OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Bozeman Study Commission Meeting - July 23, 2026: Charter Edits and Ward Advisory Board Discussion

City Commission — Thursday, July 23, 2026
BodyBozeman, Montana
SessionCity Commission
DateThursday, July 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:58:31

Transcript — Verbatim
1:57

One minute left.

1:59

Oops.

2:00

Caleb, are we ready to roll?

2:05

Ready to roll.

2:06

You're ready to roll.

2:08

Excellent.

2:27

That's a leader at all.

2:31

All right.

2:32

Uh welcome to the study commission uh meeting July twenty-third, twenty twenty-six.

2:39

Uh with this I call the meeting to order.

2:42

If you are able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence.

2:53

Pledge of the flag of the United States of America, and then to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible.

3:05

Liberty and justice for all that four.

3:43

Okay, moving right along.

3:45

We have a consent agenda, which is um minutes from July fifteenth, twenty twenty second.

3:50

Do I have a motion to approve?

3:54

Public comment comes before.

3:57

Public comment on anything within the jurisdiction of this study commission.

4:01

Thank you, Barb.

4:03

I don't see anybody in the room today.

4:04

Is there anybody online, Caleb?

4:06

Uh there's not right now.

4:07

Thank you very much.

4:08

All right.

4:08

So then we're gonna move on to the consent agenda.

4:11

And Barb, did you say you want to make a motion?

4:13

I I can make a motion that we uh approve the consent agenda.

4:17

Second.

4:18

We've got a motion.

4:19

We have a second from Jan.

4:21

Any further discussion?

4:24

All in favor of approving the consent agenda, say aye.

4:27

Aye.

4:28

Any uh opposed, same sign.

4:32

Motion carries four to zero.

4:34

And I do want to um make one motion to uh uh because uh Carcy Taylor is not here.

4:44

And what's the word I'm looking for?

4:46

Excuse his absolute.

4:48

Excuse his absence.

4:49

Thank you very much, Jan.

4:50

I really appreciate that.

4:51

I want to make a motion to excuse the absence of Carson Taylor, who is uh not available this evening and was um pre organized ahead of time.

5:02

Second.

5:03

We have a motion and a second.

5:04

All in favor say aye.

5:05

Aye, aye.

5:07

Thank you very much.

5:08

All right, that moves us on to the correspondence or study commission update.

5:12

And I just want to kind of walk through each of us.

5:14

If you have anything, Barb, can I want to give you an opportunity?

5:17

Nothing.

5:18

Okay.

5:19

Deanna.

5:21

No, okay.

5:22

Jan.

5:23

Briefly, uh Carson and I met with the uh ballot education uh team, and they had a request that you received from me and Carson by email, which is basically two parts.

5:38

One is a list of groups that uh Becky consolidated with work we had done earlier.

5:43

I know there's later versions.

5:45

I apologize they didn't include those, but if you could be so kind to fill in any additions or changes to that um attachment about the groups themselves, groups to reach out to, and if you can add the email address or if you can add your own name to groups that you are willing to reach out to and engage and find out ways that they would be interested in learning about our ballot education.

6:13

That's part one.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Charter Revision█████████████████████████████████████████████69%
Public Engagement███████11%
Election Procedures████6%
Land Use Planning███4%
Procedural██3%
Community Engagement██3%
Government Ethics██3%
Ethics Training█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Bozeman Study Commission Meeting - July 23, 2026: Charter Edits and Ward Advisory Board Discussion

The Bozeman Study Commission met on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at 4:00 PM in the Commission Room at City Hall. The meeting focused on reviewing and editing the proposed charter, particularly a new section on ward boundaries (Section 7.04), and discussing revisions to the tentative charter based on public feedback and expert input. The commission aims to have a finished charter and final report ready for approval at the August 6 meeting after review on July 30.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The commission approved the minutes from July 15, 2026, by a 4-0 vote (Commissioner Carson Taylor was absent). A motion to excuse Taylor’s absence was also approved.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Dan Cardi (Bozeman resident): Urged the commission to remove political party affiliation from the Ward Advisory Board composition.
  • Katie Adams (Gallatin Valley Sentinel volunteer): Testified on several points: (1) Remove partisan language from Ward Advisory Board; (2) Recommend a 10% population deviation trigger for redrawing wards (citing Missoula city attorney’s letter); (3) Simplify candidate filing deadline language in Section 7.04C; (4) In Article 8, suggested replacing “shall” with “should” to avoid overly prescriptive language; (5) Noted potential conflicts between HOA bylaws and Inter-Neighborhood Council (INC) recognition requirements; (6) Suggested wording for public solicitation of board members.
  • Emily Talago (Bozeman resident): Raised that MLUPA (Montana Land Use Planning Act) may be revised by the legislature and asked for clarity on whether INC having a presentation opportunity constitutes decision-making or presentation authority.

Discussion Items

F.1 – Review Edits to Wards and Adjustments (Section 7.04)

Commissioner Barb presented a new Section 7.04 establishing a Ward Advisory Board process, drawn from public comments, the National Civic League model, and Missoula’s approach. Key debated elements:

  • Political party affiliation: Commissioners unanimously agreed to remove the sentence requiring party disclosure from the board composition, as Bozeman elections are nonpartisan.
  • Appointment of board members: Commissioners preferred that the city commission appoint all five members, rather than four appoint a fifth chair. Jan supported this, and the public comment echoed it.
  • Population trigger for redrawing wards: Deanna favored a 10% threshold to avoid frequent redraws due to rapid growth; Jan argued for a five-year mid-census review instead; Mike recommended leaving the details to ordinance rather than the charter. Barb will present a revised version on July 30.
  • Criteria for ward boundaries: Deanna proposed adding “shall preserve existing neighborhood association boundaries to the maximum extent feasible”; Jan and Barb cautioned against over-specificity. Mike noted that compact, contiguous, and respect for political/census boundaries (including precincts) is standard.
  • Annexation treatment: Mike will consult Community Development Manager Chris Saunders on whether to prescribe annexation placement in the charter or leave to ordinance.
  • Timeline: Commissioners decided to move the first implementation to 2029 (rather than 2027) to allow adequate transition time, especially if both ward and commission expansion are approved. Deanna preferred 2027, but the majority supported 2029.

F.2 and G.1 – Review Edits to Tentative Charter and Draft Final Report

Barb walked through changes to Article 8 (public engagement, boards, INC), Article 6 (financial management), and Article 9 (Board of Ethics). Key discussion points:

  • Article 8.04 – Inter-Neighborhood Council (INC): Commissioners agreed to keep the requirement that INC shall follow the city’s code of ethics, with training implied. A sentence about presenting recommendations to the city commission was removed to avoid making INC a decision-making body.
  • Article 8.05 – City Boards: Carson and Jan requested reinstating Section B (purpose, number, skills) that had been removed as overly prescriptive. Mike argued the city commission should retain flexibility. After debate, commissioners supported a modified version: “The city shall establish the purpose of each board and the number of desired skills, necessary experience” without specifying “by resolution.” Section C (public education, subcommittees) remained but Barb suggested it may be too prescriptive.
  • Article 6.09 – Independent Audit: A sentence allowing the same firm to provide audit and other services was debated. Deanna and Becky opposed it as contrary to industry standards. Mike noted only two firms have been used in 10–15 years and one no longer provides audits. A compromise was reached: require a unanimous vote of the city commission to waive independence.
  • Article 9.01 – Board of Ethics: Barb removed candidates for political office from annual training requirements, citing city attorney advice that the city cannot bind candidates. No objections.
  • Preamble: Jan defended the inclusion of “human rights” as previously voted; Deanna noted poor parallel construction but no change was made. Deanna requested re-adding reference to the U.S. Constitution (from the 2006 charter). Barb will check and include.
  • Other: Edits to comply with MLUPA (Section 5.04) were accepted. Deletions of references to specific organizations like GFOA were approved.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda approved (4-0).
  • Direction to Barb: Revise Section 7.04 per discussion (remove party affiliation, adjust appointment process, decide on population trigger, simplify language) and bring updated version to July 30 meeting.
  • Direction on Charter: Barb will incorporate decisions (Article 8 revisions, audit compromise, ethics board change, preamble edits) and produce a clean document for July 30.
  • Final Report Edits: Commissioners must send written edits to the draft final report to Becky (via group email) by end of day Saturday, July 25. Becky will compile them for a unified clean report on July 30.
  • Additional Tasks: Mike will report on annexation placement (by end of day July 24) and on the number of state-approved audit firms. Jan will resend the ballot education outreach list; commissioners to respond by end of day July 24.
  • Next Meeting: July 30, 2026 – review clean charter and final report; final approval scheduled for August 6.

Meeting Transcript

One minute left. Oops. Caleb, are we ready to roll? Ready to roll. You're ready to roll. Excellent. That's a leader at all. All right. Uh welcome to the study commission uh meeting July twenty-third, twenty twenty-six. Uh with this I call the meeting to order. If you are able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. Pledge of the flag of the United States of America, and then to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible. Liberty and justice for all that four. Okay, moving right along. We have a consent agenda, which is um minutes from July fifteenth, twenty twenty second. Do I have a motion to approve? Public comment comes before. Public comment on anything within the jurisdiction of this study commission. Thank you, Barb. I don't see anybody in the room today. Is there anybody online, Caleb? Uh there's not right now. Thank you very much. All right. So then we're gonna move on to the consent agenda. And Barb, did you say you want to make a motion? I I can make a motion that we uh approve the consent agenda. Second. We've got a motion. We have a second from Jan. Any further discussion? All in favor of approving the consent agenda, say aye. Aye. Any uh opposed, same sign. Motion carries four to zero. And I do want to um make one motion to uh uh because uh Carcy Taylor is not here. And what's the word I'm looking for? Excuse his absolute. Excuse his absence. Thank you very much, Jan. I really appreciate that. I want to make a motion to excuse the absence of Carson Taylor, who is uh not available this evening and was um pre organized ahead of time. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye, aye. Thank you very much. All right, that moves us on to the correspondence or study commission update. And I just want to kind of walk through each of us. If you have anything, Barb, can I want to give you an opportunity?

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com