HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-04-26 Public Comment - L. Jay - Public Comment for February 5 Government Study Commission MeetingFrom:Lorre Jay
To:Bozeman Goverment Study Commission
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment for February 5 Government Study Commission Meeting
Date:Wednesday, February 4, 2026 10:04:39 AM
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Comments on proposed recommendations of the Government Study Commission:
1. Compensation should be fair but not too high for those on the Commission. This does not
mean these positions should be limited to career politicians. The choice is not either/or. Thereis a middle ground that needs to be explored. Commissioners shouldn’t have to work for free
in these roles as that limits those who already have wealth accumulated to being willing toserve on the Commission. Therefore compensation for Commissioners should fairly
compensate those for the hours that they put in (my guess is this is a somewhat part-time job -25 -30 hours per week), but not overcompensated to introduce career politicians to the role.
Benefits should be taken into consideration as part of the compensation so as not to setcompensation too high.
2. Vacancies should not be filled by appointment. This indoctrinates "group-think" and biased
selection of existing commissioners which leads to a lack of broad representation on theCommission. It forces those who want to get appointed to be “liked” by the existing
commissioners and gives "group-think" a head start in the next election as incumbents aremore likely to be elected. Vacancies should be filled by special election with costs to be
minimized. Since this doesn’t happen very often but is critical to the broad representation ofour electorate, the benefits far outweigh the costs, particularly given the small amount a
special election takes relative to the budget (just one consulting gig would equate to a specialelection cost).
A potential proposal to fill vacancies by appointing commissioners for an interim time period
is also a bad idea as it doesn’t solve the problems mentioned above: perpetuates "group-think"and lack of representation the same as appointing full-time members and gives more weight to
incumbency in the next round.
3. Ward-based representation is non-democratic and we should not migrate to this form ofgovernment. All voters should be allowed to elect their full representation on the Commission.
Commissioners are responsible to all their constituencies and not just certainneighborhoods.Reduced cost of special elections should not be the objective. Particularly
given the City’s existing large budget and available cash-flow.
Thank you,
Lorre Jay
Bozeman Resident