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Home My WebLink About07-17-25 Public Comment - N. ten Broek - Re_ INC_Study Commission joint meeting recapFrom:Noah ten Broek To:Jandt Neighborhood Cc:Kath Crumrine; Emily Kiely; Angie Kociolek; BCAN-General; BCNA- General; Beth Boyson; BPNA-General; Emily Mason; Hannah Gullickson; Kade Woolverton; Kathy Rich; Mark Campanelli; NENA-General; UNA-General; Joey Morrison; Dick Bakker; Bozeman Goverment Study Commission; Douglas Fischer; Salal Huber-McGee; Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Re: INC/Study Commission joint meeting recap Date:Thursday, July 17, 2025 1:58:24 PM 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. Subject: Feedback on INC Meeting Format & Engagement Dear Study Commission, Thank you for attending our INC meeting—I appreciated learning about your roles andobjectives. I apologize if my comments came across strongly. As this was my first INC meeting—andafter nearly two years of advocating for our neighborhood against the Guthrie—I spoke from deep passion for Bozeman and a healthy local governance. It’s come to my attention that the Study Commission may be unwilling to meet again with the INC. If that’s the case, it’s even more critical that these meetings are structured to producesubstantive input. 1. Clarify Your Scope Please make it explicit where you're open to nuance versus predetermined. That clarity wouldhelp INC and other community members provide targeted, relevant feedback. 2. Add Structure with Granular Focus Break meetings into focused, topic-based segments—like development review or governancemodel evaluation—to foster deeper, more sophisticated dialogue. Broad questions about what you “like” or “don’t like” are overly abstract and detract from the nuanced conversation ourcommunity deserves. By swapping vague prompts for structured, topic-driven discussions, you're more likely toengage participants in meaningful exploration, rather than collecting generic impressions. Concerns & Suggestions The current broad format risks feeling like a checkbox exercise rather than true collaboration. A more focused approach for example might include: Development Review: Describe the current process—who’s involved, legalframework, decision points—and then explore areas for improvement. Governance Models: Clearly outline the governance options under consideration—detailing their strengths, weaknesses, and relevance to Bozeman—and then walk us through each branch so we can explore the nuances. The devil is in thedetails, and that’s precisely where we seem to be falling short. With limited opportunities to meet again, these sessions must be purposeful and impactful. Thoughts on Study Commission Meeting Frequency & Commitment Bozeman is in an urgent situation that demands sustained leadership. To address ourcommunity’s challenges effectively, I believe there should be no limits on meetingfrequency or duration. Complex local issues require the time and consistency to be handledthoroughly. If the effort and time needed exceed what some current members can commit to, I wouldrespectfully suggest considering whether others—with the necessary stamina and passion— might be better suited to serve in their place. Thank you for your dedication to Bozeman. This moment calls for all of us to rise to the task together.Thank you for considering these suggestions—and for the work you’re doing for Bozeman. Warm regards, Noah ten Broek On Wed, Jul 16, 2025 at 11:52 PM Jandt Neighborhood <jandtneighborhood@gmail.com>wrote: Howdy fellow neighborhood reps, Again, sorry for the delay in this recap. I've cc'd the govreview@bozeman.net address sothese notes will go to the Study Commission and be part of the public record. Even so, please send your individual comments from the meeting to the Study Commission. Kath had a particularly well prepared set of 5 recommendations. We need to make surethese are in writing and part of the public record. The meeting recording is excellent and available here: https://bozeman.granicus.com/player/clip/2527?view_id=1&redirect=trueRemember the first half hour is the Study Commission exclusively and the INC reps join following a brief pause. Commissioner Fischer attended in lieu of INC's regularcommission liaison Deputy Mayor, Joey Morrison. INC's staff liaison was not present. City Clerk Mike Maas was on hand and very helpful in clarifying misinformation or confusion. Rather than detailing exactly which comment was made by whom at what timestamp, I'mgoing to include bullet points of the major feedback from representatives. Many reps agreed with most points. Neighborhood associations while challenging to run ARE working, but the entire cityis not covered by recognized associations. Many reps have witnessed or experienced dismissive comments from members of the City Commission precisely BECAUSE the whole city isn't covered. It's easy todismiss our contributions to policy because we are more concentrated in the core neighborhoods. Newer parts of town have not yet organized themselves intorecognized associations. One rep suggested maybe other areas feel less inclined to go through the process ofbeing recognized because they have HOA's that they can participate in instead. The functioning of the Inter-Neighborhood Council itself is hamstrung at timesbecause each neighborhood's bylaws are different, so not all reps are able to cast a vote on behalf of their neighborhood when a resolution is processed through thecouncil. More consistency would allow the council to function better. There was some discussion of the Commission not listening to the Council, and manyreps expressed frustration that INC's recommendations don't often end up affecting policy outcomes.Several different responses to Carson Taylor's (chair of govt. study commish) query about how INC reps think about wards in our city. 1. A neighborhood rep posited that wards and the INC could work together like a house and senate.2. Another suggested each ward could encompass several neighborhood associations and this could lead to better accountability because the commissioner in that ward wouldbe responsible to their neighborhoods. 3. One representative had lived in a city with wards and cautioned against too manybecause too large a body can be unwieldy. 4. Wards should not replace Neighborhoods. Continuing with general INC feedback or concerns to the Study Commission: Several representatives expressed frustration in not getting notification from the Cityabout events, roadwork, or other activities impacting their neighborhoods. This is problematic because reps are looked to as a source of knowledge by their neighborsbut often haven't been given a heads up themselves. Reps acknowledge the Neighborhoods section of the City Charter, and theNeighborhood Recognition Ordinance (NRO) are great but we as a City are not living up to the mission. Notification of development applications are not being forwardedto Neighborhood Associations at the appropriate time in order to allow public participation (sec 2.05.1220.A.1 and sec 2.05.1230.B). And the Staff Liaison has notreturned to full time Neighborhoods Coordinator position since the completion of the Belonging in Bozeman plan. The position IS supposed to be full time, but theNeighborhoods Coordinator is being asked to handle other engagement duties. With the City's ambitious workload this staff liaison cannot possibly fulfill theresponsibilities set out in the NRO, especially if the City continues to grow and add recognized neighborhood associations.Several neighborhood representatives agreed some sort of onboarding program for neighborhood reps to INC would be a great opportunity to help empower reps tobetter serve their neighbors. Some reps have more time than others to investigate how the City works and who runs different departments, but access to this should be moreconsistent and onboarding could ensure a basic level of literacy of city government. A few reps mentioned city department directors or staff being rude and dismissive,others said they just never heard back from a query sent to staff. One representative suggested that an INC rep be chosen by the council to serve as aCommissioner; an INC seat on the City Commission, another thought that would be questionable because neighborhood association by-laws are so different, turn-outamong neighborhoods was different, so the method for selection would not be a great example of verifiable democratic process.Another representative discussed the appointment process for the City when a City Commissioner resigns or is no longer able to serve. It was acknowledged thatMontana Code Annotated (7-3-4218) regulates the appointment process, but one representative questioned whether or not it could be added to the City Charter that theappointment be conducted via blind ballot. There was general agreement that INC is upholding its responsibility to disseminateinformation from the City to the Citizens, but the flow of information in the other direction has been broken or ineffective for some time, though some tools have beencreated and processes revived for doing so in the last year. Many agreed that the City feels like an entity separate from citizens. We did receive public comment as follows: Ron Brey, former City Manager, suggested studying the Helena and Great Falls Neighborhoods programs. In these communities the entire city was covered by associationsand the neighborhoods were given a budget. He believed it was Helena where neighborhood representatives were elected in municipal elections and thought it might even be arequirement to serve on the neighborhood council before running for City Commission. Suggested the Neighborhoods program in Bozeman was originally created so thatinformation would flow from the residents to the City, not just from the City out to the public. Emily Talago, former INC Chair, Midtown President and INC rep, shared a little of thegood work INC was able to accomplish in the last year including creating neighborhood surveys (whether simple pulse-of-the-neighborhood style rapid response surveys, or more indepth multiple choice/free response pieces) conducting book-club style meetings where reps are free to brainstorm, discuss, and question, as well as crafting and adopting resolutions. She suggested one way to utilize INC public meeting time more efficiently would be for staff to send powerpoints or presentations in advance so that reps could digest the info andformulate questions ahead of time. She suggested communication in both directions is good (City to Citizen and vice versa) but to flesh out expectations ahead of time by describing anintended or desired response or outcome. Natsuki Nakemura, Bozeman resident, described some amazing aspects of the Anchorage neighborhoods program. All parts of the City are covered by one, and you can participate inthe neighborhood where you live, but also the one where you work so folks have more opportunities to participate. Neighborhoods in Anchorage have dedicated staff, list serves,trainings, design standards for development, and notification of land use decisions including a night club application. Linda Semones, Bozeman resident of Bogert Park neighborhood, and serves on HistoricPreservation Advisory Board (HPAB) suggests that the Study Commission should meet with EVERY advisory board including HPAB. People stop volunteering to serve on boards oncethey begin to feel dismissed, underutilized, or ineffective. Commissioner Douglas Fischer let us know that he was present in lieu of Deputy Mayor Morrison and would make sure to get a summary of the meeting to the Mayor, city Manager and the Deputy Mayor. He suggested it could be a great idea to hold a joint meeting justlike this with the INC and the City Commission. Assistant City Manager Jon Henderson thanked both bodies for the meeting and discussion. Noted that administrative staff works really hard every day and are alsohumbled by the pace of development within the community. We are growing, but we're not so big yet that we can't make some changes. Some final comments from the Study Commission Members Please submit your talking points from this meeting in writing to govreview@bozeman.netThe Study Commission has a website, please visit https://www.bozeman.net/services/local- government-study/about/what-we-do That's all for now folks, Alison SweeneyChair of the Jandt Neighborhood Inter-Neighborhood Council Secretary -- Noah ten Broek