve been a city for 150 years, what are our next 150 years gonna be? What are we gonna develop as a community? We have Lake Fargo in South Fargo, we’re gonna develop a community that is walkable, bikeable, people can move around in it. It’s gonna be attractive for people to come to Fargo,” said Mahoney.
Mahoney addressed the recent issues involving the Fargo Police Department and Chief Dave Zibolski. The city commission recently put the department on an action plan for improvement and said he hoped the issue would not become a political football during the campaign.
“The thing that the chief did that I was concerned about was new command staff and new ideas very quickly. He’s very bright and has great ideas but implementation is the concern. I do have confidence he’ll be able to fix those things but his feet are close to the fire and he needs to perform,” Mahoney added.
He said his track record of crisis management and efforts to keep the city safe were reasons to vote for him. He said would look for public input to help make Fargo the number one city in the Midwest.
“Let’s get the community involved. Let’s build this community the way you want it. I want suggestions from you the residents. This is the time, we can define the community for the next 150 years and how we can make it sustainable and growing,” Mahoney stated.
Mahoney, who is a surgeon, said he would retire from his part-time medical practice in June should he win the election. He also said that he would ultimately look to make the Fargo mayor’s job a full-time position.
Mahoney’s challengers include ND State Representative Shannon Roers-Jones, Fargo City Commissioner Arlette Preston, community organizer Hukun Dabar, and bank employee Dustin Elliot.
The filing deadline for the June election is April 11th.
