Bozeman Tenant Right to Counsel
Our community is in a housing crisis, the rent is too damn high, and most poor and working-class Bozemanites are one financial emergency away from eviction. Eviction is the leading cause of homelessness, and threat of eviction traps tenants in unsafe living situations, unfair leases, and higher and higher rents. Landlords and Property Management companies know that in Bozeman eviction court, renters have access to lawyers just 7% of the time, while landlords have lawyers 79% of the time. That's not a fair trial. That ain't right.
Bozeman Tenants United is fighting for a Bozeman Tenant Right to Counsel: the guaranteed right to legal representation for tenants facing eviction. 17 cities in the United States have now enacted Tenants’ Right to Counsel, including Boulder, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Louisville, Newark, New York City, and San Francisco. Where Right to Counsel has passed, it has reduced eviction filings, kept tenants in their homes, and saved money for the government.
Evictions have a high social cost and are both a cause and condition of poverty, often leading to job loss, mental and physical health consequences, and homelessness. Eviction disproportionately harms the most vulnerable people in our community; people with disabilities, single parents, LGBTQ+ people, elders on fixed income, Native, Black and brown people, etc. Ending evictions should be our collective responsibility.
We need every tenant in Bozeman, and every community member who cares about keeping our city safe to help us win Right to Counsel in Bozeman. Get off the sidelines & join the fight.
Bozeman Tenants United Endorses Four candidates for the Bozeman Study Commission
After months of deliberation, interviews, and the candidate forum hosted by Bozeman Tenants United, our membership voted to endorse four outstanding community leaders in the upcoming election for Bozeman’s City Charter Study Commission: Barrett McQuesten, Carson Taylor, Jan Strout, and Rio Roland.
The elected Study Commissioners will rewrite Bozeman’s city charter, our local government’s rule book. Amidst national and state 2024 election chaos, don’t make the mistake of overlooking this critical hyper-local election! The Study Commission election will have a huge impact on our lives.
The elected study commission will either maintain the status quo: a city government that is unresponsive, unaccountable, and gives a blank check of power to unelected people, emboldening the City Manager over the people we vote for. OR it could ensure that city government is equipped to meet our needs and make government accessible to poor, working, and middle class locals.
After a rigorous endorsement process we feel clear that each candidate understands how local government can change to make tackling Bozeman’s most pressing issues easier, and is committed to working with Bozemanites to make our city more democratic, responsive and effective.
Barrett McQuesten is a working class tenant, special education para-professional and member of Bozeman Tenants United. His experience as an organizer, a beloved substitute teacher in BSD7 and a tenant gives him an important lived experience to pull from and skills to meet people where they are at that will be important in crafting the next city charter
Jan Strout has been an educator (M.Ed), a human rights champion, and community organizer. She has spent 25 years committed to working with diverse individuals in community sectors fighting for equal pay, safe and affordable housing, and health care for all. She has the commitment and experience to ensure the charter is truly representative.
Rio Roland comes with 20+ years of managing diverse interests as an environmental planner and renewable energy engineer. He sits on the Bozeman Transportation Advisory Board and is committed to getting into the weeds of local government, facilitating for common ground, and committed to the future of Bozeman.
Carson Taylor is a former Bozeman mayor, professor, and mediator. Carson knows first hand how much the charter impacts commissioners' ability to respond to the pressing crisis in Bozeman. He has been a convener of people from all walks of life in Bozeman for years. His leadership will be valuable on the study commission.
The opportunity to rewrite the Bozeman City Charter only comes around once a decade. LEARN MORE HERE.
Make sure your friends and family have the info they need to vote in the study commission election. Share our endorsement post on social media.
Find out more info about how to cast your ballot and check your voter registration status here.
A Federal Homes Guarantee
Montana needs rent control now. Our union is a part of the national Homes Guarantee Campaign alongside 18 other tenant unions working to bring national rent -regulation for one-in-four apartment buildings across the country. Corporate landlords have been receiving millions of dollars in subsidized loans from our Federal Government with no strings attached. Instead of using taxpayer $$ to provide safe and affordable housing, they are gouging renters, threatening eviction and ignoring safety needs. Our campaign is targeting the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) which oversees buildings receiving federal loans to enforce 1) rent control, 2) good cause eviction, 3) fair leases, 4) enforcement of discrimination laws, 5) safe, quality housing standards, and more!
Winning this campaign is a path forward for thousands of tenants in Bozeman to win protections that have been taken away by the Montana state government.
In 2023 our union helped get Bozeman tenants around the city to give public comment to the FHFA and sent 6 members to DC to meet with the Director of the FHFA and advocate for the Homes Guarantee. Read Bozeman Tenants United leader Lilly’s op-ed about the Homes Guarantee in the Daily Montanan.
Bozeman tenants united endorses
joey morrison For Mayor
Update 11/7/23: WE WON! Bozeman Tenants United is proud to have endorsed Joey Morrison’s campaign effort, helping knock 15,000 doors through sun, rain, and snow. We had thousands of coversations connecting with our neighbors about how we can build a better Bozeman. Together we made history. This victory is your victory.
BZN Tenants United leader, Ozaawaamaakwa Echo Maker, on the endorsement:
“Generations of my family have been born, raised, and buried in Montana, and now I am watching as the places that I love — the place I am trying to raise my own child — become inaccessible to the people that keep the local economy running. . .I need and deserve better, and my daughter needs and deserves better. It’s time for poor and working class Bozemanites to have representation in our city government. It’s time for a mayor who will stop rubber stamping every luxury development, who will stop raising property taxes, and deeply engage with the full community. On behalf of Bozeman Tenants United, I am proud to announce our union’s endorsement of Joey Morrison for mayor of Bozeman.”
Bridger Peaks tenants
Bridger Peaks Apartments houses 60+ low-income seniors in Bozeman. For months, the tenants of Bridger Peaks faced harassment & frequent eviction threats from their WA-based corporate landlord DevCo, & property management Tamarack Co. Their landlord & management company neglected the building, allowing the parking lot lights and the front door to break, and refused to make repairs. Tenants in wheelchairs could not enter their own building, and when one senior tenant had a medical emergency, the fire department was unable to use the front door, and was forced to use a ladder to enter the building through a window.
The tenants of Bridger Peaks decided to fight back. Bozeman Tenants United supported them to organize and form Bozeman’s first building-wide tenant union. 90% of the Bridger Peaks tenants signed a petition demanding better treatment & building repairs, threatening to escalate if their demands were not met. They were ignored. Bridger Peaks tenants then held a rally & press conference in November, exposing DevCo & Tamarack’s abuse to the public & demanded a meeting to negotiate. This time, Tamarack responded & began correspondence with the Bridger Peaks tenants. In January, Tamarack President Jeryl Schneider drove from Billings to meet in person with the Bridger Peaks tenants & committed to building repairs & consistent meetings with tenants to address building concerns.
Ban Second Home Airbnbs
On Tues. 10/17/23 BZN Tenants United won our first campaign for safe, dignified and truly affordable housing in Bozeman. An amended Ordinance 2149 passed. 2nd Home Airbnbs are officially banned (except for the ~100 currently registered with the city) in all zones of Bozeman, and future housing built in our city will be protected from Airbnb investor portfolios.
We appreciate Commissioner Christopher Coburn who showed up on the 17th as a champion of poor and working class tenants. Coburn stood on the side of tenants until the end, saying that amidst Bozeman’s housing crisis, every single unit of available housing matters.
1 year ago, people did not believe a 2nd Home Airbnb ban could be won. The City was discussing higher registration fees for STRs as the solution to displacement. The relentless organizing of poor and working class tenants in Bozeman changed what was possible. Our membership of single parents, retirees, students, and working tenants of every background collected over 1,100 petition signatures supporting a Ban. Through townhalls, rallies, vigils, and a flood of public testimony we forced the urgency of the housing crisis and this piece of the solution into the spotlight, and through grassroots pressure and at times collaboration with the City government, we won this law.
“This is a victory for our union and for Bozemanites, and we know that it will not be the silver bullet to end the housing crisis. Our union’s win proves that those who are closest to the problems in our community are closest to the solutions. Let’s use the momentum from this victory to keep building our union’s power, and keep fighting for safe, dignified and affordable housing for all.” - Bozeman Tenants United leader Marie Lynn