Fargo should ditch term limits and let the people decide
MINOT, N.D. — Tim Mahoney, the mayor of Fargo, wants another term.
The city’s attorney, Erik Johnson, doesn’t believe the city’s charter allows it.
Mahoney was first elected mayor in 2015 by way of a special election following the death of former mayor Dennis Walaker. He was re-elected in 2018, and would like to be elected to another four-year term in 2022. Prior to his tenure as mayor, Mahoney served as a city commissioner. He was first elected in 2006, and then re-elected in 2010 and 2014, though he didn’t finish that last term because he was elected mayor.
“According to the city charter, a person can only serve three successive terms on the Fargo City Commission as a commissioner and an additional fourth term if any of the terms are also served as mayor,” Barry Amundson reports.
Johnson’s read of Mahoney’s admittedly complicated situation is that the incumbent can’t seek another term as mayor in 2022.
