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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-08-20 Public Comment - K. Bryan - Mayor MehlFrom:agenda@bozeman.net To:Agenda Subject:Thank you for your public comment. Date:Tuesday, September 8, 2020 11:56:56 AM A new entry to a form/survey has been submitted. Form Name:Public Comment Form Date & Time:09/08/2020 11:56 AM Response #:565 Submitter ID:30268 IP address:71.15.204.86 Time to complete:3 min. , 4 sec. Survey Details Page 1 Public comment may be submitted via the form below, or by any of the following options. Public comment may also be given at any public meeting. Email: agenda@bozeman.net Mail to: Attn: City Commission PO Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771 First Name Kate Last Name Bryan Email Address katebryan2000@gmail.com Phone Number 4065702839 Comments Dear City Commissioners, Thank you for taking action on the ongoing staff concerns related to Mr. Mehl's behavior. I would like to share how (in my view) this type dismissive, bullying, intimidating and interfering of behavior has and continues to discourage public participation in the City's decision making. When working with Neighborhoods, I witnessed Mr. Mehl's "smooth talk" in public while witnessing his sarcastic, dismissive, derisive attitude toward neighbors and the general public seeking balanced development solutions based on community and neighborhood's input. I personally experienced a verbal attack when I went up and shook his hand at the Story Mansion after a BPAG First Friday. I thanked him for the discussion and said, "It would be great if various boundaries between commercial zoned properties and neighborhoods weren't all treated the same regardless of boundary proximity within a block." I also said that "I was disappointed that the NCOD was changed without proper notification of most-affected citizen neighbors and neighborhoods when the NCOD commercial guidelines would have such an impact on our neighborhoods." He blew a gasket and yelled at me and said "no one has ever questioned my integrity." I never said or implied his involvement (although his extreme response made me wonder how involved he was in those changes). I was shocked at his angry, loud, defensive response. I responded that I wasn't saying he was involved. He then scoffed at me and turned away to begin talking to someone else. I have heard similar experiences shared with me from people I've gotten to know from the City staff, Design Review Board and members of other boards who have also experienced his dismissive "I know better than you" attitude. In one high level city staff discussion, extreme dismay was verbalized to me at how Chris Mehl was "pushing through so many simultaneous plan updates" which was putting great stress on the City Staff and making public input difficult because of the rush to act and hold multiple public meetings during mid-July when people were vacationing. I also spoke with a prominent member of the community and former Mayor who told my husband and I that Chris has a quick temper and that his anger can be a problem. He said that although he is friendly with Chris, he has spoken to Chris and told him that he needs to tone down his temper. I am not surprised by the Staff's experiences with Chris. He thrives on the "power of influence" and feels "his vision" for Bozeman is the right vision. He was instrumentally involved with the Downtown Improvement plan and recognized that (for development to proceed as he wished) it would be essential to work behind the scenes to ensure that changes to the NCOD with minimal interference or input from stakeholder neighborhoods and community members concerned with preserving Bozeman's historic character. To further his vision for Bozeman and ensure his influence in Bozeman's future, he positioned himself as the Commission liaison on boards, citizen advisory groups and committees that were and still are most involved in development decisions. He is the Commission liaison with 1) Zoning Comission 2) City Planning Board 3) Impact Fee Advisory Committee, 4) Planning Coordinating Committee 5) Recreaton & Parks Advisory Board and 6) Audit Committee. And, now that he's Mayor, he wants to change the Mayor position to a full-time, paid position (after quitting his job at Headwaters). Another sign of his ambition and quest for power and influence and indicative of his desire to have complete power and control over Bozeman's future -- development or otherwise. I was happy to read in the FOIA documents that there was deep concern among the commissioners and staff about his public relations campaign touting this idea in public -- knowing that it is in complete contrast to Bozeman's current governing structure. I watched and read with dismay his public relations campaign to communicate the "benefits" of a full time Mayor while getting others to extol his contributions (KBZK, Bozeman Magazine, Letter to Editor from Carson Taylor and more). So, I find that these accusations completely credible and consistent with my experience and what a number of friends/people in the public sphere have also expressed to me, personally. Thank you for finally making this behavior public and taking action to support the integrity of our public process. Kate Bryan If you would like to submit additional documents (.pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .gif, .jpg, .png, .rtf, .txt) along with your comment, you may alternately address agenda@bozeman.net directly to ensure receipt of all information. Thank you, City Of Bozeman This is an automated message generated by the Vision Content Management System™. Please do not reply directly to this email.