HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-28-22 Public Comment - K. Wiseman - 9-28 Transportation Board Work SessionFrom:Kelly Wiseman
To:Agenda
Subject:9/28 Transportation Board Work Session
Date:Wednesday, September 28, 2022 3:15:46 PM
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Greetings,
With respect to the parking challenges facing our downtown, I reach out to you as a six-year
veteran of the parking commission, as well as a Bozeman business person for 33 years.
So I understand the parking situation quite well, and was involved in a lot of the big decisions
with respect to the garage, surface lots, hotels, and all the rest.
As one of Bozeman’s larger employers (about 200 workers) I would like to offer the
perspective of our rapidly changing employment and business landscape in our community.
If we want to have a vibrant downtown economy we must recognize the pressures our
workers face in hugely escalating rents, and the very real challenges business folks face just in
trying to keep the doors open. This is not hyperbole. At the Co-op we suffer a 90% turnover
rate, annualized, even though our lowest entry level starting pay ($18/hour) is among the
highest in a grocery store in the nation. We cannot find enough staff to open our coffee bar,
and sandwiches-to-order have been on a long hold. This, and more, is a result of a worker
crisis the likes of which I’ve never seen in all these years. And it is getting worse in Bozeman.
So any paid parking component for the streets downtown and in the nearby neighborhoods
MUST, right up front, find an exception for our entry-level service workers. We, and they,
cannot afford to pay for parking for them. They cannot easily just find a place to live near our
commercial center. By rolling out a paid parking program without finding a way for workers to
afford it will be a crushing blow to our business and the folks who, every day, serve or sell you
food.
I know only too well that the mindset that we’ll just add it in later means it will get swept
aside, much like the original idea of building the garage so we could add a few floors later.
That was the plan, and it never happened.
A lot of commissioners speak regularly about trying to fix the problem of affordable housing. I
would suggest that ignoring the transportation needs is piling on to the housing challenges of
the working low income people in our community. You cannot speak, with clear truth, about
your desire for more affordable housing and then take a dismissive attitude about the costs of
transportation to and from work.
As an employer who cares a great deal about the hundreds of people we all depend on in our
organization, I can assure you that the cost of parking for work and exploding rents are
inextricably linked.
So, please, let’s find a solution that works for the workers as well as an income generator for
future parking needs. You don’t have to hurry and make a decision that could push our
turnover even higher, or cause businesses to face crushing, escalating costs.
In cooperation,
kdw
Kelly Dean Wiseman
General Manager
Community Food Co-op
Bozeman MT
(406) 587-1919 ext. 3066
kelly@bozo.coop