HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-18-23 Public Comment - K. Johnson - Tonight's Hearing on Municipal Housing Authority in BozemanFrom:Katharine Johnson
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Tonight"s Hearing on Municipal Housing Authority in Bozeman
Date:Tuesday, December 12, 2023 12:40:08 PM
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Hello,
I want to urge the Commissioners to reject the idea of a public, municipal housingauthority in Bozeman. This is an already proven failed socialist/Marxist experiment that hasno place here in Montana, let alone, Bozeman. One can find many, many articles aboutthe failures of public housing, and this is not an experiment that Bozeman residents canafford to support.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/public-housing-fundamentally-flawed/602515/
https://www.peacefuldumpling.com/public-housing
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/four-reasons-why-more-public-housing-isnt-the-solution-to-affordability-concerns/
Not all, but most homeless people CHOOSE to be homeless. They don't want to paytaxes. The majority have drug or alcohol addictions and do not work or want to work, butjust want the handouts. Let the market take care of itself. If I cannot afford to live in acertain area I may want to live, I move to a town I can afford. I wouldn't expect thehardworking people who are already struggling to pay their bills to take on the addedburden of supporting me (especially if I won't work) in addition to the costs they alreadybear. Having a home in a certain desired place is not a right, it is a privilege.
Socialist/Marxist ideas have never been ideas that truly bring answers to problems andshould always be rejected.
There is no unsafe or unsanitary housing in Bozeman that would require a "public housing"option. But we do have many homeless people who are living illegally on our streets, butallowed by the City Manager and Commission, who are often creating unsanitary, andunsafe environments in places where they should not be in the first place.
I would not live in Bozeman if I could not afford it, and that's how you let the market workitself out.
Please, for the good of Bozeman, reject this failed socialist experiment of a public housingauthority.
Thank you.