HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-08-22 Public Comment - P. Steinmuller - City County Interlocal Agreement City County Board of HealthFrom:Patti Steinmuller
To:Agenda
Subject:City County Interlocal Agreement City County Board of Health
Date:Tuesday, February 8, 2022 10:03:14 PM
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Subject: City County Interlocal Agreement City County Board of Health
I attended the Special Gallatin County Commission meeting on Wed 2/2/2022 via Zoom and have
more information now than I did when I sent my earlier message. Thus, the following is my second
communication on this issue.
BOH Governing Body: I fully support Option 2 for the governing board on the city-county board of
health (BOH), a board of five (three county commissioners, one Bozeman City Commissioner, and
one Belgrade City Counselor. As a former resident of the county and current Bozeman resident, it is
critically important for Bozeman and Belgrade, composed of about half of the total county residents,
to be represented by their city’s elected officials on the governing body of the city-county BOH.
Otherwise, the economic, environmental, and overall public health of the cities will have less voice at
the governing board where BOH decisions affecting their populations are made. Due to the
cumulative number of people they represent as elected officials, the Belgrade City Council and
Bozeman City Commission each deserve a seat on the governing body of the city-county BOH.
Although a governing board of only county commissioners may appear easier and more efficient to
manage from the standpoint of the county commissioners, I advocate for the five-member board as
being more representative and overall more effective for governing the essential work of the BOH.
The cities and county work well together addressing interlocal agreements issues, such as the 911
communications center, law enforcement, solid waste management, and others. Since the need to
work together interlocally will increasingly become essential for effectiveness, governing the BOH is
one more avenue in this process. Although challenging, I advocate that taking on this challenge and
making it work successfully is the best option for governing the city-county BOH and for upcoming
issues where the cities and county must work collaboratively. The presence of city elected officials
on the city-county BOH governing board recognizes the importance and essentiality of
intergovernmental cooperation.
The rapidly increasing population of Bozeman and now Belgrade, compared to the county’s
population, outside the cities, makes the population differential ever more substantial and worthy
for city elected officials to be members of the city-county BOH governing body. Additionally, the
presence of Bozeman Deaconess Hospital and its Bozeman Health administration within the city of
Bozeman adds to the rationale for City of Bozeman elected officials to be members of the governing
body of the city-county BOH. The health of the county’s population and its economic health cannot
be assured without a credibly staffed and operational hospital. The city’s elected officials have an
immediate relationship and responsibility to the hospital and its associated endeavors.
That fact that the governing body is to be responsible to “Adopt, amend, or rescind a directive,
mandate, or order issued by a local board of health or health officer in response to a declaration of
emergency or disaster by the governor as allowed in 10-3-302 and 10-3-303 after holding a public
meeting and allowing public comment” exemplifies the reason for city elected official to members of
the governing body of the city-county BOH.
Missoula County has developed a city-county governing body for their interlocal BOH composed of
city and county elected officials. Missoula county’s decision is worthy of consideration by elected
officials in our county.
Composition of the City-County BOH: I support the BOH to be composed of nine members as stated
in the draft proposal: three members appointed by the County Commission, three members
appointed by the Bozeman City Commission, and three members appointed by the Belgrade City
Council. Although a seven-member board was also considered, a nine-member BOH, the same as the
current board, allows for representation by more qualified, skilled, experiences members to consider
the wide array of responsibilities of the city-county BOH.
Administration of the City-County BOH. Although the staff of the city-county BOH are county
employees, I advocate for the Health Officer to be a member of a leadership team and have some
responsibility for hiring, terminating, supervising health department employees like Missoula
County. The Health Officer needs to have authority over the work of the city-county BOH. Otherwise,
the Health Officer would be a figurehead without the authority to ensure that the work of the BOD is
done competently and is based on best practices and scientific principles required to meet the full
array of responsibilities of the city-county BOH.
Finally, I fully support the current city-county BOH, its public health decisions, their rationale, and
actions on behalf of the public throughput the pandemic which remains with us. They deserve and,
at various times have received, the public support warranted for their successes at quelling the
extent of the pandemic and for doing their best to communicate accurate information and guidance
to the public. The health, including economic health, of any community is dependent on the health
of its population. In this regard, the city-county BOD has and is performing competently and
admirably. This is the first pandemic we have experienced, but undoubtedly won’t be the last. The
decisions made now will make us either more or less able to tackle the next pandemic.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit my comments on this issue. These comments have also
been submitted to the Gallatin County Commissioners.
Patti
Patti Steinmuller
Pronouns: she, her, hers
952 Knolls Drive
Bozeman, MT 59715-7430