Bozeman commission prioritizes outreach, advisory boards and a better public‑comment response system

The commission devoted lengthy discussion to the priority of strengthening public trust and increasing two‑way engagement between residents and city government.

Commission priorities and tactics: Commissioners highlighted ongoing efforts — rotating ‘coffee with a commissioner,’ state‑of‑the‑city presentations in neighborhoods, joint meetings with Gallatin County and Belgrade, and targeted outreach to seniors and community groups. The commission said those tactics are intended to make residents feel heard and to avoid the perception that projects are presented fully formed with no public input.

Advisory boards and citizen engagement: Commissioners advocated revitalizing citizen advisory boards and giving those boards actionable assignments tied to city priorities. Several commissioners said reconstituted boards could serve as community ambassadors and provide measurable indicators of increased engagement, such as appointment numbers and completed assignments.

Public‑comment responsiveness and technology: Staff and commissioners described challenges routing public comments across multiple channels (emails, phone calls, 3‑1‑1, online forms). Staff said a consolidated tracking/dashboard approach is under development; the commission asked staff to propose measurable response goals, such as acknowledgment and routing protocols, and to demonstrate improvements with an executive dashboard showing pending items and response metrics.

Neighborhood and stakeholder outreach: Commissioners discussed targeted outreach to specific constituencies — seniors, students (MSU), landlords, and neighborhood associations — and suggested rotating meeting times and locations to reach different demographics.

Next steps: Staff will continue to refine a consolidated intake system for public comments, propose response‑time targets and return to the commission with a dashboard or other reporting tool. Commissioners said they will nominate stakeholder names to help staff convene small advisory groups for high‑priority items.