3 finalists chosen to lead FM Diversion forward – InForum

FARGO — Two locals and one man from Louisiana are finalists in the running for the open executive director position with the Metro Flood Diversion Authority.

The role of executive director has been vacant since the former head of the $3.2 billion Red River flood control project, Joel Paulsen, abruptly quit after being placed on administrative leave in April.

On Friday, Oct. 4, members of the diversion authority’s planning committee emerged from a closed-door meeting with three final candidates for the role.

Among them are Jason Benson, of West Fargo, Daniel Sundberg, of Fargo, and Dennis Lambert, of Lettsworth, Louisiana.

According to a news release, Benson has worked for the Cass County Highway Department since 2000 and has held the role of county engineer for the last 13 years.

Over that time, he has worked as a senior technical advisor for the diversion.

In addition, Benson is the assistant division commander for Operations and Maneuver with the 34th Infantry Division in the Middle East. He is a brigadier general with the Minnesota Army National Guard.

He graduated from North Dakota State University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, the University of Mary with a master’s degree in management and the US Army War College with a master’s in strategic studies.

Sundberg is a former lieutenant colonel with the US Army who retired last year with 20 years of active-duty service under his belt, the release said.

Now, he works as a site lead for Bayer Crop Services.

Sundberg earned his bachelor’s in economics from Saint Norbert College in Wisconsin, his master’s in policy management from McCourt School of Public Policy in Washington and another master’s in business administration from the University of Minnesota.

Applying to the role from Louisiana, Lambert has a history of working with the diversion project as well, according to the release. He was a technical lead on the selection of the project’s public-private partnership.

In addition, Lambert has worked as a cost/benefit analyst at IEM for the last several years. Prior to that, he served as the chief market manager/area manager with COWI North America, Inc. from 2013 to 2017.

Lambert is a professional engineer with a bachelor’s in both environmental engineering and civil engineering as well as a master’s in environmental engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans.

With the three finalists chosen, it will fall on members of the diversion authority board to interview them once again during a public meeting Oct. 18 inside Fargo City Hall.

Until a new executive director is secured, the interim co-executive directors will continue to oversee the day to day operations of the diversion project. Fargo’s city administrator Michael Redlinger and Cass County administrator Robert Wilson stepped into the leadership role in April.

The new director is anticipated to be up and running by early 2025, the release said.

Reporter working the night shift 👻. I cover Fargo city government, Cass County government and underserved populations in the area.