Economic Vitality Board Meeting - September 2, 2026: Belonging in Bozeman Decision-Making Tool Work Session
Economic Vitality Board Meeting - September 2, 2026
The Economic Vitality Board (EVB) of Bozeman, Montana, met on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 6:59 PM. The primary agenda item was a work session on the "Belonging in Bozeman Decision-Making Tool," presented by Courtney Smith. The meeting included no public comments and no other agenda items. The board discussed the tool's structure, data requirements, and potential implementation across city operations.
Discussion Items
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Belonging in Bozeman Decision-Making Tool Work Session (Smith): Courtney Smith presented a proposed decision-making tool designed to guide city policies, practices, and decisions toward equitable access goals. The tool consists of a series of structured questions: defining the proposal and desired outcomes, examining data (disaggregated by race, ethnicity, income, gender, language, geography, disability, etc.), engaging stakeholders, analyzing benefits and burdens, implementing with inclusive timelines and communications, and establishing accountability and evaluation checkpoints.
To illustrate the tool, Smith used the example of the MSU ex-officio board member position, adopted by the Bozeman City Commission on March 3, 2026. The policy aims to include MSU student voices in city boards (Community Development, Economic Vitality, Sustainability, Transportation, Urban Parks, and Forestry) as non-voting members.
The board provided extensive feedback on the tool:
- Order and Structure: Several members suggested reordering the questions. Recommendations included starting with the broad desired outcome (the "why") before the proposal, placing data analysis before community engagement to identify stakeholders, and separating the goal from the proposal. Some found the tool complex and recommended a simpler flow or a matrix/table format.
- Data Concerns: Members emphasized the need for robust, disaggregated data. Statistics cited: Bozeman's population is approximately 50,000–60,000; MSU enrollment is about 17,000 (34% of Bozeman); 15% of enrolled MSU students identify as an underrepresented race or ethnicity; young people aged 20–29 make up 32% of Bozeman's population and are underrepresented in community surveys and public comments. Data privacy for small populations in Bozeman was highlighted, with assurances that the city's dashboards suppress small counts to protect anonymity.
- When to Use the Tool: Members debated at which stage the tool should be applied—initial idea development, before public engagement, or as a final checklist. The consensus leaned toward using it at key decision points rather than every step to avoid it becoming a "check-the-box" exercise.
- Specificity and Guidance: The board requested clearer "should" criteria for each question (e.g., how much data is enough, which stakeholders must be engaged). Some suggested that a lack of data should not halt the process but should be noted as a gap to address in the engagement or accountability steps.
- Stakeholder Categories: Members recommended adding geographic neighborhoods (e.g., Southwest, Northwest Bozeman) and groups like renters/owners, youth, families, and the elderly to the starting considerations.
Smith acknowledged the feedback and noted that the tool is intended to be used at multiple stages, including by the city commission and staff when crafting policies or engagement plans.
Key Outcomes
- The board reviewed the Belonging in Bozeman Decision-Making Tool and provided constructive feedback on its structure, data needs, and application timing.
- No formal votes were taken; the item was a work session to gather input.
- The next EVB meeting is scheduled for October 2026, with the topic expected to be the C. Bozeman Creek Plan.
- Deputy Mayor expressed appreciation for staff work on the Model and Mentor Initiative with a visiting Ukrainian delegation (eight delegates for nine days in September 2026).
- Board members were reminded of term expiration dates and reappointment processes, with details to be emailed by staff.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, so we have that we go. Yes. All right. Good to see everybody. All right. It is six o'clock on the dot. We're going to go ahead and call this meeting to order, our September 2nd Economic Vitality Board meeting to order. Just a little business and reminder that our meetings are held in person, and you can also access them through our video conferencing system. You can also watch or stream our meetings on Channel 190, and you can attend in person. If you have a public comment and you want to do that over the phone, the number is 1253-205-0468. Do we have any disclosures in regards to what we are going to be talking about tonight? No. Any changes to the agenda? No changes tonight, yep. Okay. I'm just going to go over how to give public comment. This is the time to comment on any non-agenda matter falling within the scope of the economic vitality board. There'll also be a time in conjunction with each agenda item for public comment relating to that item, but you may only speak once per topic. Please note the board cannot take any action or on any item which does not appear on the agenda. All persons addressing the board shall speak in a civil and purteous manner, and members of the audience shall be respectful of others. Please state your name. State if you are a resident of the city, please state if you're a property owner. And please limit your comments to three minutes. Do we have any public comments in regards to anything? Not related to agenda item. I see two members of the public online, but they're not raising their hands for public comment. Okay. Thank you very much for that. Well, we have a wonderful presentation. I'm gonna have Brett introduce our presenters tonight. Oopsor, thank you, Jeff. So tonight I'd like to introduce Courtney Smith to the podium. She's doing a presentation on belonging and Bozeman, and I'll I'd like to let her provide you with the details of what she's trying to accomplish with you tonight. Um welcome Courtney, and thank you for being here. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Um presenting on the belonging and Bozeman decision making tool. It's a work session and it's very interactive, so um definitely appreciate your input and feedback on this. So just a bit of an overview of tonight. We'll go through the background of the decision-making tool, go over the tool, have an example walk through where I will have you all walk through the decision-making tool with me, and then have some questions and input from you all on this. So, what exactly is the decision-making tool? So, this is a set of structured questions that guides the examination of policies, practices, and decisions to ensure they align with equal access goals. Yeah, I will also point out that this decision-making tool shows up in a couple of other places within the belonging boseman plan, like our transportation section to ensure that all of the policies and practices and decisions that are made by leaders within the city government uh have equal access in mind. So, why use this decision-making tool? Uh, really, it's to make sure that there's a structured methodology for recognizing, addressing, and rectifying disparities, and ensuring that decisions are based on data, community engagement, and clear objectives aimed at advancing our intended outcomes. Um, and it's a valuable resource within government practices. A lot of different uh government entities utilize this type of tool. We also hope that it addresses root causes of disparities and biases that could exist within our community. So another reason why we use this decision making tool can be found by way of example through the Americans with Disability Act. That was co-created with and by and for people living with disabilities and expanded upon Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
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