FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Four leaders left Fargo’s Communications Team this week, and Valley News Live has obtained the full investigative report shedding light on why.
“Chief Communications Officer” Gregg Schildberger and “Deputy Chief Communications” Officer Katie Ettish left the department effective Sunday, Aug. 17. Two other supervisors also announced their departure.
Valley News Live acquired their lengthy resignation letters. Click here to read those.
City leaders wouldn’t release the reason why the City of Fargo’s communications team was under investigation.
We’ve learned that an investigator with Sambor Law & Consulting was hired by the city to investigate Fargo’s Department of Communications & Government Affairs (CommsGA) after receiving a complaint filed April 16, 2025 by former Multimedia Producer Zoe Bolonyi. The complaint alleges poor leadership and a hostile work environment.
The investigative report states that interviews were scheduled with nineteen (19) individuals between June 26th and July 14th, 2025, showing a pattern of similar concerns raised by exit interviews over several years. The investigation found that from 2018 to present, sixteen (16) employees voluntarily separated from their employment with CommsGA. The investigator states that employees “are leaving the department in concerning numbers after very short windows of employment.”
In the report, management is described as intense, rude, demeaning, causing employees to cry, micromanaging employees, not receptive to feedback, and manipulative. Several employees reported having bouts of crying both inside and outside the office due to the stress level.
The investigation also brought to light concerns about the Leadership Team’s tendency to “diagnose” employees with cognitive issues. The investigator cites this as the “most troubling aspect of the current supervision style”.
The Leadership Team, according to the investigator, expressed great frustration with underperforming employees. The Leadership Team also expressed dissatisfaction with the Human Resources Department, perceiving HR as antagonistic and unsupportive of CommsGA for various reasons.
Human Resources tells the investigator that they received complaints related to CommsGA from other departments outside of Comms, including (but not limited to) four Directors from other City Departments and two Assistant Directors.
The investigator writes that there is a tendency by the Leadership Team to turn supervision meetings into an opportunity for the supervisor to relay to the employee how difficult the demands of their own job are, adding this isn’t the appropriate venue for the supervisor to process their own challenges.
The findings are additionally summarized as follows:
The Investigator additionally finds that for members of the Leadership Team, their lack of awareness/acceptance of employees’ negative experiences and their tendency to attribute the difficulties solely to perceived deficiencies in the employees is concerning and indicates an immaturity and self-focus in how they approach management. Put another way, the Investigator finds that the CommsGA Leadership Team had enough information in front of them that they should have identified a management/culture problem for themselves. Instead, they have been and remain committed to a narrative that the problems are caused by a combination of external pressure/toxicity and poor employee performance. The Investigator observed no meaningful recognition by any member of the CommsGA Leadership Team that they were part of the problem. Identifying the cultural problem and being curious as to their role in it as leaders is a reasonable expectation of the Leadership Team. The failure to do so indicates a level of distorted mindset, group think, and large blind spots in the Leadership Team as presently constituted.
The Investigator finds the current culture of the CommsGA department does not align with City Policy on Conduct/Ethics, Unsatisfactory Performance, Problem Resolution, Progressive Discipline, use of the Employee Assistance Program, and Work Week/Hours. Specifically, the problems with the way supervision and discipline have been employed in the CommsGA Department, as well as unreasonable employee performance and scheduling standards, have created an environment for many employees that is intimidating and offensive. This is also indicated where multiple Department heads have complained about interactions with the CommsGA Department. The complaints are corroborated by recorded meetings and written communications that indicate conduct, some intentional and some perhaps not, that does not encourage a healthy work environment.
The report states that the way the CommsGA Department grew in recent years is not aligned with other departments’ staffing levels. The CommsGA department grew from a small team consisting of 1-2 employees to a team of twelve (12) over the past ten (10) years. The report adds that they have had to rotate through different HR Managers because their working relationship with CommsGA became so difficult. The report states that contractors had refused to work with Schildberger, citing long-term vendors indicating they would question working with the City if it required interacting with CommsGA.
In a separate document, a ‘Supplement to (the) Investigative Report’, it’s noted that at a meeting August 8th, Deputy Mayor/Commissioner Denise Kolpack was “noticeably irritated, so much so that it puzzled and startled the Investigator. Kolpack voiced doubts about the Investigator’s qualifications to conduct the investigation and make conclusions and asked pointed questions as to the nature and scope of the Investigator’s inquiry.” The investigator writes that this experience corroborates the statements of employees stating their qualifications are called into question if they find themselves “perceived as antagonistic to an elected official’s preferred outcome”.
In this supplemental document, Schildberger himself explained his perception that the Mayor’s influence and communication style created difficulties in defining roles and responsibilities. Schildberger explained that from his perspective, the Mayor often leaned on him to execute certain tasks or achieve certain outcomes.
The mayor, Police Chief, and city’s communications team have come under fire about the handling of information revolving around multiple deadly shootings around 2 AM on Sunday, Aug. 3. The Fargo Police Department didn’t hold a news conference until 2 PM Monday. The next day, the chief said he was “off”, revealing the following day that he was in Florida with his wife.
Now 3 weeks later, FPD is still looking for one of the alleged gunmen, 22-year-old Tyrque Jones.
Calls for the Chief’s resignation have been coming for years. 35 officers resigned from the Fargo Police Department in the first 18 months since Dave Zibolski took office in October of 2020. At the time, a current officer wrote an anonymous letter to city commissioners, stating: “I have never seen such a number of people leave in mass numbers as I have with this chief.”
The latest data shows that from 10/05/2020 to 08/18/2025, there have been 50 voluntary resignations and 14 retirements.
Fargo’s Mayor, Doctor Tim Mahoney, has waffled in recent weeks on supporting the chief after calls for him to resign, both defending his record and stating that he is concerned about the chief’s ability to lead.
