The scoop behind Mayor Mehl's resignation

Swarms of allegations surfaced at Tuesday night’s Bozeman City Council commission meeting regarding Mayor Chris Mehl’s alleged abuse of power that led to his resignation on Wednesday, Sept. 9. Chris Mehl became mayor this past January after serving Bozeman for over ten years as both a city commissioner and deputy mayor. 

“It’s been an honor to serve Bozeman for more than ten years, and I thank the voters for that repeated opportunity. While I was working to be a proactive and prepared representative under the city charter, other commissioners do not see it that way. Bozeman has many challenges before it, and I don’t want to disrupt critical work on behalf of the citizens,” Mehl said in a statement.

At the commission meeting the night prior to his resignation, several members of the public shared detailed accounts of times in which Mehl shouted at and intimidated them. His inappropriate behaviors were also evident in the release of hundreds of documents to the public containing emails and communication between himself and other staff. 

All four Bozeman commissioners agreed that Mehl has done a lot of good for the city of Bozeman, but the behaviors revealed in the documents were unacceptable. Ultimately, by the end of the meeting, Mehl was asked to step down from his position.

In the documents released, Dennis Taylor, who served as an interim city manager for five months under Mehl, stated, “I personally like Mayor Mehl very much. He is a smart, dedicated and tireless elected official. It is some of his problematic behaviors that I find so disturbing. Mayor Mehl is frequently abusive to staff and can be very overbearing. Unfortunately, Mayor Mehl did not ever try to comply with the norm established by the Commission Resolution adopted in December 2019, nor with the specific requirements of the Bozeman City Charter.”

Another account in the documents revealed that former city manager, Andrea Surratt, accepted another job offer as a result of how Mehl treated her.

“During the course of my employment with the City of Bozeman, Mr. Mehl, in his capacity as a City Commissioner and as Deputy Mayor, repeatedly interfered with the administration of the city over my two year tenure which undermined my authority and made my job, a career that I have dedicated my life’s work to, extremely difficult,” Surratt said.

City commissioner I-Ho Pomeroy disclosed that she was originally going to propose a six-month probation period with no intent to ask Mehl to resign. However, by the end of the meeting, she decided his past actions were inadmissible. 

Immediately following Mehl’s resignation, deputy mayor Cyndy Andrus was sworn in as mayor at Bozeman City Hall. Prior to Mehl, Andrus served a two-year term as mayor. 

“I really want the community to know that I am sincere when I say that Chris Mehl contributed greatly to this community and made it a really great place to live, and I sincerely wish him well in his next endeavours,” said Andrus. “I am ready to step in along with the city commissioners, the city manager and all the staff to begin to heal our community and move this community forward.” Mayor Cyndy Andrus will finish out Mehl’s three year term until 2023 as mayor of Bozeman.