HomeMy WebLinkAboutDennis EricksonNovember 13, 2023
Bozeman City Commission
121 N. Rouse Avenue
Bozeman, MT 59715
Re: Filling vacated commission seat
Commissioners,
I respectfully submit my application to fill the vacated commission seat and offer these
qualifications for approval:
I hold a B.A. degree in journalism from the University of Montana and have excellent
communication skills both orally and written. These skills could be useful in creating and
implementing a comprehensive and transparent communication outreach to the public.
I’m past chairman of the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. This experience
showed me the disconnect between the business community and the City of Bozeman. I have a
plan to engage local business leaders to achieve City-wide goals regarding housing and
economic development.
I’ve been a commercial and residential real estate broker for 38 years including ten years in
Denver as an apartment brokerage specialist. I have a deep understanding of the market
metrics that drive affordable housing efforts and can offer access to the commission to better
data resulting in better decisions going forward. I’m currently involved on a pro-bono basis
finalizing an affordable housing project of 16 to 20 units in my hometown of Roberts Montana.
The buyer and seller were in conversations for two years prior to my entrance into the
conversation with neither party able to conceive of a way to make the project viable. By using
my experience and training as a commercial broker I was able to find a way to allow the seller
to reduce his asking price using tax incentives offered for affordable housing projects and to
manage pricing of the project to make it feasible for the purchaser to move forward. I believe
better data is needed by the commission to avoid overbuilding of market rate housing units in
the city resulting in an inevitable market decline in the next five years due to overbuilding. I
also think there are ways to create truly affordable housing units for Bozemanites that have not
been utilized.
In short, I offer experience, training, a non-political viewpoint and the willingness and ability to
work hard to help Bozeman be even better than it is today. I love our town and the people in it.
As a native Montanan I would be honored to serve my city and my state.
Sincerely,
Dennis M, Erickson
113 Gallatin Drive, #D. Bozeman, MT 406-579-8967 mthomefinder@gmail.com