Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney recommends ending Arts and Culture, Native American, Human Rights commissions
FARGO — Fargo will decide next week whether to end three committees, including one whose chair recently called
city leaders “cowards.”
Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney has recommended that the City Commission eliminate the Native American, Arts and Culture, and Human Rights commissions, according to the mayor’s memo that was published with the City Commission’s agenda for Monday, Jan. 5. The proposal to eliminate the “volunteer boards” comes as the city reviews which committees and commissions are viable and effective.
“The city remains committed to the goals of the Human Rights Commission, the Arts and Culture Commission, and the Native American Commission,” Mahoney wrote in his memo. “Moving forward, city staff and the City Commission will manage these priorities to ensure they are effectively reflected in our daily operations.”
The recommendation also comes days afters Human Rights Chair Sekou Sirleaf called out city leaders for not issuing a proclamation in support of the local Somali community.
“Just like a petulant child who gets corrected and throws a fit and breaks things and throws toys, they get called out, and they respond, ‘Oh, yeah, we’ll end all these programs,’” Sirleaf told The Forum on Friday. “That makes me justified in my criticism of city leadership.”
Sekou Sirleaf, chair of the Fargo Human Rights Commission, speaks during a press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at Sky Commons in the Fargo Civic Center, in support of the Somali community.
Chris Flynn / Forum file photo
Mahoney declined to comment for this story.
The City Commission oversees more than two dozen boards. It created the Human Rights Commission in 2000, the Native American Commission in 2006 and the Arts and Culture Commission in 2014.
The three commissions were among eight boards listed by the city for conclusion, limited functions or off-ramping, according to city documents. The documents suggested members of the eight boards were frustrated, felt their missions were not being met, struggled to find relevance and lacked civics understanding.
The documents also cited increased work demands for limited city staff.
Last year, the City Commission eliminated the
Police Advisory and Oversight Board,
the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee,
the Community Development Committee and the Parking Commission. It also gave Fargo Public Schools control over the Fargo Youth Initiative.
“The city of Fargo’s intent has been consistent: to reduce the amount of staff time required to administer volunteer committees, as demonstrated by prior decisions to dissolve the Police Advisory and Oversight Board, the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee, and other boards and commissions over the past year,” Mahoney wrote in his memo.
The elimination of the Human Rights Commission isn’t surprising, Sirleaf said. The City Commission eliminated its
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department last year.
“It’s been on the chopping block ever since the DEI was eliminated,” he said, adding that eliminating the Human Rights Commission was the “next step.”
The Human Rights Commission held a press conference Tuesday at the Civic Center, where it read a statement it drafted in support of Fargo-Moorhead area Somalis after President Donald Trump said he didn’t want Somalis in the U.S. Sirleaf said he invited Mahoney and other local mayors to attend the news conference, but none showed up.
Mahoney said he had another meeting planned and requested the press conference be rescheduled. The mayor also said city policy bans him and the City Commission from issuing statements that are political.
Sirleaf said city leadership is afraid they will “will infuriate their base” if they stand with the Somali community.
“We need leaders in Fargo. We don’t need cowards,” Sirleaf said during the press conference.
The Native American Commission was the first of its kind when it was created, Commission Chair Ashley Littlewolf told The Forum. The board connects Indigenous leadership to city decision-making and “signaled innovation, responsibility and a willingness to lead rather than follow,” Littlewolf in a statement.
“To now discuss ending the commission is to walk away from that leadership,” she wrote. “It risks severing a direct relationship between the city and Native community voices, and with it, the responsibility that comes from that connection. The city of Fargo and the commissioners have ongoing responsibility to protect and honor the relatives, now more than ever.”
Native Americans are more likely to experience violence, health issues and homelessness, Littlewolf told The Forum Friday. The city has more work to do in supporting Natives in Fargo, she said.
Littlewolf said it’s disheartening that the city is considering ending boards that support diverse groups and art. The City Commission has a duty to “hold intentional, reciprocal relationships to Native people,” and eliminating the Native American Commission would be “a step backwards,” she said.
“I think the message would be loud and clear that if the City Commission votes to get rid of the (Native American) Commission, they are voting to erase those Native voices, having seat at the table and having a piece in the governance. … It sends a loud message that your (Native) voices are no longer needed here.”
Arts and Culture Chair Monika Browne-Ecker said she was unavailable for comment Friday.
