HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-20-26 Public Comment - Gallatin Valley Sentinel - Ballot Text for WardsFrom:The Gallatin Valley Sentinel
To:Bozeman Goverment Study Commission
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Ballot Text for Wards
Date:Wednesday, May 20, 2026 10:43:51 AM
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To the Bozeman Study Commission:
As you finalize the ballot option to present to the voters this November, it is vital that thechoice of municipal election structure is framed clearly, transparently, and in alignment with
the data collected from our community.
We urge the Study Commission to utilize the following clean, straightforward choice on theballot:
1. Choose one system for electing City Commissioners. Vote for one:
[ ] Option A: The Citywide (At-Large) System
Commissioners may live anywhere in Bozeman city limits and are elected byvoters across the entire city.
[ ] Option B: The Ward System
The city is divided into equal neighborhood wards. Commissioners must livewithin a specific ward and are elected only by the voters who live inside that
same ward.
This language is the superior option because it makes the choice to voters clear and because itcaptures the preferred method of voting for ward commissioners as identified in your survey.
As a reminder of that data:
This option was also widely supported by city staff:
The hybrid option of establishing wards but having voters at-large elect the commissioners forthose wards contradicts the very purpose of ward-based representation.
Study Commissioner Strout, you said at the meeting on April 30, that one of the reasons you
ran for the Study Commission was to help strengthen the neighborhoods. If you truly want tohelp strengthen neighborhoods, you will reinforce their voice by empowering them to elect
their own leadership.
Study Commissioner Taylor, you said in the same meeting on April 30 that voter turnoutwould be higher if people living in a ward were able to vote for the person who represented
them. This fact is well-documented and further supports the clear choice of ballot language.
It is also true that neighborhood input is often dismissed because only 28% of the city iscovered by neighborhoods (which is an outdated figure because two neighborhoods have been
added since that data was released), and yet less than 15% of Bozeman’s population(approximately 20% of registered voters) decided Bozeman’s mayor and no commissioner
received support from more than 11.7% of the population (16.2% of Bozeman registeredvoters). It should then follow that the option you put on the ballot for voters to decide should
clearly be the option that allows the ward to vote for their own representation with the goal ofincreasing voter turnout.
Further, data proves that true ward systems, where only those who live in the ward vote for
their representative, lower the barrier to entry for local office. Because the campaign footprintis smaller, candidates can achieve genuine, face-to-face outreach with every constituent. This
drastic reduction in geographic size keeps campaigns affordable, encouraging a wider, morediverse pool of everyday citizens to run for office without the need for major financial
backing.
If a ward commissioner is chosen by the entire city, it becomes easier for those elections, justas our elections are now, to be influenced by donations from special interests and out-of-state
entities, and highly mobilized voting blocks in one area of Bozeman can effectively overridethe distinct choice of a specific neighborhood ward, completely defeating their purpose. We
must trust that a commission elected directly by their neighbors is capable of balancedgovernance.
The concern raised by some of you that ward-based voting will breed hyper-parochialism at
the expense of the citywide “good” establishes a false choice between neighborhood advocacyand citywide governance. This argument also unfairly dismisses the integrity of future leaders,
assuming they lack the capacity to represent their neighbors while still making responsibledecisions for the entire city. Furthermore, where do you draw the line on this logic? Our state
representatives are elected by localized districts to bring Bozeman’s specific needs to Helena,
yet they are fully expected to balance those needs with the bigger picture of the State ofMontana. By your own logic, should we allow voters statewide to choose who represents
Bozeman in the legislature? You would rightly reject that outcome as an infringement on localrepresentation. Why, then, would you try to impose that exact same flawed standard on
Bozeman’s own neighborhoods by allowing wards to be established but not allow only thepeople within those wards to be the ones who vote for their representative?
Some have argued that a ward system would create negative connotations or stigmas between
different parts of town. While it is true that these stigmas exist in cities all across the UnitedStates, for example the “South Side” of Chicago, those stigmas will exist with or without
wards. Further, Bozeman’s neighborhoods are highly diverse in both housing types andsocioeconomic status. We currently have areas of Bozeman that are officially designated as
“blighted” and receive Tax Increment Financing and other specific grants because of thisstatus, but we do not stop issuing that funding because we are afraid that someone might get
the wrong impression about that area of town. It is absurd to deny neighborhoods directpolitical representation by allowing only those within a ward to vote for their representative
based on an imaginary social stigma.
We will conclude with a quote from the 1996 Bozeman Study Commission’s Final Report:
“Many citizens do not feel represented by city commissioners. Voters have lost that “local”feeling which should be in local government. “At-large” elections inhibit adequate debate
between individual candidates, decrease the ability of voters to differentiate betweencandidates, and increase the money and time needed to campaign. Historically, most
commissioners have resided in one section of the city.”
THIRTY YEARS ago, Bozeman citizens did not feel represented by their local government.The 2006 Study Commission formally recognized the Inter-Neighborhood Council in the
charter. TWENTY YEARS later, Bozeman citizens still do not feel represented by their localgovernment. Many of you have said that you want to see how the changes you have proposed
in this study shake out before moving to wards, but be assured that eliminating the deputymayor, allowing 60 days (instead of 30 days) to fill vacancies (still by appointment), and
adding fluff with no substance to neighborhoods will not achieve that change. Now is the timeto let voters decide if they want wards, where only the residents of the ward elect their
representative, and THEN assess in TEN more years if that achieved the change that wasneeded to make Bozeman residents feel represented.
Sincerely,
Katie Adamson behalf of The Gallatin Valley Sentinel