HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-12-15 Bergman BBAB letter_Jan (2)6/12/2015
Mayor Krause & Bozeman City Commissioners,
I have read & re-read the Commission Memorandum titled Analysis of Community Involvement
Processes and the committee's recommendation regarding the Beautification Board. I feel the
reasoning sited by the committee is faulty for several reasons.
1) "They [the members of the board] rely heavily on staff to put everything together for the
Beautification Awards....Staff does no feel that staff time invested in this board is
commensurate with the deliveries." These statements imply that Board members have little or
no interest in participating in the Beautification Awards. They also imply that our staff liaison
has expressed dissatisfaction in the amount of time required for her to prepare for the annual
Awards presentation and that the results are unsatisfactory. Allow me to correct these
misconceptions.
First, the members of the Beautification Board take their commitment very seriously. They
work hard canvasing the community to locate worthy Beautification Award nominees, provide
photos & background information to be considered by the Board, select the best of the best,
interview the recipients, & compose 3-5 minute presentations for 2-3 recipients each. For the
last two years, one of our board members, William Culpepper, prepares the PowerPoint that is
shown with the presentations. The staff liaison reserves the event location & arranges for light
snacks, and prints out the photos used for the awards themselves. These are assembled by the
board members. The night of the Awards, everyone helps with set-up. Board members
(representing the City of Bozeman) mingle with up to 100 people in attendance, the friends &
family of recipients.
Second, the staff liaison was not interviewed by the committee prior to the completion of their
memorandum. If she had been, she would have told the committee that her work-time spent
on the Beautification Awards in the fall, and Clean-up Day in the spring & all meetings in
between is less than 90 hours. That's 4% of her entire annual working hours. She does not feel
over-burdened. So it is a mystery to me how this conclusion was drawn.
2) The committee feels that "While it is helpful to have board members help with Clean-up Day,
they can still volunteer without being on the board." Any student of human nature can see the
flaw in this bit of reasoning. After being dismissed by the City as "helpful" but not really
necessary, how many board members do you think will volunteer to come out to the park on a
cold, wet, Saturday at 7:30 am and volunteer to work with garbage for 6 hours? Additionally,
the committee does not mention the time spent by board members the month before Clean-up
Day obtaining donations from local businesses to be given away to participants as door prizes at
the end of the event. Since none of the committee members has ever participated in setting up
this event, it is no wonder they did not know.
3) "It may be possible to merge [the Beautification] award program with the Historic
Preservation award program." Clearly, the committee did not interview the Beautification
Board Chair, Terry Quatraro, before making this suggestion. Terry has been involved in the
BBAB since 1997. She would have told the committee that this idea has been tried before, with
terrible results. I would also be interested to know if any members of the Historic Preservation
Board were interviewed regarding this idea.
4) "The Inter-Neighborhood Council could assist with Beautification Awards and other
events...This group could also exist without any formal relationship to the City government."
What is the advantage to the City government of not having a relationship with city-wide
events?
5) "Online City Hall could be utilized as a voting mechanism for the Beautification Awards." The
committee does not explain why the on-line site would be more effective than the Board for
the voting process. The Board has posted notices on-line & in the Chronicle requesting
nominations with no result, with the exception of local landscapers & architects nominating
their own projects for consideration.
The Beautification Advisory Board has been involved in the review of city ordinance changes,
the N 7th meridian improvements, restoration of the previously neglected Sacagawea Park,
and, at the request of the Parks & Rec Department, the development of an Adopt-a-Park
program for the City. Members have invested time & energy on behalf of the City doing work
they feel is important to their enjoyment of life in Bozeman. I urge the commissioners to reject
the committee's recommendation to disband the Beautification Board.
Jan Bergman
Vice-Chair
Bozeman Beautification Advisory Board