FARGO (KFGO) - Fargo city commissioners have voted to extend a contract for five years with long time City Attorney Erik Johnson and his firm without seeking bids from other law firms.
But the decision came with questions from one commissioner. Tony Gehrig cast the only no vote on the contract extension. He says this is not "chump change" and says the city should not extend a contract without having an open process to hear from other law firms interested in the position.
Commissioner John Strand says Johnson has deep "institutional" legal knowledge of city business and would be hard to replace. Strand says the city should leverage it's investment with Johnson's 20-year history as a legal counsel for Fargo.
The contract is worth $4 million to $5 million. City Administrator Bruce Grubb says that's in line with the budgets for city attorney's in other similar size cities.