HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-18-26 Public Comment - M. Bateson - Skewed Input Problem and SUPPORT of Article VIIFrom:Mary Bateson
To:Bozeman Goverment Study Commission; Bozeman Public Comment; henryhhappel@gmail.com; Douglas Fischer
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Skewed Input Problem and SUPPORT of Article VII
Date:Monday, May 18, 2026 4:30:12 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: Skewed Input Problem and SUPPORT of Article VII
Dear Study Commission of Bozeman, Bozeman Comments page, Mr. Henry Happel (with
special respect), and Deputy Mayor Douglas Fischer,
This is a personal perspective on the “Skewed Input Problem” (described by Henry Happel in a
letter to the Bozeman Study Commission, dated April 29, 2026), and words of support for the
proposed draft of the Study Commission’s Article VII, on “Role of Public Engagement in Local
Governance”.
Mr. Happel said: “…one glaring current defect in public input, which is that this input is
mostly provided by relatively elderly, relatively wealthy homeowners, and it suffers from a
lack of input from younger working citizens, often renters, often with families.”
This may be partially true, and it is completely understandable. Is an average working person
with a family likely to carve out the time to become active in providing input on Bozeman city
policy? There are far more immediate concerns. Unfortunately, when I was a worker for over
37 years, I did not make time for attending city meetings or investigating the issues or the
actions of city leaders to the point that I could write coherent letters of concern or provide
input.
While I am currently a homeowner, I was a renter for 18 years of my life, and do not come
from a wealthy background. My current wealth is in large part a result of buying a moderate
house on Bozeman’s north side as soon as it was possible. This house is currently over-valued
at 20 times the purchase price. Of course, this means that my initial house payments were
less than the current tax payments, so I must continue to live a frugal life. I still know that I
am quite fortunate when compared to what younger people are facing today, and am happy
to pay taxes to improve public health, safety and welfare.
One of Mr. Happel’s recommendations to fixing the “Skewed Input Problem” is that the City
mandates that 50% of INC members must be renters. I find this highly problematic and hope
that the Study Commission does not include it in the Charter language or recommend this
idea. What constitutes INC “membership”? Does this mean the INC representative must be a
renter? Does this mean that the people represented on the INC must be from Neighborhood
Associations that consists of 50% renters within its boundary? Do people who have ever been
renters count towards the 50%? I know these questions may be stretching the point, but the
50% renter mandate does not sound like an “organic” way to encourage Neighborhood
Associations.
The “Skew”, which is described as a “glaring deficit” and a “problem” need not be seen as
entirely harmful. It is an indisputable fact that elders have all experienced youth and middle
age. Elders have lived. If an elder’s memory serves, memories can inform current opinions
concerning the public good. If these opinions tend to be moderated by history and
experience, I would argue that this is of great benefit. Also, many elders have younger family
members or friends whose situations and opinions they understand and can represent quite
well.
As an elder, who has only recently become motivated to provide input on a regular basis to
the Bozeman City Commission and the Bozeman Study Commission, I have heard and felt the
discrimination and discounting of my voice because of my age, and, paradoxically, willingness
to participate. Supposedly the “silent majority” matters more. Silent "groups" can be
conjured to support whatever the elected feels or believes. Why listen to the person who
disagrees with you out loud, when the “silent majority” can be invoked to back you up?
If one looks at the most recent election, November 2025, you can see that the voter turnout in
this non-federal cycle election is pretty low, at 33.71% for Bozeman voters. The numbers
show that the highest vote gatherer for Mayor only received votes from 20% of registered
voters, or 14.4% of the Bozeman population. So, what do the other 80 to 85.6 % of people
believe? Hard to know.
2025 November election
Bozeman population
estimate 59000
Bozeman votes cast 14594
Boz Registered voters 43281
Boz Turnout 33.71%
COMMISSIONERS
% of
vote
% of reg
voters
% of
population
Bode 7011 48.0%16.2%11.7%
Sweeney 6477 44.4%15.0%10.8%
Talago 4382 30.0%10.1%7.3%
Blank 2977 20.4%6.9%5.0%
Anselmi 2447 16.8%5.7%4.1%
Nameniuk 1939 13.3%4.5%3.2%
MAYOR
% of
vote
% of reg
voters
% of
population
Fischer 8651 59.3%20.0%14.4%
Meyer 3718 25.5%8.6%6.2%
O'Connor 1715 11.8%4.0%2.9%
These numbers indicate that public servants need to be humble, and continue to gather input
and encourage public input in whatever ways possible. I applaud the proposed draft of the
Study Commission’s Article VII, on “Role of Public Engagement in Local Governance”, and
hope that the Study Commission continues to improve the document to eliminate vague or
legally questionable language, but retains the importance of the Neighborhood Associations,
the Inter-Neighborhood Council, and the Advisory Boards to the Bozeman City Commission
and Bozeman’s general governance. The work this Study Commission has done to improve
the descriptions of these bodies has been beneficial. Thank you.
Please do not fall into the trap of allowing the language concerning public engagement to be
so permissive as to allow a future (or the current) City Commission to remove or diminish
these groups that provide input. I am aware that the current Deputy Mayor has suggested
this: “My recommendation is simple: strike Article VII entirely, or reduce it dramatically to a
short statement affirming the city’s commitment to transparency, accessibility, and public
participation.” Please do not follow this recommendation.
Once again, thank you all for your work on the Bozeman City Study Commission.
Sincerely, Mary Bateson, Bozeman Resident