HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-25-24 Public Comment - E. Talago - RE_ Budgetary ask by BTUFrom:Emily Talago
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]RE: Budgetary ask by BTU
Date:Tuesday, June 25, 2024 11:59:59 AM
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Public Comment:
I don't like injustice. I dislike the widening gap between those with access to opportunity andthose without. I recently received a facts sheet from Bozeman Tenants United regarding their
budgetary request to the City Commission to fund a tenant right to counsel program.For what it's worth, everyone does have a right to counsel, but semantics don't mean we can
put on blinders to dismiss the very real barriers that exist to exercising various rights. The anecdotal rolodex of stories shared about dehumanizing, exploitive practices employed by
the corporatized, wealth extracting breed of property management is alarming. The ability toreduce community members to percentages on a pro forma, and then relegate the compassion-
taxing human-interactive task-- of informing a vulnerable person that they will need to findphysical shelter elsewhere--to county law enforcement, is gross.
However, we also know that many landlords are community members acting in good faith andtake a compassionate, reasonable approach to the business of providing housing options for
others.The acrobatics we are tasked with performing to try and regulate bad actors is an injustice unto
itself, as well as the community at large. *Insert lawyer joke of choice here* Bozeman Tenants United holds the position that the 2023 eviction case favorable outcome of
7% renters, 79% landlords is inextricably linked to a lack of adequate legal representation fortenants at about the same percentage differential. While I lack the time to fully vet that
position, I have no qualms holding my own position: if indeed we all have a right tomeaningful access to our judicial system, then there needs to be a process that ensures we all
can exercise this right. *Insert second lawyer joke of choice here*How to move forward? The issue of funding *third lawyer joke?* is a curious one. If a
program such as a regulatory rental lease registry is created with a goal of fostering healthyrelationships between landlords and tenants, then funding by the regulatory agency (city,
county, or state) could be considered- by 2021 ACS metrics listed in the 2023 Gallatin CountyHousing report, out of the total 21,000 housing units in Bozeman, just over 11,000 of them
were rentals. What if representatives of landlords and representatives of tenants sat downtogether and devised an agreement to abide by terms in good faith, and to collectively fund a
mediator tool in the event of dispute? If we assume a 12 month lease term, and a participationof 10,000 of those agreements, with a $20 contribution from both the lessor and lessee, you
now have an annual program budget of $400,000. The 1-time budgetary ask of thecommonwealth for a pilot $150,000, backed by the commitment of landlords and tenants
pledged to act in good faith may present a politically palatable and problem solving approachto move this initiative forward.
With gratitude, Emily Talago
(in my capacity as a resident of 416 W. Short St).