HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-04-19 Public Comment - B. Maxwell - Parks District ProposalFrom:Blake Maxwell
To:Agenda
Subject:Park District proposal
Date:Tuesday, June 04, 2019 1:06:55 PM
To anyone at the Bozeman City Commission who's in it for more than an ego perk,
The park district proposal is a grievous error that will hurt private businesses and
the families they support, raise City taxes that will hurt the working and middle
class, and result in severely diminished service.
Under the current paradigm, if a private contractor doesn't provide quality
maintenance for subdivision and HOA parks, their annual contract is not renewed,
or worse, they get fired. The public can't fire park districts or municipalities, no
matter how bad the level of service. Case in point, it took several letters to the
Parks Department Director last summer about hundreds of plants of Canada thistle
in Langohr Park before l received any response (which only followed the inclusion
of the city commission in the correspondence). Over two months had passed since
original notification, and many of the plants had already gone to seed. By then the
City's response was far too late, and the one cursory pass resulted in less than 50%
of the plants killed. As a predictable result, the state's most notorious noxious weed
will be all over that park this summer and, in coming years, the Gallagator Trail.
The dereliction borders on violation of state law, notably Montana's County Weed
Control Act, whereby a landowner has ten days to address noxious weeds once
notified in writing. But can the Bozeman public fire him or seek a harder-working
competitor to maintain the park? No. Not even the city commission has that
authority.
Worse yet, instead of improved service, any complainant—including me with this
letter—can look forward to the retributive acts that have become commonplace
under the City of Bozeman's current leadership. As another case in point, just last
week an individual arrived unannounced at the office where I work because
someone at the City's directorship level informed the individual that my colleague
had formally complained about an unlicensed short-term rental. That's not an
isolated incident; instead, it's a very recent example how low the City's true values
have sunk.
And this is the standard of service you hope to provide for every subdivision and
HOA park within city limits? This amounts to an ugly scar on the face of
Bozeman's 'bad ideas,' and for all your mugging in the paper about affordable
housing and support of small businesses—shame on you.
Blake Maxwell
516 West Lamme Street