Article VIII · Proposed city charter
The chatbot charter
As far as the public record shows, Article VIII’s two new duties first appeared in AI-assisted handouts presented to the Study Commission on April 2, 2026.
What the record shows
Where the two duties came from
The two duties are the consult duty in §8.04(d)(7) and the response duty, with “the reasons for divergence,” in §8.04(d)(8). Why they are bad governance →
- They are not in the 2006 charter. The Inter-Neighborhood Council has been in Bozeman’s charter since 2006 (§4.06(d)), but the 2006 text has no equivalent of either duty.
- They are not in the INC’s own draft. On December 11, 2025, the Inter-Neighborhood Council approved its own draft charter language and sent it to the Study Commission. Large parts of the final §8.04 track that draft. Neither duty is in it.
- We found neither in public comment before April 2, 2026.
- On April 2, 2026, the Study Commission received a handout titled “Suggestions for Strengthening Inter-Neighborhood Council Charter Language.” The handout states that AI tools were used to synthesize and organize its research findings. Its model text suggested “timely responses to formal recommendations submitted by the InterNeighborhood Council, including explanations of how such input was considered or reasons for divergence,” and that the INC “shall be consulted, when practicable, during the formative stages of citywide planning efforts.”
- On April 24, 2026, draft language presented to the Study Commission carried both duties in nearly identical wording.
- On June 4, 2026, the Study Commission struck “when practicable” from the consult duty. It adopted the final charter 5–0 on August 6, 2026.
The Study Commission drafted and adopted Article VIII, and the text is its responsibility. We point to the origin because the two duties with the widest reach did not come from the 2006 charter or from the INC’s own draft, and as far as the public record shows, they first appeared in an AI-assisted handout.
Sources: the City of Bozeman’s public records (Laserfiche WebLink) for the INC’s December 2025 draft and the Study Commission’s April 2, April 24 and June 18, 2026 meeting packets and the June 4, 2026 meeting video; the proposed 2026 charter. Something wrong? Tell us.