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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-04-23 Public Comment - D. Carty - Public comment_ CDB meeting Dec 4, 2023, Action item G.3_ UDC Public Engagement SurveyFrom:Daniel Carty To:Agenda; Jennifer Madgic Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public comment: CDB meeting Dec 4, 2023, Action item G.3: UDC Public Engagement Survey Date:Monday, December 4, 2023 9:08:04 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. (Please distribute to the Community Development Board for their Mon, Dec 4, 2023, meeting. Also, please place in the UDC update public comment folder. Thank you.) Monday, Dec 4, 2023, 9:10 AM To: Community Development Board (CDB) and Commissioner Jennifer Madgic, Commission Liaison to the CDBSubject: Dec 4, 2023, CDB Meeting, Agenda Action Item G.3: Unified Development Code Supplemental Public Engagement Status Update I am writing to ask the CDB and the City to cancel the current UDC Supplemental PublicEngagement Survey because (1) the public was not involved in designing the survey, (2) an independent, impartial statistician was not involved in designing the survey, (3) the surveydoes not meet basic requirements for statistical survey sampling, and (4) neither the public nor an independent, impartial statistician will be involved in tabulating, summarizing, statistically analyzing, interpreting, or making conclusions from the survey responses obtained. As such, the responses obtained will likely be biased (Footnote 1) and produce results that are qualitatively inaccurate (Footnote 2) and statistically invalid (Footnote 3). If the CDB and the City then use qualitatively inaccurate and statistically invalid survey results to inform any UDC-related decision-making, then that decision-making will be flawed and will not serve the City or the public well. To support my request, I offer the following two email exchanges I had with the City (under Mayor Cyndy Andrus's email address) on (1) Nov 22, 2023 and (2) Nov 24/28, 2023. Thank you for considering this request. Daniel Carty 213 N. Third Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 dgc12@hotmail.com 406-548-2810 Footnote 1: Statistical bias is a term used to describe statistics that do not provide an accurate representation of the population. Footnote 2: Accuracy in qualitative data refers to gaining information that comes as close as possible to what the research participant is thinking or experiencing at any moment in time. Footnote 3: Statistical validity indicates how much one can rely on the conclusions derived from a survey sample. From: Cyndy Andrus <CAndrus@BOZEMAN.NET> Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2023 4:50 PM To: Daniel Carty <dgc12@hotmail.com>; Terry Cunningham <TCunningham@BOZEMAN.NET>; Christopher Coburn <ccoburn@BOZEMAN.NET>; Jennifer Madgic <jmadgic@BOZEMAN.NET> Cc: Jeff Mihelich <jmihelich@BOZEMAN.NET>; Greg Sullivan <gsullivan@BOZEMAN.NET>; Dani Hess <dhess@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL]UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023 Hello Mr, Carty, Please see the responses below. Cynthia Andrus | MayorCity of Bozeman | 121 North Rouse Avenue | P.O. Box 1230 | Bozeman, MT 59771P: 406. 582-2383| E: candrus@bozeman.net | W: www.bozeman.net From: Daniel Carty <dgc12@hotmail.com> Sent: Friday, November 24, 2023 6:59 AM To: Cyndy Andrus <CAndrus@BOZEMAN.NET>; Terry Cunningham <TCunningham@BOZEMAN.NET>; Christopher Coburn <ccoburn@BOZEMAN.NET>; Jennifer Madgic <jmadgic@BOZEMAN.NET> Cc: Jeff Mihelich <jmihelich@BOZEMAN.NET>; Greg Sullivan <gsullivan@BOZEMAN.NET>; Dani Hess <dhess@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL]UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023 CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Friday, Nov 24, 2023, 7:00am To: Bozeman City Commission Subject: UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023 Mayor Andrus: Thank you for responding to my Nov 22, 2023, public comment about the UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023. And, thank you for voicing your criticism of that comment. In response, I ask the City to provide the public with answers to the following questions: (1) Which City-related entities were involved in designing the survey (e.g., planning staff, engagement staff, Community Development Board, Commission, and/or others)? And, was the public involved in designing the survey? If public not involved, why not? Community Development, Communications & Engagement staff, and the consultants on the UCD project were involved in designing the survey. The public was not involved in designing this survey, however, the intention of the survey is to involve the public in designing further engagement on the UDC project. (2) Was an independent, impartial statistician—one trained in survey sampling design and analysis—involved in designing the survey? If yes, who or what firm was involved, and what are their qualifications? If no independent, impartial statistician was involved, why not? No, however staff and consultants have expertise and training in designing surveys and other methods to gather public input. To hire an additional outside consultant to develop a survey to gather input on additional engagement was not in the budget or scope for this effort so it was undertaken by staff. (3) Was the survey pilot-tested for possible bias in the following areas: sampling bias, response bias, nonresponse bias, wording-of-questions bias, and/or order-of-questions bias? If not, why not? No, the survey is not meant to be statistically valid or use random sampling, but rather provide staff and the project team with additional information in developing an effective engagement effort in early 2024 (4) Which City-related entities will tabulate, summarize, statistically analyze, and interpret the responses obtained from the survey? Will an independent, impartial statistician—and the public—be involved in this? If independent, impartial statistician and public not involved, why not? The UDC project team consisting of city Communications and Engagement staff, Community Development staff, and project consultants will use the results to inform a new engagement plan. If the survey does not meet basic requirements for statistical survey sampling, the responses obtained will likely be biased (Footnote 1) and produce results that are qualitatively inaccurate (Footnote 2) and statistically invalid (Footnote 3). If the City then uses qualitatively inaccurate and statistically invalid survey results to inform any of its UDC- related decision-making, then that decision-making will be flawed and will not serve the City or the public well. Avoiding bias and gathering a truly representative sample from the community is not possible with the resources we have for this project. Even surveys that use random sampling are prone to bias and low response rates. For this project, we have leveraged all of the typical means of widespread communication for city efforts and devoted additional resources to reaching community members who were less likely to attend a public meeting, offer public comment, or participate by reaching out to their elected officials directly. We did this by working with students and faculty on campus, in public schools, by devoting staff time to attend high-traffic community events and activities to engage in conversation and provide info to the public, and by organizing meetings and presentations with stakeholder groups across the community. Finally, if the survey does not meet basic requirements for statistical survey sampling, it would be reasonable and prudent for the City to close down the survey now. Later, the survey could be re-designed with the help of an independent, impartial statistician—and with the help of the public—and be re-issued. Going forward, the best way for the City to regain the public’s trust is to be completely transparent in and accountable for its UDC-related actions, including issuing surveys toobtain public input. Sincerely, Daniel Carty213 N. Third Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 dgc12@hotmail.com406-548-2810 Footnote 1: Statistical bias is a term used to describe statistics that do not provide an accurate representation of the population. Footnote 2: Accuracy in qualitative data refers to gaining information that comes as closeas possible to what the research participant is thinking or experiencing at any moment in time. Footnote 3: Statistical validity indicates how much one can rely on the conclusions derivedfrom a survey sample. CC's: Jeff Mihelich, City Manager; Greg Sullivan, City Attorney; and Dani Hess, Community Engagement Coordinator From: Cyndy Andrus <CAndrus@BOZEMAN.NET> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2023 10:07 PM To: Daniel Carty <dgc12@hotmail.com>; Terry Cunningham <TCunningham@BOZEMAN.NET>; Christopher Coburn <ccoburn@BOZEMAN.NET>; Jennifer Madgic <jmadgic@BOZEMAN.NET> Cc: Jeff Mihelich <jmihelich@BOZEMAN.NET>; Greg Sullivan <gsullivan@BOZEMAN.NET>; Dani Hess <dhess@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL]UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023 Mr. Carty, I am writing to address your email. You are correct; we did post a UDC survey on the Engage Bozeman Platform on November 21st. This was posted yesterday on all city social channels, including NextDoor and Engage Bozeman. A newsletter is scheduled for later today, and emails went out to the Inner Neighborhood Council last night. We continue sending direct emails to stakeholder lists, and we're considering launching paid social and web advertisements if needed, depending on the survey response. Paper copies are also available at City Hall and can be returned to City Hall or the Community Development front desk. You seem to be implying that by sending this survey out during the Thanksgiving week, we are trying to hide something or "pull a fast one." I fail to understand the logic of how sending out a survey is "hiding something." Nothing could be further from the truth. The survey is open until January 14th. You are also correct in stating that the UDC update is on hold. The survey, had you taken the time to look at it, is asking about improving the engagement process and has nothing to do with the suggested UDC updates. The city designed the survey to obtain information that will help inform a better process in the future, something I believe you would find favorable. This is not an attempt to receive a biased response or to push for adopting the proposed UDC update as currently written. To assume otherwise is false. Spreading a false narrative, Mr. Carty is what got us here in the first place. If you believe posting this survey on Engage Bozeman is unethical, I would encourage you to submit a formal complaint to the ethics board. If you have any other ideas about how to best engage the community, we are open to hearing them. I hope you will reconsider taking the survey and encourage others to do so. Respectfully, Mayor Cynthia Andrus Cynthia Andrus | MayorCity of Bozeman | 121 North Rouse Avenue | P.O. Box 1230 | Bozeman, MT 59771P: 406. 582-2383| E: candrus@bozeman.net | W: www.bozeman.net From: Daniel Carty <dgc12@hotmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2023 9:37 AM To: Cyndy Andrus <CAndrus@BOZEMAN.NET>; Terry Cunningham <TCunningham@BOZEMAN.NET>; Christopher Coburn <ccoburn@BOZEMAN.NET>; Jennifer Madgic <jmadgic@BOZEMAN.NET> Cc: Jeff Mihelich <jmihelich@BOZEMAN.NET>; Greg Sullivan <gsullivan@BOZEMAN.NET>; Dani Hess <dhess@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: [EXTERNAL]UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023 CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. (Please place the following public comment in the UDC public comment folder. Thank you.) Nov 22, 2023, 9:40am To: Bozeman City Commission Subject: UDC public engagement survey posted on Engage Bozeman on Nov 21, 2023 On Nov 21, 2023, during the Thanksgiving holiday week, the City posted a UDC-relatedpublic engagement survey on the Engage Bozeman website. This survey was posted on Engage Bozeman without any prior public-noticing of Bozeman residents registered on Engage Bozeman and without any prior public-noticing on local news media outlets or on the local social media outlet Nextdoor. Not to mention the fact that the entire proposed UDC update process is supposed to be on hold until 2024! Although posting this UDC-related survey on Engage Bozeman in such a manner may have been legal, it was in no way ethical (Footnote 1)—and is simply one more example of the City trying to pull a fast one (Footnote 2) on Bozeman residents. More than likely, this UDC- related survey was not critically reviewed by an independent, impartial statistician grounded in survey-sampling methodology. As such, I have to assume the City designed this survey to obtain biased responses, i.e., responses the City wants to hear and will then use to push for adopting the proposed UDC update as currently written. Therefore, I will be boycotting this survey, and hope many other Bozeman residents will boycott it, too. In conclusion, I offer the Commissioners a quote from Aldo Leopold, who in 1949 wrote in A Sand County Almanac: “Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching—even when doing the wrong thing is legal.” This statement is as true in 2023 as it was in 1949. Moreover, in the Bozeman of 2023, residents are watching—and are watching closely. Daniel Carty 213 N. Third AveBozeman, MT 59715 dgc12@hotmail.com 406-548-2810 Footnote 1: Briefly, acting legally means that an action is based strictly on what is writtenin law and in how laws are interpreted by courts, whereas acting ethically means that an action is based on human values of right and wrong. Arguably, it is possible (and common)for an action—or an entire process—to be legal but not ethical. Footnote 2: To pull a fast one means "to try and gain an unfair advantage." CC's: Jeff Mihelich, City Manager; Greg Sullivan, City Attorney; and Dani Hess, Community Engagement Coordinator City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law. City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law.