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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-05-24 Public Comment - T. Jackson - Thoughts on _camping in the right of way_From:Thomas Jackson To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Thoughts on "camping in the right of way" Date:Monday, August 5, 2024 9:33:01 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hello Bozeman City Council Members, I would like to start by saying I could only imagine how tough something like this decision is and how much pressure you must feel from all sides to perform in the way the see fit. Frommy perspective, there is a lot of nuance to this situation and room to improve from the current method of approach….. Then, I would like to tell you about myself. I am 34 years old, an alcoholic and have been myentire life. I became sober here in Bozeman July, 20th 2018. As an alcoholic, I was sooo very close to losing everything including the roof over my head. I went from failed restaurantjob to the next due to my alcohol addictions and shortcomings on the job but I still was able to keep my rent paid. I am also a cancer warrior(Stage 3c melanoma) in remission and stillundergoing scans to monitor any re occurrence closely. As you know cancer treatment is insanely expensive and also challenging to work through with a full time job but I havemanaged to keep my head above water. I have felt this pain and stress of addiction, financial ruin and life long depression but did not give up! My point being, I sympathize deeply withmy fellow human but I know as a recovering addict….. That you can only help those who want to be helped! We all face adversity in life, how we react to that adversity dictates whathappens next. Alot (not all) of the people you are accommodating here on our city streets have just given up. If you are a person, of any age and living in an a dilapidated trailer parkedon a right away and allowing your filth to pile onto the streets, that is barely operational and not street legal then you have given up and are a nuisance to those trying to stay afloat. Byallowing them to park on our city streets with these weak regulations you are putting a bandage on a festering wound that is only destined to later kill the host. As seen in everymajor city across the country, these people will take over public right aways to a point of the properties near them are no useable or sellable. Perfect example, all of the cities mentionedbelow. I would follow that by asking you a question… Who, as Bozeman City Council members are you here to serve? Is the the Citizens of The City of Bozeman or the transient people, whohave failed throughout life to stay afloat in previous places. Those who are just passing through town looking for a short term opportunity to feed their next fix or get to the nextparking spot? This is a growing city as you are all aware. A place where people want to develop their lives, families, businesses, relationships and dreams. Don’t you think they want to do that in a placewhere they feel safe, protected and prioritized? I would argue that you are currently not providing that safe place for life to be nurtured. Your current dispersed camping policy isallowing little pockets of health and safety hazards develop around our city at the expense of the community you were elected to serve. By providing a place for transient people to landand a system they can take advantage of you are prioritizing them over Bozeman citizens whose best interest you are here to serve. By doing so, you are neglecting the health and safety of our community. These lax policies also create more of a tax burden for the city aswell. Doing anything other than giving the police the right to force dispersed campers to move on, will insure more steps, more signatures, more time, more approvals, moreinfrastructure and MORE COST. These transient dispersed campers drain resources and devastate the urban landscape with health and safety hazards. This slope is slippery as you know, and any inch given to some may soon turn into a mile. Asyou see in cities locally like Missoula, Billings and Butte and nationally like Portland, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Fransisco, New York, Chicago, Charlotte, Nashville, Minneapolis,Salt Lake City and many more are all facing insane dispersed camping issues that have over run the cities. In doing so these city councils have not only endangered their citizens but alsodecreased public health safety/sanitary conditions, increased crime, decreased property values and made tax paying citizens flee. Does their management of this issue inspire you? Is it notobvious that they are not helping anyone in the process by enabling such behavior? Isn’t it obvious that they are prioritizing the optics of the situation rather than assessing the issue witha rational mind, from the perspective of a concerned citizen whom they were elected to represent and taking action to protect them and their interest. I just beg you to go the path less traveled. Inspire other cities to keep their streets clean andsafe! DO NOT ALLOW Dispersed camping on the right of way and prioritize transient people passing through our developing community. PRIORITIZE the health and safety ofTHE CITIZENS OF BOZEMAN whose best interest you were elected to represent. I thank you for your time! All the best, Thomas PS. This statement has been made only regarding the subject of dispersed camping and not ofthe homeless crisis in America due to mental health issues and addiction. There are ways to address that as well. If anyone would like to hear my thoughts on that, I would be happy toshare them!