BOZEMAN — Bozeman’s newly sworn-in mayor, Joey Morrison, is ready to set his agenda for the next two years.
Morrison, who grew up in Miles City, moved to Bozeman to attend college. Like many before him, he fell in love with the city and quickly got involved in the community.
“Most of my background is working with some of our nonprofit agencies in town as a crisis worker and as a social worker,” Morrison said. “So agencies like HRDC at the warming center, Haven, and the Help Center.”
In 2022, Morrison co-founded Bozeman’s Tenants United, an organization advocating for affordable housing. The following year, he was elected deputy mayor.
“I’ve been in office for the last two years but just took over as mayor on Tuesday,” he said.
New leadership in Bozeman: Mayor Joey Morrison is tackling housing challenges and environmental protection
Morrison said his first thoughts in the role have centered on maintaining the city’s progress.
“I think it’s really this question of what momentum did we already have,” he said.
Former Mayor Terry Cunningham, who served a two-year term, said he's proud of his accomplishments in developing affordable housing and protecting natural resources.
Morrison said he plans to continue those efforts.
“There are a number of buckets that I look at when we’re thinking about our housing system,” he said. “Regionalizing our homelessness strategy — so instead of just keeping it a Bozeman conversation, which it’s often been simply because the shelter is in city limits — we make it a regional conversation.”
With residents from Belgrade, Big Sky and other communities using Bozeman’s facilities, Morrison said expanding the strategy is a priority.
When it comes to affordable housing, Morrison also wants to focus on keeping people in their homes.
“Trying to keep folks that are stably housed, keeping them stably housed,” he said. “That includes exploring our right-to-counsel program, ensuring tenants facing eviction have their fair shake in the eviction process.”
On environmental priorities, Morrison plans to continue the work started under Cunningham.
“One is what we are doing with our namesake creek, Bozeman Creek,” Morrison said, noting that community engagement on the topic will begin in February.
Another focus is updating Bozeman’s integrated water resource plan.
“The last time we did that update was in 2013,” Morrison said. “That’s really thinking about the next 50 years of water inventory and water supply for this community.”
Morrison also intends to address the city’s transportation master plan and its urban forestry management plan.
While the to-do list is long and includes more issues than listed here, he said the effort is worth it.
“This is a job that nobody would be doing if they didn’t love this place,” Morrison said. “Everybody who sits on this commission loves this community, wants to see it thrive, wants to see it be successful, and calls this place home — just the same as everybody else.”
