HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-15-25 Public Comment - M. Gotzsche - Support Right To CounselFrom:Maya Gotzsche
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Support Right To Counsel
Date:Monday, April 14, 2025 4:57:10 PM
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Dear City Commission,
My name is Maya Gotzsche and I live at 708 N. Church Ave. I’ve lived in Bozeman for
7 years, and am currently a nursing student at MSU. I’m writing to you today to
express my support for Right to Counsel, and what it would mean for me as a renter.
I am unable to drive due to my complex medical history as a stroke survivor, making
alternative transportation options necessary to me in a car-centric city. When I
moved within Bozeman last year, it was imperative to me that I found housing where I
could walk, bike, or take Streamline to commute to work and school.
I’ve experienced the fatigue that can come with a situation with limited transportation
options. I used to work at Community Health Partners in Belgrade, in a job that I
loved as a Medical Assistant. After I had already started the position, my doctors
deemed it unsafe for me to drive. I wanted to keep the job, not just to pay my bills,
but also to build experience working in healthcare and advance my career. I was able
to use Streamline to commute from home to work, but would end up spending nearly
13 hours a day away from home to do so, to work a 9 hour shift. This was an
unsustainable portion of my day commuting, and highlighted a need for my housing,
work, and school to be more proximate.
Having limited transportation has made me think about how housing is so much more
than a roof over your head. It affects your access to resources–from access to a
grocery store, to the type of job you can hold, to the education you can pursue. When
my housing choices are further limited within an already competitive rental market it
can be challenging to find housing that meets my needs, which puts a lot of pressure
on staying in my home. I can only imagine the added stress of a short timeline to find
new housing, like in the case of an eviction.
Additionally, I recently represented my workplace in a National Labor Relations Board
hearing. I am not a trained lawyer, and I was going up against an attorney with very
short term notice. As soon as I knew I would need to show up in court, I dropped
everything and prepared nonstop to try to give myself a crash course in labor law in
one weekend. Though I knew that my coworkers and I were on the right side of the
law according to the National Labor Relations Act, we feared losing our hearing
because we lacked the resources for legal representation that our employer had at
her fingertips. It can take an incredible amount of energy to represent yourself in
court, and to demystify legal systems that typically operate under the assumption of
professional representation on both sides. This experience gave me an inside view of
a legal system that often operates not on justice, but on who can afford to hire a
lawyer to argue the best case.
The average tenant cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent them in an eviction
hearing, and most often end up representing themself. Landlords are far more likely
to afford a lawyer, an imbalance that disadvantages tenants in a system already
stacked against them.
Housing is not only a basic need, but also a cornerstone to so many areas of life.
Eviction abruptly dislodges that cornerstone, which can lead to other areas toppling
as well. An eviction could cause me to lose access to transportation, which could
subsequently cause me to lose my job, or prevent me from completing my degree. In
other cities who have implemented Right to Counsel, evictions have been prevented
in up to 90% of cases. From my experience navigating the legal system I understand
how critical it is for success to be backed by the right resources. I know that I couldn’t
afford a lawyer tomorrow if I was facing eviction, and I have less and less options of
where I could live, every day. Making sure that tenants have legal representation is
imperative to keeping our community safe, healthy, and strong.
Fund Right to Counsel and keep people in their homes, so our tenants in our
community have the chance to flourish.
Thank you for your consideration,
Maya Gotzsche