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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAlison SweeneyHonorable Mayor Cunningham, Deputy Mayor Morrison, Commissioners Madgic and Fischer, My name is Alison Sweeney, and I hereby respectfully submit my application to serve this community alongside you as a fellow City Commissioner. My Interest in Serving I have been fortunate to grow up in Bozeman, and I have a deep relationship with many different groups of people in the community. I have seen and experienced many changes, and many of my friends and family have been displaced. I am one of the lucky ones, who has been able to stay, and I want to help ensure a more accessible and sustainable future for all those who live and work here. Many people run for office or apply for this position as agents of change. Having listened to the City Commission’s priority-setting session for CYs 2024-2025, I am confident that I can help with the priorities set as a group. For example, I see historic preservation policy as a way to manage change, not prevent it. Consequently, I am glad you have committed to strengthening it going forward. I see historic preservation as something that touches so many of the issues important to making Bozeman a great city. From preserving existing affordable housing, to protecting our urban forest, to telling the honest history of our valley, written for the first time in the Belonging in Bozeman plan. The Belonging in Bozeman Plan is a legacy to the work of both Commissioner Christopher Coburn and Commissioner I-Ho Pomeroy, and we are fortunate to have this plan as a roadmap to help guide Bozeman’s future. A majority of our City is made up of renters, and I recognize that often, this is not by choice. Although I hope to make home ownership more accessible to more people in Bozeman, we must in the near term do everything we are allowed to do under state law to protect renters. I believe you have some excellent ideas of how to begin this work, and I can help. What I can contribute to the Commission priorities is a perspective rooted in the interest of community benefit. Bozeman is not just policy; it’s people. I can help navigate the nuances of the important work we’ll be undertaking in the next 18 months. The Unified Development Code (UDC) and the Bozeman Community Plan 2020 (i.e., growth policy) will both be updated, and I can help ensure these guiding documents reflect the interests of all those who currently live and work here. Our community is wounded and embattled. But I actually think everyone is suffering from the same quality-of-life crisis as a result of rampant growth and gentrification. We need innovative problem solving to meet the moment without repeating the mistakes of other cities’ urban renewal policies of the past. We need an approach that can unite people. I believe in good ideas, regardless of who proposes them. If appointed, I will give Bozeman full time work. I commit to going out into the community to talk with residents, and bring their ideas and perspectives back to the Commission. I am confident that I can help rebuild trust between the residents and the City. My barometer will be community benefit. Qualifications for serving In the past 8 months I have familiarized myself with the workings of the City, its boards, plans, and codes. I trust I have demonstrated an aptitude and enthusiasm for the work. I have organized the residents of my neighborhood to form a new officially recognized Neighborhood Association with a seat on the Inter-Neighborhood Council (INC). I’ve attended every INC meeting since our formation and disseminated the information gleaned from the city staff presentations to the residents of my neighborhood, increasing their access to and participation in City activities and opportunities. This is a wonderful advisory board with tremendous potential for greater democratic coordination between citizens and their City going forward. Additionally, in the fall of 2023 I helped form a grass-roots organization—The Better Bozeman Coalition (BBC)—to advocate for neighborhood-friendly changes to the proposed UDC update. I trust the Commission recognizes the BBC as an organization that is research-and-solutions based, with an approach of cooperation rather than opposition only. We have researched code, both in Bozeman and other municipalities, to advocate for UDC changes that are based on a precedent of success in other communities. That said, if appointed to the Commission, I will step away from the BBC to focus on the Commission’s work. Graduating some years ago, I hold an associates degree in Energy Technology from the University of Montana. I studied both traditional and renewable energy systems, and further cultivated my love of research, reading, and informed decision- making that I believe was originally awakened in my early years at the Museum of the Rockies. I knew I wanted to work in renewable energy, so I spent the next 4 years installing solar thermal systems for a local company. Sustainability—like diversity, equity, and inclusion—is a lens through which we should view every policy decision. Community resilience depends on it. Over the last several months I have had many conversations with each of you, and I have attended nearly every Commission meeting. I trust you see me as someone with whom you can work. By working together, I know we can improve the quality of life for the people who live and work in Bozeman now and for those who will live and work in Bozeman in the future. I would be grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside you. Thank you for your consideration of my application.