Bozeman voters approved an amended city charter Tuesday, bringing changes to how the city’s mayor and commissioners are elected and how the city government operates.
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On the ballot, voters were asked whether they wanted to retain the existing charter form of government from 2006 or adopt an amended charter.
Becky Franks helped break down what the changes mean for residents.
Franks, a longtime Gallatin County resident, is one of five members of Bozeman’s study commission.
“I’m pretty good at reading contracts, writing policy. I’m a legislative advocate for health care,” Franks said.
The study commission was elected in 2024.
“To be able to look at the city government and make decisions about what ways we could make improvements,” Franks said.
That work ultimately resulted in the amended charter presented to voters.
But first, let's take a look at what exactly a charter is.
“The charter is a document that explains how the city government will run,” Franks said.
The charter determines decisions such as who is elected and how they are elected, functioning as the bylaws for the city.
Now let's take a look at how the Bozeman charter will change. For starters, the amended charter affects the mayor’s term.
“First of all, when you elect a mayor, they will be the mayor for four years instead of having to be the deputy mayor for two years first,” Franks said. “We’re also going to see an improvement in how the neighborhood associations function.”
Another key change involves vacancies on the City Commission. Under the amended charter, there will be an extended period to engage residents in deciding who will fill a vacancy.
Voters were also presented with three sub-options.
Sub-option 1 passed.
“We’re going to be moving from four commissioners plus a mayor, to six commissioners plus a mayor,” Franks said.
Sub-option 2 also passed and changes how commissioners will be elected in future elections.
“Instead of, commissioners can live anywhere they want in the city, we’re now going to be choosing commissioners that live in certain neighborhoods, or wards,” Franks said.
Sub-option 3 was still being counted and stood at 50-50. It asks whether all Bozeman voters should vote for every commissioner or whether voters within a ward should elect only the commissioner representing their ward.
“Should everybody be able to vote for all the commissioners? Or should it be just the voters in that ward voting for their commissioner?” Franks said.
Franks said some of the changes will take effect in 2027, while others will take effect in 2029.
Until then, she said there is still work to be done to implement what voters approved. Franks is inviting the public to attend a study commission meeting Nov. 18 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Bozeman City Hall.
“During that time, we’re going to discuss how do we now implement the changes the voters have elected?” Franks said.
For more information on the amended charter, or the Bozeman study commission, visit this link: https://www.bozemanmt.gov/services/bozeman-city-study-commission/the-study-commission
