HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-13-26 Public Comment - K. Adams - Public Comment_ 3.13.26 - Bozeman City CommissionersFrom:Katie Adams
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment: 3.13.26 - Bozeman City Commissioners
Date:Friday, March 13, 2026 4:03:22 PM
Attachments:Public Comment_3.13.26_Regarding Commissioners.pdf
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Please see my public comment for the Bozeman City Commissioners attached.
Thank you,Katie Adams
Dear Commissioners,
Thank you for the time and effort you dedicate to improving our community. I recognize that
your role is challenging, time-consuming, complex, and often thankless. I appreciate the goals
you have set for the coming year. I also look forward to the stability that a newly adopted UDC
can bring. Given the many years of consideration that have already gone into its development
and its recent passage, I strongly encourage allowing it the opportunity to stand and work as
intended.
I am writing today to express my concern that Allison Sweeney does not represent the full
community of Bozeman. Instead, her positions often seem to reflect the interests of a much
smaller segment of the city. This has been a concern of mine for some time. During commission
meetings, she has often appeared unwilling to show flexibility, listen with an open mind, or
consider perspectives that differ from her own. I have watched these meetings closely—every
one of them from home while caring for two small children, which is no small task—and these
patterns have become increasingly clear.
Those concerns were reinforced during the meeting on Tuesday, March 10th. The discussion left
me with the strong impression that Commissioner Sweeney is not representing the broader
interests of the City of Bozeman, but rather exclusively those of the downtown historic
neighborhood.
In making her argument to fellow commissioners, she framed the issue almost as a good-versus-
evil scenario, casting the historic overlay district as the protagonist and Bozeman’s westward
growth as the villain. She asked: “What sets it apart from the Gallatin Valley Mall and those
surrounding neighborhoods? What sets it apart from Northwest Crossing neighborhoods and
commercial areas? What sets it apart from Ferguson Farms’ commercial node and surrounding
housing?” The tone of these questions conveyed a clear disregard for the many neighborhoods
they referenced—communities that are home to families, schools, restaurants, grocery stores,
health facilities, veterinary clinics, beautiful parks, and much more. As someone who lives in one
of these neighborhoods, I find it deeply discouraging to hear them spoken of as though they are
somehow outside the “vitality” of Bozeman.
Clearly Allison Sweeney does not represent citizens outside of the historic district if she would
so publicly set our neighborhoods up as the antithesis of “good” in Bozeman. We believe that all
neighborhoods have value, and if one of our commissioners does not, she should not be our
commissioner.
Katie Adams
Flanders Mill Homeowner