HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-10-23 Correspondence - Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce - Urban Camping and Homelessness diiiWiir
of Commerce
October 10, 2023
City Commissioners, City Manager, and City Attorney
City of Bozeman
121 N. Rouse Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715
On September 27, 2023,The Board of Directors of the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce discussed Urban Camping
and Homelessness in the City of Bozeman,which was on the Monthly Agenda.
The Chamber of Commerce has facilitated meetings over the past eighteen months on how best to address the growing
Urban Camping and Homelessness Population in our community. These meetings have generated the necessary
dialogue that needs to be had in order for all of us to protect the Bozeman that we all have come to live, work, and play
in.
The Chamber Foundation (Gallatin Foundation, Inc.) has also assisted HRDC in raising the $2.25 million dollar match of
Gallatin County to build Homeward Point,which is a 24/7/365 warming shelter.
The Board also recognizes the complications of the Unhoused—
• Affordable Housing,
• Mental Illness,
• Substance Abuse
• Individuals who participate without providing to the Bozeman Community
After deliberate discussions with Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce businesses mostly affected by the growing Urban
Camps and Homelessness, the City of Bozeman on their current legal stance, and Board members input, we have voted
unanimously for the following.
Request The City of Bozeman enforce the laws that pertain to Public Health and Public Safety for all members of the
community, including drug use in public, public intoxication, public urination, littering, disorder conduct, on street
parking and trespassing on private property.
If the current laws are not enough to satisfy the enforcement of Public Health and Public Safety, then we would ask the
commission to adopt the original ordinance that was drafted by the City of Bozeman Attorneys and disagree with any
amendments made by the Commission at its last meeting.
Although an inconvenience, the intent of enforcing our current laws is not to punish the unhoused but addressing Public
Safety and Public Health for all citizens of Bozeman. Individuals and families that are providing for our workforce should
be able to meet the 5 days in one place,while maintaining a clean and safe environment.
The Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce is committed to assisting in addressing Urban Camping, Homelessness, Drug
Addiction, Mental Illness, Public Transportation, Warming Shelter, and Affordable Housing as the long-term solution to
addressing Public Health and Public Safety.
In the meantime, we ask the City of Bozeman Elected Officials to make Public Health and Public Safety their top priority.
For more information contact:
Daryl W Schliem -CEO
dschliem(@bozemanchamber.com
Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce 406.586.5421
2000 Commerce Way,Bozeman, MT 59715 www.bozemanchamber.com
info@bozemanchamber.com