HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-03-25 Public Comment - M. Thomas - Right to Council Written TestimonyFrom:Matthew Thomas
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Right to Council Written Testimony
Date:Friday, May 2, 2025 11:40:05 PM
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Dear Bozeman City Commission,
I work in the service industry. All of my coworkers and I are renters. The first
two years I was here, I lived with my dad because I couldn’t afford the rent here. I pay
$1,700 for a 1 bedroom, and that’s the cheapest housing I could find when I was
looking. Despite having a good relationship with my landlord, if my landlord raised my
rent tomorrow higher than I could pay, I wouldn’t have any good choices, without legal
representation. Seeing everyone around me struggle with their housing situations, it’s
clear to me that tenants don’t have a lot of power over where they live.
When the majority of tenants can’t afford lawyers even if their landlords are
transparently doing shady things, how could you have power over where you live?
It feels like the ability for tenants to voice their concerns, be provided with proper
maintenance to keep them healthy and safe, and for rights that already exist to be
protected, there needs to be some legal representation available. When corporate
landlords take advantage of the system as it exists, tenants don’t have a lot of power
to push back against that, or make sure that their money isn’t getting stolen.
I want to live in a community where you can talk to your neighbors, and get to know
people without buying something or spending time in bars. Because people jump from
apartment to apartment so much, we’re robbed from a sense of community, and we
feel further and further isolated. We have the highest rate of binge drinkers by county
in the nation, and the feeling of isolation is only exacerbated by the lack of community
without substance use. I’ve seen how when you become unhoused, and fall through
the cracks, you are even further pushed out to the edges of our community. I want to
live in a place where we welcome our neighbors in, and be close and in community
with each other.
The struggles that our neighbors and us are facing reflect those of the nation
as well, since our town is exploding so much. We could be taking steps to boldly lead
the nation in preventative measures to keep people safe and keep our community
healthy.
More than half of the people who reside and call Bozeman home are tenants
and rely upon renting as a way to live. Being a renter in Bozeman is how I myself am
able to stay in this beautiful town and despite personally having a living situation that
is currently flexible with me, I could very easily fall victim to not being able to utilize a
lawyer if needed. Providing renters in Bozeman with the Right to Council is a legal
process that everyone has, a right that provides renters with the proper legal
protection to be represented by a lawyer in the face of a housing dispute. I would like
to see a community in Bozeman that protects the right for its citizens to be on the
same legal playing field as the landlords that house these citizens. Fund Right to
Counsel, and keep tenants and service workers in their homes.
Matthew Thomas
618 Westgate Ave Apt D