HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-09-21 Public Comment - E. Otto - Concerns about DEI in city ordinancesFrom:Elise Otto
To:Agenda
Subject:Concerns about DEI in city ordinances
Date:Sunday, May 9, 2021 10:27:40 PM
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To Whom it May Concern,
In March I had the City issued me a 700 dollar citation for not shoveling my sidewalk.
I received no notice (it probably blew away) and the contractor who came to do the
work, simply poured a ton of salt on the sidewalk, turning it into the dangerous ice
river I had been trying to avoid.
At first, I was angry. I shovel my sidewalk consistently, but in the spring, it gets icy as
water on Arthur runs into the sidewalk. Sometimes leaving a quarter-inch of snow on
it, and then waiting till it warms up can keep the sidewalk from being as dangerous. I
know fraternities that I walk by each day who hadn't shoveled their sidewalk since
Christmas.
After discussing my ticket with the extremely helpful and professional people in the
public works department, my concerns shifted: I do not believe this ordinance and
how it is enforced are really serving Bozeman.
I am lucky in that I am able to pay a 700 dollar ticket, but I wonder if my experience
reveals some ways in which the Bozeman city ordinances can adversely affect people
who do not have a financial or community safety net.
Now with the high cost of labor in Bozeman, a sidewalk ticket could lead to financial
ruin for an already vulnerable renter or homeowner. What if your dad dies and you
have to go out of town? What if you get sick? what if a home owner gets old and
doesn't have the money to pay someone?
The way the sidewalk ordinance is regressive, and the financial impact to vulnerable
individuals is far outsized. Regressive taxation is taxation that has a larger impact on
poor people because it taxes necessities which are a bigger portion of their income.
700 dollars makes up a lot more of a vulnerable persons income than it does the
millionares who are moving to bozeman.
To make matters worse: Bozeman is in a precarious space, where for a long time the
cost of living was low enough here that we didn't have to worry about a simple ticket
sending someone into a financial tailspin. I imagine 5 years ago, the contractor fee for
a shoveling citation was closer to 70 dollars than 700. Now Bozeman is in a situation
where someone may have done it right: bought their house thirty years ago, paid it off,
and now is retired and can't afford the property taxes because of skyrocketing home
prices.
I do think there could be ways to enforce this ordinance in a more equitable way. The
first would be a three-strikes policy or using contact information from water billing to
give responsible individuals more notice. Scholarships or even human contact with
the compliance officer could help increase the chances of people complying. Multiple
notices, as more than a courtesy but as an actual chance to comply would make a
citation not a one-time accidental thing, but a pattern of noncompliance. In short
give people more chances, if they don't comply, try and figure out if something is
wrong. Act out of stewardship rather than regulation. Of course some cities on the
east coast shovel sidewalks, but I know that's not really the Montana way.
What is the Montana way is taking care of those less fortunate. I believe that the
sidewalk ordinance, in its current form hurts those who are most vulnerable. I urge
the commission to do an equity audit of this ordinance and give the Department of
public works clear directives about how to enforce this ordinance in an equitable
way.
All the best,
Elise Lodge Otto
-- Elise Otto