The Butte Silver Bow Study Commission held a public hearing to gather input on potential charter changes. The meeting began with a presentation on outreach efforts for a community survey, followed by public testimony on four key topics: neighborhood councils, fire services, the number of commissioners, and the form of government (chief executive vs. city manager). The commission also accepted general comments not falling under these topics.
Size for the amount of voters that are in Butte Silverbow. So hopefully we'll get a few more over the next month or so. Survey responses indicate that residents are interested, potentially interested in seeing changes to their local government, including number of commissioners, the form of local government, and how decisions are made. Some of the comments expressed various frustrations with local government. There were a lot of discussions about transparency, improving technology, improving the way that residents are able to interact with their local government. You can kind of read through each of these topics that were summarized. So one under the government structure section was we need highly qualified people making a few key decisions, fewer meetings, less administrative business, and more focus on issues that matter. Under the city manager model, one comment that kind of kind of stood out to me was Butte is a highly complicated city with lingering perception and economic issues. The city manager is clearly the best solution for this role. One comment was neighborhood councils would help make sure commissioners vote for what their district wants, not just what they want personally. There was discussion about how neighborhood councils work in other communities, and that they you know could all have a similar format, similar bylaws, that type of thing, and that's a way for residents to kind of another method for them to have their voices heard. There were a lot of comments on the fire department. One was when it comes to fighting fires, there should never be confusion. A system with clear control and authority while maintaining some autonomy for volunteers would be ideal. Most of these are anonymous, so they don't have names to them. The survey was also anonymous, saw those comments come in just without a name associated. You know, we do know that we are our local governments often are a steer, you know, they're they're making do with what they have. Um departments were particularly talked about as being underfunded. Um of the quotes was the library is underfunded and understaffed. Most departments are doing the best they can, but they're stretched thin, and I think that was a sentiment that was repeated pretty much by every department head that came and spoke to the commission. Lots of comments about transparency, like I said before, um, and improving just the technology and the ease with which people interact with their local government. So one comment on transparency was post-meeting announcements, videos, and draft minutes within 48 hours. People want to know what decisions are being made and why. So public safety and confidence in local government were frequent themes. Umrage the study commission to consider structural reforms, while others emphasize the importance of building trust and accountability. And one comment that I wanted to share. Uh, thank you for your hard work on this. This is a pivotal point for Butte, and we have a real opportunity to improve how our government works. So again, just wanted to provide a brief overview of the outreach efforts for this initial phase. Um, there will be a report compiled for the commission that's a much more in-depth um summary of all the comments. So, any questions? Ms. Dolan? Thank you, Madam Chair. Um Shana, thank you so much for this information. Very helpful. I just wanted to ask, I keep getting questions from people on the street that want to know how can we get more people to do the survey. The survey really is a critical piece, and to get more respondents, more folks across the board that may not engage in you know public meetings every week. Um, but uh any more ideas on that? Uh great question, Commissioner. Um, we have had a really good response from the article in the Montana Standard a few days ago. Um they did a great job of putting the the link and the QR code. We got another maybe 60 in the last couple of days, so that's been really effective. Um has gone out in all the newsletters, social media, um, the water bill. The responses do keep coming in. I'll say that. The few more trickle in every day. So, like I said, I'm hoping to get at least maybe a hundred more in the next month or so. Um, but I think we can push it out through all of those avenues again. I think as this process goes on, there's more awareness created in the community.