HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-15-25 Public Comment - J. Strout - TAKE ACTION for Bozeman City for CEDAW and Equal Pay for Equal Work ResolutionsFrom:Jan Strout
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]TAKE ACTION for Bozeman City for CEDAW and Equal Pay for Equal Work Resolutions
Date:Monday, April 14, 2025 8:18:28 PM
Attachments:BZN City for CEDAW Resolution 5384 FINAL.pdf
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Dear City Commissioners,
We are writing as co-leaders of the Bozeman City for CEDAW Task Force in support
of elevating the Bozeman CEDAW Resolution S. 5384 (see attached) to the status of
an enforceable Ordinance.
While we appreciate the steps the City has taken—such as the Belonging in
Bozeman Plan Report and the recent 2025 Equal Pay for Equal Work (EPEW) Report
—there remains a significant gap between intention and implementation, particularly
in the areas of women’s health, safety, and economic security.
Specifically, regarding the EPEW Report, while informative, has several ways to
strengthen its purpose and value to address a widening gender- and racial-based Pay
Gap:
1.This Report is limited to a solution of updating the historic 10 year goal of focusing
on Equal Pay benefits to a handful of women who join the City of Bozeman Police or
Fire Departments that can earn more in a robust Union-protected field. But equally
important, there are many other strategies that can include numerous women and
men to address the huge City of Bozeman earnings gap between women and men at
the top and bottom levels of your Report.
2.Recommendations to address and lower the Pay inequities would be an important
part of each annual EPEW Report - especially given the Pay Gap is now widening for
the first time - according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research Forecasting
Pay Equity: Women Are Expected to Wait Over 50 Years to Reach Parity with Men -
IWPR
3.One of our City for CEDAW Task Force's major EPEW solutions, among others, is
consideration of Comparable Worth policies to bring economic fairness and close the
pay gaps. We requested this important policy proposal, supported by the current
Mayor, then researched Comparable Worth Best Policies and Practices in other
Cities. Then we presented in meetings with the former City Manager, starting in 2021,
which went nowhere.
4.Since the current MT Governor Gianforte abolished the former MT Governor's
Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force as soon as he took Office in 2021, Cities,
Employers, Unions and Employees have lost 8 years of their statewide, annual data-
driven MT Pay Equity analysis and recommendations from the MT Department of
Labor and Industry. Erased from the website. Resulting in a lack of actionable data
for hoped-for improvements in the status of Montana's working women and all wage
earners.
5. Equally important, the City's Economic Vitality Citizen Advisory Board, per their
Mission, has never been asked by the City to review the Equal Pay or CEDAW
Resolution Reports, nor the other human rights Policies listed in the Belonging in
Bozeman Plan.
This is why a robust upgrade and implementation of the City for CEDAW Resolution
to an enforceable Ordinance is key to implementing the City's CEDAW Resolution
requirements: ongoing data collection from priority issues research; providing
Intersectional gender analysis, trained oversight body; and a Plan of Action road map
with annual reports to the community that will assess and advance the status of
women, girls and others most under-represented as an actionable Policy into law.
Benefits of An Ordinance for City for CEDAW~
An Ordinance for the Bozeman City for CEDAW can also provide for essential training
for the Commissioners, relevant City Staff, BIB Planners, volunteer Citizen Advisory
and other Boards and the creation of a City Human Rights Commission with expertise
and lived experiences in the 3 key human rights Articles outlined in the CEDAW -
women's health, safety, and economic security across the lifespan.
We are also part of the National Cities for CEDAW Advisory Board and meet regularly
to support emerging Cities, Counties and States to adopt Ordinances and
Resolutions, exchange Best Practices at all levels of implementation and, with over
90+ Cities for CEDAW adopted in the US, we have ready support needed for our best
work as a Bozeman City for CEDAW (www.citiesforcedaw.org).
When the City Commission adopted unanimously the City of Bozeman City for
CEDAW Resolution S. 5384, three years ago on April 5, 2022, the Resolution has yet
to be implemented. We hope to create excellent and common-sense strategies to
address the critical needs faced by the diversity of women and others under-
represented living and working in our community to realize full gender equality and
equity.
These are not abstract issues. They affect real lives and reflect the lived experiences
of many women in our community every day. The original intent of the CEDAW
resolution was to promote gender equity and enhance the overall economic vitality of
Bozeman. Yet, without actionable measures and accountability, this vision remains
only partially realized.
Turning this Resolution into an Ordinance would be a meaningful step toward
ensuring that gender equity is not just aspirational, but operational. It would provide a
framework for evaluating city policies, allocating resources, and tracking progress
with transparency and accountability.
And given the reality of attacks to women's and all human rights that makes our lives
and families more at risk, this request couldn't be more timely. We are share these
latest impacts and let us know what else you need:
Trump's War on Older Women - Ms. Magazine
NIH and NSF: Stop cutting women's health research
March 2025 Updates UN Conferences on Women /UN Trust Fund to End Violence
Against Women
Bozeman has the opportunity to be a leader in equity and inclusion—not just in name,
but in practice. We urge you to take that next step.
Thank you.Lei-Anna Bertelsen and Jan Strout (she/hers)
co-leaders, Bozeman City for CEDAW Task Force
Version April 2020
RESOLUTION 5384
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOZEMAN CITY COMMISSION ESTABLISHING
THE CITY OF BOZEMAN AS A CITY FOR CEDAW (THE CONVENTION ON THE
ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN)
WHEREAS, the City of Bozeman acknowledges and honors with respect, the
Indigenous Nations on whose traditional homelands the City now stands and whose historical and cultural relationships with the land continue to this day; and
WHEREAS, the City of Bozeman recognizes that the ability of many to live and work here is due to past and present colonizing policies, practices of genocide, cultural erasure, and the enslavement of Black people; and
WHEREAS, these policies and practices have contributed social, economic, and health disparities and the denial of human rights for Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color (BIPOC); and
WHEREAS, Bozeman’s women and girls have made gains in the struggle for equality in
many fields, there is a continued need to protect and expand the human rights of women, girls,
trans and non-binary people of all ages, races, ethnicities, and intersecting identities through local,
state, federal and international laws, including CEDAW (UN Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women); and
WHEREAS, barriers, including those resulting from gender-based and other forms of
violence, to accessing basic needs and amenities that enhance quality of life in the Bozeman area
continue to exist for people of all ages and abilities, varying socioeconomic circumstances, and
intersecting racial, ethnic, and gender identities; and
WHEREAS, the City of Bozeman has made commitments to fairness, inclusion and equity
through Resolution 4243 (2010) establishing a non-discrimination policy; Resolution 4601 (2015)
addressing gender pay equity within the City of Bozeman; Resolution 4852 (2018) prioritizing a
safe, healthy, welcoming, and inclusive community; Resolution 5257 (2021) establishing
becoming an Inclusive City as a City Commission priority for 2020 and 2021; and
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WHEREAS, in response to local and national calls for action to prevent violence and
discrimination against BIPOC, the July 2020 Bozeman as an Inclusive City Report resulted in 24
recommendations for internal process and policy changes, staff trainings as well as community-
wide data collection, engagement, and action planning around equity and inclusion issues; and
WHEREAS, one of the twenty-four Inclusive City recommendations made was to
“Develop a city diversity, equity and inclusion plan to engage stakeholders and identify gaps
community wide and to implement policies that help all persons in Bozeman thrive regardless of
economic, racial, cultural, or gender identity;” and
WHEREAS, the 2021 Equity Indicators & Gaps Analysis project characterized
inequalities across race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, and socioeconomic status through data from
local service providers and community organizations, secondary sources (Decennial Census and
American Community Survey), and the lived experiences of a diverse representation of over 1500
community members; and
WHEREAS, Resolution 5368 (2021) established as a Bozeman City Commission priority
for 2022-2023, to “Become a City for CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women) as part of the City’s Inclusive City and Diversity
Equity and Inclusion work and conduct an intersectional gender analysis;” and
WHEREAS, the indicators and recommendations outlined in the 2021 Equity Indicators
& Gaps Analysis project will provide benchmarks from which to measure progress, coordinate
with community partners to collect and disaggregate data to the greatest extent possible, and
provide transparency and accountability as the city develops and implements an Equity &
Inclusion Plan; and
WHEREAS, Resolution 5329 established the Economic Vitality Board of the City of
Bozeman, to “advise the City Commission, and as requested by the City Manager to the City
Manager, on policies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion;” and
WHEREAS, there is clear alignment between the Cities for CEDAW framework and the
City of Bozeman’s ongoing Equity & Inclusion work through: 1) data collection and analysis of
disparities across race, ethnicity, gender identity, ability, age and socioeconomic circumstances 2)
an oversight body to ensure that appropriate and timely actions are taken; and 3) creation of an
Action Plan based on data to develop and implement practices, programs, and policies to close
gaps and address disparities; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Commission of the City of
Bozeman, Montana:
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Is committed to realizing its role as a City for CEDAW as a part of the ongoing work to
ensure that Bozeman is a place where all residents, visitors and City of Bozeman employees are
welcome, valued, and can thrive no matter their race, identity, or life circumstance.
Is committed to eliminating all forms of violence against women, girls, trans and non-
binary people, to promoting the health and safety of women, girls, trans and non-binary people,
and to afford in them equal academic, economic, and business opportunities in Bozeman, Montana
Is committed to achieving these commitments through a framework which includes:
1.Ongoing data collection and intersectional analysis, when possible, of disparities
across race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, age and
socioeconomic circumstances – including in CEDAW priority areas of community
safety, health and well-being, and economic security
2.The Economic Vitality Board as the oversight body to ensure that appropriate and
timely actions are taken; and
3.The development and implementation of a 3-5 year Equity & Inclusion Action Plan
based on data to improve practices, programs, and policies to close gaps and address
disparities
4.An annual report on the progress of the Equity and Inclusion Action Plan with
specific mention of activities and accomplishments related to CEDAW.
PASSED, ADOPTED, AND APPROVED by the City Commission of the City of
Bozeman, Montana, at a regular session thereof held on the 5th day of April, 2022.
___________________________________
CYNTHIA L. ANDRUS
Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
MIKE MAAS
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
___________________________________
GREG SULLIVAN
City Attorney
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