Amended Bozeman city charter passes, officials plan next steps at Nov. 18 meeting
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Bozeman voters approved an amended city charter and now city leaders are working through how to put those changes in place. Unofficial results show the amended charter passed, along with sub-options that added two commissioners and created wards. The third sub-option still has a slim margin while counting continues. With the new charter, the mayor's term is also extended to four full years. The next step centers on timing and implementation, including how to avoid affecting people already serving in office. "That'll be a chance for us to look at not only the specific areas that are included directly in the adoption of the amended 2026 city charter, but also some of the recommendations that we made at the end of the overall report that was required to go to the voters," said Jan Strout of the Bozeman Study Commission. The first vote for a four-year mayoral term is set for 2029 under the new charter. If that vote were any earlier, it would disrupt Deputy Mayor Douglas Fischer's two years as mayor. His term is scheduled to start in 2028. Currently, when a mayor is elected, they spend their first two years as deputy mayor, and
