HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-02-24 Public Comment - C. Roberts - City Manager and Community Development Manager VideoFrom:christine roberts
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]City Manager and Community Development Manager Video
Date:Friday, February 2, 2024 11:11:05 AM
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I have posted comments on NextDoor and am copying them here, as well as some additional comments I have on
the video in which the City Manager and Community Development Manager speak about the city they are paid well
to serve.
What strikes me about the video is Mr. Mihelich's incredible ego and sense of entitlement. Sure, people
vent all the time, but he so clearly reveals his true motives and drivers in the video. He considers
Bozeman a cow town and stepping stone to greater financial reward. He disparages the people and the
town he works for so dismissively. All he wants is his "FU" golden parachute and whines about having to
work a little bit on a Saturday. Poor Jeff. How can he be effective when he so dislikes the mayor, deputy
mayor, city attorney and others. And Ms. Bentley is equally offensive. She is a sycophant who eagerly
bolsters Mr. Mihelich's huge ego. She, too, disparages the incoming mayors as an "albatross," like a
curse poor Jeff must tolerate. She shows disdain for the community members she supposedly serves and
complains about residents who "come out of the woodwork" to voice their concerns. Both should save the
city a lot of time and energy and resign. If they do not, the commission should fire them because no one
will ever trust them to serve the city ethically.
After posting the above comment on NextDoor, I am supplementing the text with the following comments
and questions:
From what I have read of other NextDoor comments on this topic, the sentiment is unanimous that these two
well-paid employees should be fired. That is astounding--what other issue garners such unanimity? The
commission must give great weight to community concerns. Not firing these individuals will diminish any
last trust in our elected and appointed leaders.
If Mr. Mihelich or Ms. Bentley worked for the private sector they would have been immediately fired
and escorted out of the building for the comments they made, regardless of whether they thought
they were private.
Mr. Mihelich's public statement to date about his behavior starts off with him saying he did not
intend for private conversation to become public. No kidding. That is not an excuse for the
comments he made. He let it all out in the video about what low regard he holds for the city's
elected leaders and the city's residents. It is obvious he did not want the content made public
which is why he showed his true colors and wallowed in his woe-is-me attitude.
Vesting for Mihelich should be off the table, and will be if he is dismissed.
Same for Ms. Bentley. As a Community Development leader, her role is defined as interacting with
the public, yet she and Mr. Mihelich mock them as "coming out of the woodwork" to discuss "small
town shit." They feed off one another in an orgy of disdain for the city they serve. Now we know
how the most powerful city employee feels about their fellow city leaders and where they live and
work.
These two embody why residents feel unheard and dismissed when valid comments are made in
public forums. Local residents have been chastised by city employees for not trusting the process.
These two are a case in point why.
The commission should review zoom meeting recordings of all department head meetings to
determine if Mr. Mihelich has shared equally offensive remarks in other instances.
What is the background on Mr. Mihelich's comment that incoming Mayor Cunningham has ex parte
communications with developers. This needs to be given public sunlight--An investigation should be
conducted to determine the nature and extent of these communications. What is the existing mechanism to
monitor commission members and their private conversations with developers? Again, why is it not clear to
the commission that the public feels the commission approves just about any development that comes along?
Christine Roberts
1470 Boylan Road
Bozeman MT 59715