HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-30-23 Public Comment - L. Witt - Urban CampingFrom:Lisa Witt
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Urban Camping
Date:Wednesday, August 30, 2023 4:00:54 PM
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City Commissioners,
Do existing laws concerning littering, defecating in streets and fields,failing to move vehicles every 72-hours on city streets not apply to urban
campers? Is there a legal difference between permitting someone to camp
in the streets short term versus allowing wide swaths of people the ability
to setup long term encampments? Does the Ninth Circuit's ruling trumpour other laws?
I was born and raised in Bozeman, but no longer feel safe in many parts of
our city, especially at night or when I'm alone. I cannot believe that ourtown has devolved into this. I implore you to consider how the steps you
take with this ordinance or any semblance of law and order - have the
potential to restore safety throughout the city - not just where these
vagrants camp. By turning a blind eye to this lifestyle, ramificationsreverberate throughout the city.
While some of the unhoused are down on their luck, many are drugged out
and unstable - with no intentions of improving their situation. Allowingthem to camp isn't compassionate, it's enabling, and should not be
legitimized or subsidized. When so many businesses in town are begging
for workers and offering $20+/hour starting wages with no experience
required, it's hard to figure how these people couldn't make ends meetwith a roommate or two. And if their issues are mental health related, life
on the streets won't improve their situation. Why normalize this
substandard way of life?
As far as herding these people like cattle to a field out of town as others
have suggested, I don't see that as a productive solution. For one, many
of these people buck social conventions, so I doubt all or many of them
would willingly go to a place that the government dictates that they be.Many of them even avoid the shelter for a variety of reasons. Two, theunintended consequence of a government-funded campsite is that
subcontractors here for 3-6 month stints who can't find short term rentals,
will instead have taxpayer-funded campsites. Perhaps college kids orothers looking for cheaper housing would exploit this arrangement as well.
Furthermore, I find it unconscionable that I would be forced to subsidize
urban camping. That may sound callous, but I'm truly concerned aboutbeing taxed out of my own home because the city continues forcing these
social agendas on us. My property taxes have nearly doubled in the 10years that I've been in my home and probably more so once the new tax
assessments are posted. At this rate, I eventually won't be able to keep
pace. Enough is enough with the subsidies. Perhaps the campers need to
move to areas with lower cost of living. How about Belgrade, Manhattan,Churchill or Three Forks? - virtually everywhere else in the state is more
affordable. I can't afford to live in downtown Bozeman, so I bought a place
on the west-side of town. If I hadn't been able to afford that, I would have
looked to Four Corners or one of the aforementioned cities. Why am Iexpected to further subsidize the cost of living in Bozeman for others? Just
as I made trade-offs and sacrifices for what I could afford, these folks
should too. Life on the streets is not an appropriate solution for anyone.
If I sound jaded for not understanding that we need service workers in our
city, again, it's about choices. When I was in college, I worked in a
restaurant for $5.15/hour plus tips. I had two roommates with whom I
split costs 3 ways in order to make the living arrangement considerablymore affordable. Why do the unhoused and BTU think they deserve to live
here and have others subsidize them? If the BTU spent as much time
working as they have complaining, their efforts would have already been
more fruitful. Life is about choices. Life is about tradeoffs.
When there are at least a dozen low income housing projects in town,
Section 8 housing vouchers, HRDC, Family Promise, Haven, Love INC, a
shelter, etc., it's clear that our tax dollars and nonprofits are already tryingto accommodate the needs. There are also thousands of new builds
coming online, so please do not attempt to throw more of my money at a
black hole. I do not want to be taxed out of my home for a cause that I
don't even support. I wrote this in another email to you, but it's significantenough to bear repeating: voters said 'no' to the affordable housing levy,yet Mihelich and you, the commissioners, found a clever workaround by
raising our city service fees to fund the initiative anyway? That's tyranny.
You are subverting the will of the people. It's time to set your personalopinions aside and act in good faith by honoring the desires of yourconstituents.
Finally, if you cannot just allow our police force to simply enforce existinglaws regarding vehicle movement, littering, public excrement, etc., andyou instead elect to create separate laws for the unhoused, should a
portion of the ordinance land in a gray area as far as the Ninth
Circuit's ruling is concerned, please challenge the ruling; it should beoverturned. The "needs" of the few should not come at the detriment ofthe majority with regard to safety and sanitation.
My hometown is becoming unrecognizable. Please nip this rapidly growingproblem in the bud before law and order is completely lost.
-Lisa Witt