The City of Bozeman has rolled out “How do YOU engage?” a community wide survey to gather input from Bozeman area residents about their preferred methods of communication and engagement. The survey will be open until the end of March and is available online at www.bozeman.net/engage. To attract a diverse audience of respondents the survey is available in both English and Spanish and can be printed and delivered to City Hall (either via mail or in person.)

Community Engagement is one of the Bozeman City Commission’s strategic plan priorities for 2021. The City Commission recently reviewed a draft of the city’s new community engagement initiative and will review the final draft later this spring. As a result of the work, the city will formalize and improve how the city engages with the public on city projects.


Melody Mileur, Communications Coordinator says, “The city’s work in engagement emphasizes the importance of a two-way exchange of information, ideas, and expertise between staff and community members. This survey helps us better understand how we can make that experience easier and more accessible for all.”

Dani Hess, Neighborhoods Program Manager adds, “The community engagement initiative and our ongoing work in diversity, equity, and inclusion are closely woven together. A major goal for each effort is to work with new and existing partners to diversify the voices we are hearing from and reduce barriers to participation for folks most impacted by city projects and policy."

The results from the community engagement survey will influence the final draft of the community engagement initiative. In addition to the survey, city staff are conducting small one on one meetings with key stakeholders across the community on how the city can improve its efforts in engagement.
 
More information about the initiative as well as links to the survey and printable options are available on the city’s website at www.bozeman.net/engage