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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-10-25 Public Comment - D. Carty - Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn allow developer takeover of City public meeting, 10-6-25 with ResponsesFrom:Daniel Carty To:Terry Cunningham; Chuck Winn; Douglas Fischer; Emma Bode; Joey Morrison; Jennifer Madgic Cc:Bozeman City Commission; Bozeman Public Comment; Emily Kiely; Shawn Kohtz; David Fine; Greg Sullivan; Takami Clark Subject:Re: [EXTERNAL]Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn allow developer takeover of City public meeting, 10-6-25 Date:Friday, October 10, 2025 7:39:31 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. Friday, Oct 10, 2025; 7:40am Dear Commissioner Douglas Fischer, Mayor Terry Cunnigham, City Manager Chuck Winn, et al: This email is primarily directed to Commissioner Douglas Fischer, who has accepted acampaign contribution from Jerry Pape of the Bozeman Development Consortium. That said, this email is also directed to Mayor Terry Cunningham and City Manager Chuck Winnbecause it relates to the fact that you both allowed Jerry Pape to bully his way into taking over the City's October 6, 2025, public meeting at HRDC. By allowing Jerry Pape to takeover the October 6 public meeting at HRDC, you enabled him to attempt to bully two more individuals involved in Bozeman's 2025 municipal elections (as follows): First, on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, at the League of Women Voters (LWV) CityCommission candidate forum at the Bozeman Public Library Community Room, Jerry Pape attempted to bully City Commission candidate Alison Sweeney during the Q&A session(Commissioner Emma Bode must have witnessed this). Fortunately, the LWV moderator shut down this bullying attempt in short order. Second, on Thursday, October 9, 2025, just before the start LWV City Mayoral candidateforum, Jerry Pape attempted to bully me—as a member of the WARD working group—in the hallway outside the Bozeman Public Library Community Room. Given that I raised myvoice, this bullying attempt was witnessed by at least one library staff member and at least one LWV staff member. It is axiomatic that the best way to curb or stop bullying behavior is to speak up as soon assuch behavior occurs. Consequently, Commissioner Douglas Fischer should issue a public statement that he will not tolerate his campaign donors attempting to bully any individualinvolved in Bozeman's 2025 municipal elections. And, the City of Bozeman should issue a public statement stating that it will not tolerate bullying behavior on the part of anyoneattending a City-sponsored public meeting. Daniel Carty, Bozeman Resident 213 N. 3rd Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 From: Terry Cunningham <TCunningham@BOZEMAN.NET> Sent: Wednesday, October 8, 2025 10:19 AM To: Chuck Winn <CWinn@BOZEMAN.NET> Cc: Daniel Carty <dgc12@hotmail.com>; Bozeman City Commission <BozemanCityCommission@BOZEMAN.NET>; Bozeman Public Comment <comments@BOZEMAN.NET>; Emily Kiely <ekiely@BOZEMAN.NET>; Shawn Kohtz <SKohtz@BOZEMAN.NET>; David Fine <DFine@BOZEMAN.NET>; Greg Sullivan <gsullivan@BOZEMAN.NET>; Takami Clark <tclark@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL]Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn allow developer takeover of City public meeting, 10-6-25 Mr. Carty: It’s unfortunate that the public dialog around the WARD initiative has devolved into rancor, suspicion, personal insults and baseless accusations. In response to your assertions, here are some facts: 1. I had no previous knowledge who would be attending the October 6th meeting from thepublic. I was unaware the Mr. Pape would be attending. 2. Neither I nor anyone from city staff coordinated in any way with Mr. Pape. Assertions that the city of Bozeman orchestrated his appearance at the event or conspired with Mr. Pape abouthis public comments are untrue and offensive. 3. I believe your estimate of the amount of time Mr. Pape spoke during his initial comments (10 minutes) is an exaggeration. We attempted to provide any commenter who wanted toexpress an opinion or ask a question the opportunity to do so. We are often criticized for only allowing 3 minutes per person during public comment opportunities, and didn’t place a timelimit on individual comments, but will consider doing so in the future based on your comment. 4. I tried to call on meeting attendees in a fair manner throughout the meeting to make sure all voices were heard. There were instances when members of the public addressed one anotherdirectly, including some debates of perspectives. We allowed those debates to happen unless they were unrelated to the topic. In summary, I disagree with the accusations you have leveled at me and at city staff and I findit unfortunate that you have characterized us in the manner you have chosen. Terry Cunningham Sent from my iPhone On Oct 8, 2025, at 8:12 AM, Chuck Winn <CWinn@bozeman.net> wrote:  Dear Mr. Carty: Thank you for your comments and I need to clear the record. I, nor anyone on my team, has in the past, is currently, or in the future will, coordinate with Mr. Pape for any part of our education efforts. He is a member of the public with his own opinions and right to participate. We did not ask him to attend or provide him with any different forum than anyone else had in the room or was allowed. The Mayor called on him when he raised his hand just as he did with everyone who raised their hands. You are welcome to call me a coward; that is your right. I will, however, stand up for my staff who are not cowards but rather experts in their fields and are doing their work in alignment with the ethics of their professions, professional standards, and the City's Core Values. I'm sorry you feel this way about the City's approach to voter education and that this conversation has degraded to name calling. We will not engage in similar behavior or label people who disagree. Again, I thank you for your comments and we look forward to continued conversations around the things important to our community, Chuck Chuck Winn | City Manager City of Bozeman 121 North Rouse Avenue - P.O. Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 P: 406.582.2307 C: 406.581.0020 From: Daniel Carty <dgc12@hotmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 8, 2025 7:39 AM To: Terry Cunningham <TCunningham@BOZEMAN.NET>; Chuck Winn <CWinn@BOZEMAN.NET>; Shawn Kohtz <SKohtz@BOZEMAN.NET>; David Fine <DFine@BOZEMAN.NET>; Takami Clark <tclark@BOZEMAN.NET>; Greg Sullivan <gsullivan@BOZEMAN.NET> Cc: Bozeman Public Comment <comments@BOZEMAN.NET>; Joey Morrison <jmorrison@BOZEMAN.NET>; Douglas Fischer <dfischer@BOZEMAN.NET>; Jennifer Madgic <jmadgic@BOZEMAN.NET>; Emma Bode <ebode@BOZEMAN.NET>; Emily Kiely <ekiely@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: [EXTERNAL]Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn allow developer takeover of City public meeting, 10-6-25 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. (Please post the following public comment in the City's WARD ballot initiative public comment folder. Thank you.) Wednesday, October 8, 2025; 7:30am Dear Mayor Terry Cunningham, City Manager Chuck Winn, City Attorney Greg Sullivan, et al: On October 6, 2025, Mayor Terry Cunningham and City Manager Chuck Winnallowed—and perhaps coordinated with—Mr. Jerry Pape, a representative of the Bozeman Development Consortium (BDC), to take over a City of Bozemanpublic meeting being held at HRDC. Representing the City at this meeting were Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn, Utilities Director Shawn Kohtz, UrbanRenewal Program Manager David Fine, and Communications & Engagement Manager Takami Clark. Specifically on October 6, Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn, and Citystaff members Fine and Kohtz gave another anti-WARD ballot initiative presentation. When the Q&A part of the presentation began to wind down,Mayor Cunningham called on the BDC's Mr. Jerry Pape, who did not have a question but instead walked toward the front of the room carrying an i-pad andbegan an anti-WARD tirade. Mayor Cunningham and City Manager Winn allowed Jerry Pape to continue without interruption. Likely, this stunt had beenpre-arranged among Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn, and the BDC's Jerry Pape. On October 6, I was in the audience until the time the BDC's Jerry Pape beganhis initial anti-WARD tirade, at which time I left to attend to a prior commitment. That said, here is an in-person account of what subsequently transpired: "[Jerry Pape] commandeered the City's educational presentation for at least 10minutes, and then [he] started answering audience questions which were addressed to city staff, and impulsively blurting out biased comments withoutbeing called upon. I don't know about 'aiding and abetting', but the city's presenters stood by and watched it happen. It lent credence to the publicconcerns that developers have disproportionate influence on city decision- makers, elected and staff. (Like private lobbyists writing policy papers forlegislators.)" Also, at some point during the October 6 City public meeting at HRDC, a member of the audience asked the BDC's Jerry Pape to identify himself and hisaffiliation, but the BDC's Jerry Pape refused (Cowardly? You bet!). Of course, many of us who attended part or all of the October 6 meeting know who theBDC's Jerry Pape is and are familiar with his bullying behavior. Thank you, Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn, and City staff members Fine andKohtz for your cowardly behavior in allowing a bully to do your dirty work at the City’s anti-WARD public meeting on October 6. Arguably at the October 6 meeting, Mayor Cunningham, City Manager Winn,and City staff members Fine and Kohtz each violated all four of the City's core values: Leadership, Integrity, Service, and Teamwork. Sad to say, my previous experience with the City has taught me that the City's four core values are not legally enforceable! In the end, that Mayor Cunningham and City Manager Winn likely coordinatedwith—or at least allowed—the BDC's Jerry Pape to take over the City's October 6 public meeting at HRDC will further erode trust between the public and theCity Bozeman. Hope y'all are proud of yourselves (and you probably are). Daniel Carty, Bozeman Resident 213 N. 3rd Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 cc: Deputy Mayor Joey Morrison; City Commissioners Douglas Fischer, Emma Bode, and Jennifer Madgic; Community Engagement Coordinator Emily Kiely;and comments@bozeman.net for the public record. City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. 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