The Gallatin Valley Sentinel

Protecting the land, people, and values.

We are the template for how to prevent your city from getting progressively worse.

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

Be the WHITEPILL you want to see in the world.

https://t.co/NBHjgRMuPQ

[AF Post @AFpost]

A report from the Fed found that illegal immigration alone accounted for increases in home prices of 30% and in rental prices of 20%.

The real impact is likely much higher when factoring in authorized immigrants who were given generous financing.

Follow: @AFpost

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

@thicc_gandalf @jamideeW @zwinchester5 It is currently trending.

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

@jamideeW @zwinchester5 @thicc_gandalf He has a point. The costs of immigration, both legal and illegal, on housing and other public systems are evident from even a cursory review of the research.

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

@jamideeW @thicc_gandalf @zwinchester5 Calm down Jami.

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

@thicc_gandalf @jamideeW @zwinchester5 We will be doing a complete white paper on immigration in Gallatin County in the coming month or two.

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

This Thursday, June 18 is the public hearing on Bozeman's proposed new city charter — one of the last chances to speak directly to the Study Commission before the language is finalized on August 6 and goes to a November ballot vote.

Here's how the evening works:
🕔5:00 PM — Study Commission previews recommendations + food provided
🎙️5:30–7:30 PM — Public hearing
⏱️You get approximately 3 minutes to speak

Can't make it in person? Join via Zoom — https://t.co/kKAugtA2oK

Can't do Zoom? Email your public comment to [email protected] before noon on Thursday. Written comments become part of the official record.

Watch the full series playlist for a complete breakdown of every major proposed change to Bozeman's City Charter.

📍City Hall — 121 N. Rouse Ave., Bozeman, MT

#Bozeman #BozemanCharter #LocalGovernment #PublicComment #CityCharter #Montana

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

It hasn't been that long since Bozeman had major issues with its city manager. The proposed charter had an opportunity to fix the accountability gap — and hasn't yet.

The city manager is arguably the most powerful unelected official in Bozeman. They run day-to-day operations, prepare the budget, supervise all city staff, and implement commission policy. But historically the commission has used that position as political cover — pushing unpopular decisions through the city manager while keeping their own hands clean.

The proposed charter adds an annual performance review — a step forward. But it doesn't include explicit enforceable boundaries restricting the city manager to an administrative role. The loophole is still open.

Study Commissioner Deanna Campbell submitted detailed recommendations to address exactly this. They were dismissed as "micro-managing." Preventing political cover is not micromanagement. It is basic accountability.

Commissioner Campbell's full recommendations: https://t.co/11VMTWfG3H

🗓️ Thursday, June 18 | 🕔5 PM preview + food / 5:30 PM public hearing | 📍 City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave. | 📩 [email protected] by noon Thursday

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

The proposed charter adds an entire new article on public engagement — something the current charter doesn't have. But Bozeman's incoming mayor, Deputy Mayor Douglas Fischer, submitted public comment recommending the article be deleted entirely and replaced with "trusting future commissions."

Relying on political goodwill is precisely how Bozeman's government drifted so far from its residents in the first place.

Two problems remain in the new article: 1. Ad hoc committees can still be formed and filled without public notice — hand-picked groups behind closed doors with no accountability. 2. Board members can still vote on contracts that benefit themselves or their employers. This has happened repeatedly in Bozeman. The draft does nothing to stop it.

The fix: bright-line eligibility rules. Financial ties to the city means ineligible to serve. Period. All vacancies posted publicly. No exceptions.

🗓️Thursday, June 18 | ⏰5 PM preview + food / 5:30 PM public hearing | 📍City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave. | 📩[email protected] by noon Thursday

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

Bozeman voters will choose between keeping 4 city commissioners or expanding to 6 — but most residents haven't been given a clear explanation of what either option means in practice.

More commissioners should mean more geographic representation and potentially break up the current groupthink. But it also means higher cost to taxpayers — especially without fixes to the proposed compensation board.

The bigger issue: the proposed charter doesn't address the mayor's voting role at all. The mayor remains a full voting member on every commission decision. In a city potentially moving toward ward-based elections, the mayor should be a neutral, consensus-building chair who only votes to break a tie. Belgrade — our nearest neighbor with ward-based elections — already operates this way.

Whether the commission stays at 4 or grows to 6, the mayor's role needs to change.

🗓️Thursday, June 18 | ⏰5 PM preview + food / 5:30 PM public hearing | 📍City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave. | 📩[email protected] by noon Thursday

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

@JTuin04 We have emailed you.

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

What happens when a commissioner — or the mayor — can no longer serve? The proposed charter isn't much different from the current one. Vacancies are still filled by commission appointment — just extended from 30 to 60 days. Most residents wanted a special election. The Study Commission wouldn't explore it further.

But the new charter has an even bigger problem: a direct internal contradiction. Section 2.06(a) says if the mayor is incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed, the vice mayor succeeds. Section 2.06(c) says a mayoral vacancy is filled by commission appointment within 60 days. Both are in the same proposed charter. They directly contradict each other.

The fix: The vice mayor succeeds automatically. If unable or unwilling, the role goes to an elected commissioner. Open appointment only as a last resort. Elected first. Appointed last.

🗓️Thursday, June 18 | ⏰5 PM preview + food / 5:30 PM public hearing | 📍City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave. | 📩 [email protected] by noon Thursday

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

School enrollment data, English proficiency standards data, inmate rosters, data from the HRDC, and more suggest an influx of anywhere between 3-5x or more of an influx of hispanics (mostly Mexican and Venezuelan) and others in just the last 4 years alone. We have interviewed various apartment housing complexes in the county and many are filled with migrants and migrant labor. We are aware of one apartment complex that has as many as 4-5 hispanic males living in one bedroom units.

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

For nearly 20 years, Bozeman has had a deputy mayor. The proposed charter eliminates that role entirely.

Under the current system, when voters elect a mayor, that person serves 2 years as deputy mayor first, then 2 years as mayor. The new charter creates a standalone elected mayor serving a full 4-year term from day one.

If the new charter passes this November, current mayor Joey Morrison will finish his term, and current deputy mayor Douglas Fischer will become mayor in January 2028 and remain mayor until January 2030. Starting January 2028, the commission will select a vice mayor from among themselves — not elected by voters, but chosen by fellow commissioners.

🗓️Thursday, June 18 | ⏲️5 PM preview + food / PM public hearing | 📍 City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave. | 📩 [email protected] by noon Thursday

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

As of 2025, Bozeman city commissioners make $19,200/year plus benefits, and the mayor makes $41,612 per year plus benefits — both the highest paid in the state.

In comparison, Belgrade council members AND mayor each made $1,400/year in 2025.

The proposed city charter ties pay for commissioners and the mayor to a percentage of the Area Median Income for a family of four, which could push Bozeman salaries to $109,000/year.

The city commission currently sets their own salaries, and the new charter proposes moving that task to a new Compensation Board, but it is set up to have two sitting commissioners and the city's CFO as voting members on the board.

The fix would be to have four independent community members sit on the board, with the city's CFO in a non-voting advisory role, with zero elected officials on the board, and no formula for pay locked into the charter. If there's going to be an independent board, let it be independent.

🗓️Thursday, June 18 | 🕰️5 PM preview + food / 5:30 PM public hearing | 📍City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave. | 📩 [email protected] by noon Thursday

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

This November, Bozeman voters will decide how their city commissioners get elected. The options are to keep the current at-large system — where every voter chooses every commissioner — or switch to a ward-based system where commissioners must live in the district they represent.

If wards pass, there's a second choice: does the whole city vote for each ward commissioner, or do only ward residents elect their own? Ward-only voting creates the most direct accountability — your commissioner answers exclusively to your neighborhood.

But there's a problem buried in Article VII of the proposed charter: the sitting city commission draws ward boundaries and can redraw them at any time, for any reason. The politicians whose seats depend on where those lines fall get to decide where the lines fall. That will build gerrymandering directly into the charter.

We think a better idea would be to have an independent citizen advisory board determine the ward boundaries. This board should exclude elected officials, city employees, and declared candidates for public office, and it must represent geographic diversity.

🗓️ Thursday, June 18 | ⏲️5 PM preview + food / 5:30 PM public hearing | 📍City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave. | 📩 [email protected] by noon Thursday

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

Before we dive into what's changing in Bozeman's proposed new city charter, let's talk about what's staying the same.

The proposed charter retains the commission-manager structure, four-year terms, and odd-year, non-partisan elections.

A lot is staying the same. But some things are changing, and those changes deserve a close look. We're breaking them down one short video at a time. Share this with a Bozeman neighbor who hasn't been following this process.

🗓️ Thursday, June 18 | ⏲️ 5 PM preview + food / 5:30 PM public hearing | 📍 City Hall, 121 N. Rouse Ave. | 📩 [email protected] by noon Thursday

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

@wildpitch35 @KurtAlme https://t.co/3qyuTILzVM

[The Gallatin Valley Sentinel @gvsentinel]

@wildpitch35 @KurtAlme TOS will not allow us to post what should be done to business owners.