Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham is planning to give his state of the city address later this month at several locations throughout the city in a bid to boost resident involvement.
The address in years past has been given during a city commission meeting, but the city announced this week that Cunningham will give the address twice, at the Emerson Center downtown and at Fire Station 3 on the westside.
Cunningham said he has heard from several commissioners that meeting more with Bozeman residents outside of the commission room is a priority. He also wanted to make the address more convenient for residents to attend. The event at the Emerson Center’s Crawford Theater will be at noon on Monday, March 18, targeted for people who may have lunchtime free and can make it downtown.
The address for Fire Station 3, at 17705 Vaquero Parkway, is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20.
Cunningham said the commission hopes to have more events and meetings in different areas of town in the future.
“The commission room can be sort of an intimidating environment,,” Cunningham said. “A neighborhood meeting with neighbors and having the city representatives sit there and do a lot of listening is important, it’s as important that we listen as it is to recite information.”
Attendees will be able to submit questions, and at least one other commissioner will be present for a meet and greet afterwards. Cunningham said he hopes it feels less like a lecture and more like a community meeting.
Cunningham said he is also talking to residents as he drafts his address to try to get their insight on what they think the state of the city is.
Cunningham said he has reached out to people concerned about urban camping, housing prices, preserving neighborhood character and climate change.
“So it’s not just me giving a lecture about the state of the city, but also allowing the voices of the community to be reflected in the state of the city,” Cunnigham said. “It just turns it from a lecture into a sort of more of a community meeting where we can have a dialogue about things that are on people’s minds, and to me that is more reflective of the state of the city.”
Cunningham said he plans to include a slide in his presentation about the commission’s draft priority list. Commissioners met in January to discuss their priorities, but Cunningham said the turmoil surrounding City Manager Jeff Mihelich, who has been on administrative leave for over a month after a leaked video has slowed down the process of finalizing the list.
Commissioners are still working with city staff on determining the feasibility of the goals.
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