HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-26 Public Comment - R. Brey - neighborhoods againFrom:Ron Brey
To:Bozeman Goverment Study Commission
Subject:[EXTERNAL]neighborhoods again
Date:Sunday, May 17, 2026 5:06:24 PM
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I have greatly appreciated your careful deliberations concerning the charter as a whole and
citizen participation in local government via neighborhood representation in particular. However, I understand that any inclusion of a formal neighborhood structure in the charter
has now been called into question. Apparently the concern has to do with the percentage ofthe community formally involved in the neighborhood program. The charter can mandate full
community involvement as it does in Helena and Great Falls among other places. I do want tomake the point that the current percentage is virtually irrelevant to your deliberations..
This charter, if passed, will likely provide the structure for our city government for the next
ten years (2037). If history is any indication, it may provide the structure for the next 20 years(2047) To base decisions on current percentages is extremely shortsighted especially as they
are rapidly increasing.
The strongest programs in the state have been in place for decades providing the localgovernments with informed, and thoughtful input from a community perspective that the local
government can obtain in no other organized way. These governments have benefitted fromthis input and do not fear it.
Leaving citizen participation via neighborhoods to the preferences of future commissions
ensures inconsistency. This effectively undermines the ability of this or any program tofunction effectively.
My biggest concern is that abandoning the section entirely will infuriate residents who have
thus been shown the door thereby risking passage of the entire charter. From a neighborhoodstandpoint, better the meager program we have today than none at all.
You have my sincere thanks for the long hours and careful thought you have put in to give us
the local government structure that will serve us best for the next ten or twenty years.
Ron BreyBozeman resident