Bozeman Mayor “Disappointed” as Council Meeting Targeted by Volatile “Campers” Union
BOZEMAN—Tuesday’s city council meeting in Bozeman devolved into a seven-hour slugfest disrupted by a group of “public campers” as the city weighs public safety concerns and the changing face of Bozeman. Bozeman’s Mayor and four commissioners met to discuss the escalating issue of “camping in the right of way” and the city’s existing Ordinance 2147, adopted last November.
A group of public campers piled into the meeting, decked in matching yellow “Bozeman Tenants United” tees, the back of which read: “safe, dignified, truly affordable housing for all.” What began as an ordinary meeting escalated to disruptive volatility by the end of the nearly seven-hour affair, leaving Mayor Terry Cunningham “disappointed.”
Demonstrators disrupt Bozeman meeting.
Before collapsing into shouts and jeers, the group demanded the city provide “real solutions” for housing, rejected fines and limits on homeless encampments, and demanded the city cover their costs for legal representation. Cunningham eventually asked the campers to leave before the council adjourned for a recess: “I am going to tell you one last time: you are disturbing the process of this meeting. We are asking you to cease and desist from disturbing the meeting,” Cunningham said. “Please leave the meeting.”
After the group filed out, the proceedings continued.
Background
The meeting aimed to review – but not vote on – “public camping,” a euphemism for Bozeman’s hodgepodge of homeless occupying trailers, RVs, and tent settlements crowding parks and public places. Public “campers” plant themselves in parks and roads with tents, trailers, or campers, often with fire pits, generators, and other fixtures of permanent living.
Bozeman’s authority to manage the escalating situation had been at the mercy of the Boise-based Federal 9th Circuit Court. The city commission adopted Ordinance 2147 last year to address some of the impacts of urban camping within the restrictive limits of the Boise ruling. The ordinance limits the time homeless can occupy a space to 30 days and imposes small fines for violations.
Nevertheless, the city has dealt with trash, noisy generators, and been swamped with emergency services calls. Seven percent of all emergency services calls in Bozeman deal with the encampments.
Over 500 calls for service have resulted in probable cause to investigate misdemeanor and felony offenses, representing 10% of the total cases opened by the Bozeman Police Department. Charges to Bozeman’s campers have included theft, rape, human trafficking, assault with a weapon, and homicide. And, the campers themselves are often victims of these offenses within the homeless community.
Now, the group has turned out in Bozeman to make its presence known in city council hearings.
Impact of the new status quo
In 2022, public policy shifted at the federal circuit court level, removing Bozeman’s authority in dealing with public spaces being taken over by the encampments. And the number of encampments has climbed, amplifying impacts of homelessness on the local environment, public safety, and culture.
In 2018, a decision by the Boise-based 9th Circuit Court ruled in Johnson vs. Grants Pass that the eviction of homeless people from public areas violates 8th Amendment protections from excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishments. With the Johnson decision, municipalities were stripped of their authority to manage or ban homeless encampments.
The Supreme Court, however, overturned Johnson this year, restoring control over public spaces to cities, so Bozeman has the opportunity to deal with encampments as the city sees fit.
City Manager, Chuck Winn, stated at the meeting’s outset that “urban camping is not a solution to homelessness,” and highlighted the inconsistencies in city policy. “Behaviors are being permitted on these right-of-ways that are not permitted elsewhere.” He added: “right-of-ways were never intended to be a long term housing location.” Winn called for compassion and empathy, but the angry group made its voice known before descending into shouts and disruptions as the meeting entered its sixth hour.
Beyond the crime associated with urban camping and transformation of public rights of way in Bozeman, environmental impact from human waste, generators, and chemical runoff from vehicles into waterways, the city faces its future.
With the 9th circuit court ruling overturned, will the city of Bozeman simply return to its pre-2018 policy? Before the Johnson vs. Grants Pass decision, the city issued misdemeanor citations and long-term illegal camping was rare, confronted with the law. After years of dilapidated campers lining public drives, public opinion is on the side of clearing the encampments. The motion in the city is continued – at a future date, the commission will consider the policy recommendations presented and, undoubtedly, the “disappointing” behavior of the protestors.
Now, in light of the SCOTUS ruling, Bozeman will be tasked with navigating its newly reclaimed autonomy over the issue of camping – with intent to reside – in public spaces.
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