HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-13-24 Public Comment - C. Roberts - City Manager Video and Commission Motion for Further InvestigationFrom:christine roberts
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]City Manager Video and Commission Motion for Further Investigation
Date:Tuesday, February 13, 2024 11:11:32 AM
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February 13, 2024
Dear City Commissioners:
I watched the City Commission hearing on February 12, 2024, via the Zoom weblink. Thank
you for providing the opportunity for Bozemanites to hear such an honest discussion of City
Manager Mihelich’s and Community Development Director Anna Bentley’s 17-minute video in
which he disparages the City of Bozeman’s residents and representatives.
I especially appreciated several parts of the hearing--Mayor Cunningham’s rebuttal of the City
Manager’s comments about him, Commissioner Madgic’s efforts to elaborate on how a
termination and investigation process would affect the public coffers, and Commissioner
Fischer’s questions about the merits of further investigation. I also appreciated that many of
the members of the public who spoke were long-time residents with valuable insight from
years of personal and professional activity in Bozeman.
This letter is in response to the evening’s second motion to conduct an investigation into the
City Manager’s behavior and additional possible ethical violations while in his position.
As I understand the process, if the City Manager does not resign and his contract is terminated
by the City, he will receive 12 months’ salary and an 18 percent-of-salary contribution to a
retirement account. If, however, the Ethics Board determines he violated ethical standards,
the severance would be moot.
Although I understand the desire to initiate an investigation and delve more into whether the
City Manager exhibited a pattern of unethical behavior, doing so would only prolong his
removal and inhibit the residents’ and Commission’s ability to move forward from this painful
experience and to continue dealing with important city business. The video is clearly evidence
of the disdain the City Manager holds for Bozeman, and I anticipate that the Ethics Board will
have sufficient material to assess regarding ethical breaches. If that Board determines ethical
violations occurred, the City will be able to forgo the golden parachute payment. If not, the
City should terminate his employment, make the payment, and move forward.
Although payment of a severance package may sound unfair to many, it is a condition of his
contract. Opening a separate investigation might assuage some of the sense of betrayal and
help understand additional sentiments of the City Manager, but as Commissioners, I urge you
to consider the real opportunity costs associated with an investigation. These include:
· Unknown and possible astronomical costs to taxpayers of continuing to pay the
City Manager while an investigation proceeds for an unknown period of time.
· Unknown costs of hiring third parties and the time/money of conducting extensive
interviews with city staff and others who might have interacted with the City Manager.
This would be a process with no known end that could exceed the costs of just paying
severance.
· Delaying other important pending City business while an investigation drags on. A
prolonged termination process would be like picking at a sore—it does not get better,
it gets worse.
· Unknown outcome of what an investigation reveals--the video might be an
isolated incident or not, but what is in the video is egregious and sufficient for the
Ethics Board to consider alone. Even if additional instances of such behavior are
revealed, the video content is sufficient to call for an Ethics Board review. Whether the
City Manager expressed his opinions more frequently is not relevant. The video in and
of itself shows multiple instances of possible ethical violations. Piling more on does not
change the evidence currently documented in the video.
· Postponing the inevitable—termination.
· Creating distrust and frustration among city residents and its leaders when the
overwhelming sentiment for change is shared by the public and City Commissioners.
Please do not squander this first step in building trust with the community.
These hidden costs are real and should be avoided. For the above reasons, the City
Commissioners should proceed with the evidence before you and forgo additional
investigation. I respectfully request the City Commission ask the Ethics Board for a decision on
whether the City Manager violated City and State ethics codes based solely on the video. I
further request that, regardless of the decision of the Ethics Board, the Commission terminate
the City Manager’s contract as soon as possible. If doing so includes severance, let’s pay it and
move on because the opportunity costs of an investigation could far exceed the costs of
severance.
Let’s move forward with a clean slate and a City Manager we can trust and who understands
Bozeman’s values. There is an incredible array of talented local Montanans who have the
capability to serve the City well. I ask that the City not to accede to the “white knight”
syndrome in which outsiders are perceived as having the ability to solve all problems.
In my more 40 years of working in the private sector I have witnessed the adverse results of
assuming an untested outsider is the savior who can solve problems better than informed,
committed, and trusted local individuals.
Thank you,
Christine Roberts
1470 Boylan Road
Cc: Greg Sullivan, City Attorney