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Doug Chandler’s letter for City Commission Position Page 1 of 3
Doug Chandler
2002 Knaab Drive
Bozeman, MT 59715
406 579-2150
doug@alliedengineering.com
September 28, 2020
City of Bozeman Mayor and Commission
Bozeman City Clerk’s Office
Bozeman City Hall
121 N. Rouse Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715
agenda@bozeman.net.
RE: Statement of Qualifications and Interest for Bozeman City Commission
Dear Mayor and Commissioners,
Thank you for your service to Bozeman as Commissioners and Mayor. This letter serves as my
summary of qualifications and my statement of interest to assume the roles and responsibilities
of a City Commissioner, including adhering to the Bozeman Code of Ethics, developing
familiarity with Bozeman's guiding documents, and preparing for and attending weekly City
Commission meetings to represent public interests and set policy direction for the City of
Bozeman.
As you likely know, I ran for Commission in 2017, earning the vote of about 3,000 Bozeman City
Residents placing me in third behind Iho and Terry in a five-way race. Given my political and
campaign in-experience it was a good showing. Further, when considering a five-way race with
approximately 9,000 voters, my tally indicates I earned the vote of a significant portion of the
voting city residents compared to appointing a newcomer or a less successful former city
commission candidate.
I have no political aspirations other than to offer my services to the betterment of my
hometown which I love. I am a political moderate, not associated with any political party, thick-
skinned, open-minded, and progressive and can promise to serve honestly, politely, and
thoughtfully if selected. I believe I can be an effective member of the Commission and serve the
City and its citizens well in this position.
At 61 years old and having lived in Bozeman all but 7 of those years, I have a long-term view of
Bozeman’s past and future. I grew up in Bozeman, attended college at MSU and the University
of Washington, and spent much of my time away plotting how I could return and make a living
in Bozeman. My wife Sonja and I have four grown children, all raised at our house where we
Doug Chandler’s letter for City Commission Position Page 2 of 3
still live in Bozeman, who have now been scattered throughout the country and world. They
have also been plotting how they can return to Bozeman, make a living, afford a house, and
raise their children. I wish the same for them and all others who truly love Bozeman and want
to make it their home.
My main goal as a commissioner would be to continue to formulate and implement the
Bozeman Strategic plan to assure that Bozeman can remain an inclusive and excellent place to
live a sustainable, rewarding, and environmentally conscience existence. My business and
engineering experience, moderate political demeanor, and a long history of volunteer and
professional leadership positions are the primary qualifications I offer the Commission and the
people of Bozeman.
My business and engineering experience has included analyzing, designing and permitting
thousands of projects ranging from dams, roads, pipelines, developments, stream and land
reclamation, water supplies, and environmental cleanups over a large part of our country from
New Jersey to Alaska and California to Minnesota. Allied Engineering, an employee-owned
business I founded in 1996, performs around 250 projects per year. While we have worked on
thousands of out-of-state projects most of our experience has been in Montana and Gallatin
County. This informs my knowledge of the City of Bozeman administrative process, history,
rules, and infrastructure of the area.
In addition to being familiar with the nuts and bolts of city infrastructure, I also have experience
in building inclusive, fair, and efficient organizations through my nearly 30 years of business
experience in founding and leading Allied Engineering which employs over 30 people. Allied’s
Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) presently owns about 75% of the business. I will be
mostly divested from Allied and cutting back my hours and responsibilities over the next four
years.
I have served in leadership positions on various committees, boards, and volunteer
organizations, including some for the City of Bozeman. These positions included President or
Chair for the Montana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Bozeman Sunrise
Rotary Club, and Gallatin Local Water Quality District and board member on the County Impact
Fee Citizens Advisory Committee, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle Editorial Board, City of Bozeman
Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOP) Committee, and the American Consulting Engineers Council.
With a long-term view of Bozeman’s growth and evolution through both booms and busts, I
believe the city regulatory setting needs to be adaptable, but also steady and fair. I support
Bozeman’s progressive stance on being inclusive to all citizens. While my inherent focus for
the City of Bozeman Commission is likely in the realm of infrastructure, parks, trails, and
funding, I support the Bozeman Strategic Plan and think that my background will allow me to
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thoughtfully contribute in future decisions made in interpreting and implementing all elements
of the Strategic Plan. Having worked with many cities and towns all over the west, I believe our
City government can: improve affordability of homes; improve the water quality of our local
streams; evolve our water supply to be more drought resistant; expand our boundaries to
accommodate growth within the city rather than sprawl across the County; work better with
the County and MSU on common facilities and issues; and work better with the State to
restructure revenue sources to tap visitors and tourists to help with a fair share of our
infrastructure costs. While I know I still have a lot to learn about Bozeman, these are issues
that I have experience with and can contribute substantially to.
I am a busy and active person but would make time for the City Commission by reducing my
work and role at Allied Engineering to 30 hours per week if selected for this position. I urge you
to consider my application but to select whatever candidate you believe will do the best job for
the citizens and future of Bozeman. I appreciate your consideration.
Sincerely,
Doug Chandler, PhD, PE