Catherine Potter Public CommentJanuary 23, 2023
City Council Work Session -January 23, 2023
Public Comment
Mayor Johnson and City Council,
My name is Catherine Potter, and my family relocated to Kalispell in the summer of
2020. Among other properties, I own a 54-bed low-income public accommodation in
downtown Kalispell, where rooms can be rented nightly, weekly, or monthly. I have been
proud to become a board member of the Kalispell Business Improvement District and the
Urban Renewal Agency since arriving. My family's emotional and financial investment in
Kalispell grows each day.
Because of my family's unique working situation, we had the blessing of being able to live
virtually anywhere. We chose Kalispell. We chose it for its small-town culture, its warm and
welcoming people, and its potential to grow. We also chose Kalispell over other
communities partially because of Kalispell's city governance. In our experience, Kalispell's
governance reflected a respect for the rights of all its citizens and a respect for the rule of
law.
It's my understanding that Kalispell city park hours are 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. It's also my
understanding that I, as an individual citizen, cannot store my personal belongings in a
public park, as that would infringe on the rights of others to use the park. It's also true, I
believe, that groups wishing to use the park must obtain a permit. With dismay, I have
watched a group encampment of individuals take over Depot Park for several months. This
group is using the park beyond its open hours, congregating without a permit, and storing
personal belongings in a manner that prohibits safe use by others. Through formal and
informal inquiries, I have sought to understand what those with the authority to enforce
Kalispell's rules are doing about this problem. Until the closure of the gazebo, I didn't see
any action.
Frankly, this situation has made me question my family's long-term investment in
downtown Kalispell. I have lived for a significant time in London and New York City, both
places with large homeless populations, and in neither city are homeless encampments
allowed to grow in public parks. The matter of dealing with homelessness is complex and
nuanced, and by no means am I proposing a solution to homelessness in this letter. What I
am saying is that allowing an unsafe, unsanitary, rule -breaking situation to develop in a
public park hurts our entire community, including homeless people. Should this bad
situation be allowed to continue, it is only a matter of time before we have deaths from
exposure or other means on city property, enabled by the city's unwillingness to enforce
rules.
Please resist the urge to conflate the matter of unsafe and unlawful use of the park with
homelessness in general. The degradation of public resources cannot be permitted, no
matter how big our hearts.
Anyone's use of public spaces must be based upon responsibility and respect. I don't need
to go into the graphic details already presented to remind everyone that this use of the
park is not responsible or respectful. It is also not in accordance with Kalispell's
rules. Please enforce the city's rules, and please make any new rules needed to keep our
parks the inviting and verdant public spaces that they were intended to be.
c a t h e r i n e