HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-01-24 Public Comment - A. Bishop - Camping in the Right-of-WayFrom:Ava Bishop
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Camping in the Right-of-Way
Date:Thursday, August 1, 2024 11:44:14 AM
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Commissioners of Bozeman,
I have lived in this community since 2019, and I have bore witness to more visible change in
my five years here than I ever did in the 20 years I lived in my rapidly urbanized hometown in
Western Washington. While this change has progressed unnervingly quickly, it was not
unexpected and our city should not be this embarrassingly unprepared to address it. If you are
committed to helping your people, the locals who have been here for generations, the
students struggling to find employment out of school after paying a life-altering amount of
money for it, the migrant families shipped here with the empty promise of jobs and housing,
the over-worked and under-paid individuals keeping your tourism industry afloat, etc., then
you will stop punishing them for your own mistakes. True leaders acknowledge their mistakes
and work to rectify them, not bury them in the sand with false promises.
Please, do not touch this ordinance. This ordinance is the only thing preventing the
criminalization of homelessness. If it must stay exactly how it is to keep the angry business
owners at bay, then so be it. The Code Enforcement team has done a fantastic job at
remaining as trauma-informed as possible while moving urban campers around, and I believe
they will only continue to do so if not better should the ordinance remain unchanged. The
access to bathrooms, sharps containers, and garbage services has already been a huge success
at providing dignity and safety to the individuals outside, and I would rather them continue to
have access to those necessities than lose them to something worse.
This is not to say the ordinance is beneficial to our community. What is currently happening is
essentially a game of musical chairs, a cruel one at that. Because of this forced mobility,
people are more unstable and less able to access the programs/resources they need to get
them off the streets. People are racking up noncompliance fines simply because they are
disabled, their vehicle doesn't work, they don't have data to apply for an extension, they don't
know how to apply for an extension, etc., all of which causes even more strain and only
inhibits their ability to help their situation. The time and resources used to move urban
campers to a differently named street every 30 days is a complete waste of taxpayer money
that could be going to a more sustainable housing solution rather than this crude bandage
solution. What our urban campers need is either one safe outdoor space to park/camp where
they have access to water and electricity or HOUSING. BUILD MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
OR FUND LOCAL HOUSING NON-PROFITS!
If this ordinance in abolished or changed, and urban camping is criminalized, then those
citizens should be compensated with safe housing that is NOT a homeless shelter. It is the
city's responsibility to take care of its people, not punish them for their leaders' inability to
address the housing crisis. Furthermore, requiring someone to have a permit to live in the
most traumatic and dehumanizing situation is horrific. That is just another barrier on their
path to obtaining housing, not to mention a complete waste of time and valuable taxpayer
money. Similarly, increasing the penalty fine will only make the situation worse. Even though a
majority of these campers are employed, it is incredibly expensive to experience
homelessness and their budgets are already dangerously overextended.
Do not punish these people just because you are incapable of following through with the only
sustainable solution.
The safe parking program is just another bandage solution, not a sustainable option for our
town. The only way I would support this is if it doesn't act as a backwards excuse to penalize
the people who are unable to or choose not to utilize this space. If the options are either
penalizing people for not using the safe parking space daily or penalizing them for not moving
every 30 days, I would prefer the latter. However, as previously stated, what is really needed is
a permanent safe outdoor space OR PROVIDING THEM WITH AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
Our town is attracting some of the wealthiest individuals in the country, and they should be
contributing to our community instead of driving generational locals out. Impose high taxes on
rich out-of-staters; make them prove that they are committed to this wonderful city we call
home, instead of letting them ring us out until we're a shell of what we used to be. Don't let
them use us as their plaything for their own amusement. Make them pay. Use their money to
help the people who have lived here long before Bozeman was a destination spot. INVEST IN
PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES,
AND CREATE A HOUSING AUTHORITY. INVEST IN YOUR CITIZENS' WELLBEING, OR ADMIT OUR
HOUSING CRISIS IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY.
I am empathetic to the position you are in, and obviously you will never be able to make
everyone happy. However, the outspoken and often uninformed discomfort of a small group
of business owners should not be prioritized over the life and death of the large, rapidly
growing population of individuals living without a home, without stability, without support,
without safety. Housing is not a commodity, it is a necessity. Our neighbors should not be
punished for wanting to live in this beautiful city just because we won't provide the protection
and support we committed to. We need to be better if we want to preserve the spirit, the
heart of Bozeman.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Ava Bishop