BOZEMAN – Monday night, the Bozeman City Commission approved a $22,000 settlement for plaintiff Roger Koopman, who brought a lawsuit claiming officials broke campaign laws around last year’s election to approve the city’s new Public Safety Center.
The commission voted 4-1 in favor of the settlement, with the majority stating that the settlement would be much cheaper than the lawsuit being appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.
City Attorney Greg Sullivan said if Koopman did appeal, the project would be delayed at least a year and increase in cost by at least $2 million.
The only commissioner to vote against the agreement was I-Ho Pomeroy, who said the city did nothing wrong and the three rulings in the city’s favor should be precedent for what the ruling would be if the case ended up at the Montana Supreme Court.