HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-27-23 Public Comment - J. Hitchcock - Public CommentFrom:Julie Hitchcock
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment
Date:Monday, November 27, 2023 11:03:56 AM
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Commissioners: This email is to ask that you do NOT consider John Meyer for the vacant position on
the Commission. Here’s why:
John isn’t capable of seeing both sides of an issue, which I believe to be the cornerstone of finding
real solutions to the problems that all communities face. Not only that, he is, through his actions and
words, a divider and not a uniter. And finally, he is naïve in his approach to understanding how
communities develop and grow, which makes him wholly unfit for the position.
Prior to the November election, I contacted John through NextDoor, the app designed to build
positivity in neighborhoods and communities. Knowing his negativity in regard to “developers,” I was
curious about whether he ever had met with someone he considered to be a developer, and asked
him about that in a chat session. He had not. When I offered to arrange an introduction to someone
who John would consider to be a developer to have a one on one conversation over coffee to
discuss “their backgrounds, families, ideas, interests and aspirations,” (my quote), John’s answer
was “Julie – thank you for the offer to introduce me to profit-driven developers. Please let them
know I am not for sale.” (John’s quote back to me)
I hope like me your first thought here is - wow. End of discussion with me, certainly. But clearly this
kind of rhetoric should immediately disqualify John for the position. Bozeman needs uniters, not
dividers. Connectors, not separators on our Commission. People who are willing to understand the
complexities of development and how it is conceived and funded. The risks undertaken by people
from the 1860’s on that made Bozeman the enchanting place HE MOVED to. Possibly most
concerning is John’s evident inability to see that he actually is living in a development that WILL
provide profit for several different entities, on land that was literally GIVEN TO HIM by people in our
community, some of them DEVELOPERS, who contributed to the Trust for Public Land’s Park and
Bridger View land purchase.
For these reasons, I urge you to consider someone else who has a better grasp of how to work with
ALL Bozeman residents on solving our very real, very complex problems.
Full disclosure: we do not live in the city but own various real estate within the city limits, some of
which has been developed into a carefully conceived, beautifully designed, exquisitely maintained
and well loved multi use complex that is walking distance from John’s house. Profits were made.
Julie Hitchcock
Bozeman, MT
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