So city administration and the organization is really that entity that's trying to unify
all of the inputs from the departments.
These departments are quite disparate and so we're trying to make sense of that and
trying to unify that so that when we're communicating to the city commission, we are communicating
the priorities of these departments and then also communicating back to the departments
what the city commission would really like to see for the community.
So we are a full-time position and what we really do is we bring that stabilization with
all of our department heads and staff.
That has been really rewarding and then also just kind of as we're working cross-departmentally,
being able to look at all the different priorities and then how we bring them together to be
able to move forward with that vision.
The city commission office was responsible for the city administration office, the strategic
planning and research office.
We help the city commissioners as well, so we are legally required to send out our agendas.
We're also legally required to create meeting minutes from the city commission meetings.
The city commission office helps coordinate various meetings within our office space.
The city commission office is also a wayfinder for citizens with concerns or questions about
various things throughout the community.
The strategic planning involves economic development, trying to bring new jobs to town as well as
trying to redevelop older neighborhoods and bring new development to the downtown.
We work with the Greater Fargo-Moorhead EDC to bring more primary sector jobs to Fargo.
That might be a manufacturing company, a distribution company, a medical device manufacturing
company, but something that adds high quality jobs that boosts our economy.
Just kind of fun to come downtown even on a weekend and see these different projects,
see more places to park, see new businesses, see vacant buildings become occupied and I
hope we can continue that.
So the city of Fargo is really a catalyst for a lot of regional projects and a lot of
big picture thinking in the metropolitan area.
So Fargo is going to typically be that home where we talk about things like water supply,
we talk about the flood diversion project, the Red River Regional Dispatch Center, we're
really the home for a lot of some of that strategic thinking about partnerships across
the two counties, the two states and the multiple cities within this metropolitan area and so
we typically are convening in those conversations, we're hosting those conversations in our spaces
and then also providing that strategic leadership so that we keep things moving forward, not
only in Fargo, but in Fargo-Moorhead West Fargo and the Greater Cass Clay area.
We do more than just working up here with city commissioners and department heads.
We do work with other boards and commissions, working with the HRC with the MLK Day was
extremely exciting and I really enjoyed it.
I have worked for the city of Fargo for 16, almost 17 years.
I enjoy the people and the citizens in which I come to know.
But then with the city, a little over 30 years now, I started as a community development
planner, moved on to planning director and I'm working in administration on these redevelopment
projects.
I just enjoyed working with the people with the city, working with developers and the
people in the community that care about this community and want to make it a better place.
I've been with the city now for 33 years, trained as a civil engineer and then I was
city engineer for a while and I truly, I do, I truly love working for the city of Fargo
and I'm just super proud to work here and to be honest, working at the city gave me
the flexibility as an engineer to be able to raise my family, yet still do what I wanted
to do and what I love to do.
So I joined the city of Fargo in 2016.
I got a great opportunity to come join this organization as the assistant administrator
at the time and so I've been very grateful, very thankful that this has been an organization
that's been home for nearly the last 10 years of my professional career and to have that
opportunity to be able to stay here and to fulfill the city administrator role here has
been quite meaningful for me.
I'm very appreciative to the community, very appreciative to my teammates and we've got
a great, great crew here at Team Fargo.
Thank you.