Tenants' rights and property-ownership disclosure surface as policy priorities at candidate forum

Candidates responded to audience questions about property ownership disclosure and tenants’ protections, with multiple forum participants expressing support for stronger tenant protections and greater transparency from elected officials.

Why it matters: Renters compose a sizable portion of Missoula residents and spoke repeatedly during the forum about eviction protections, legal representation and the fairness of landlord-tenant dynamics. Candidates said tenant-rights policies at the city level could protect vulnerable households and reduce homelessness.

When asked whether they would disclose property holdings, several candidates gave brief answers about current ownership: Rebecca Dawson said, “I have 1 house,” and other candidates answered that they were lifelong renters or owned no property. The wider policy exchange that followed produced two recurring proposals: a city-level tenants’ rights package and expanded access to legal representation for renters. One candidate said, “I would like to get tenants rights package,” and another urged a specific policy of a tenant “right to counsel” to reduce the imbalance in legal representation between landlords and tenants.

Candidates tied tenant protections to the housing affordability debate: they said ensuring access to counsel and enforceable tenant-rights standards would help prevent avoidable evictions and reduce downstream costs associated with homelessness and housing instability. Several candidates also supported disclosure of property holdings for elected officials as a transparency practice, although responses varied about current ownership.

Looking ahead: Candidates who favored tenant protections said they would pursue ordinance language early in a term and work with community advocates to draft enforceable measures. Several proposed coupling tenant-rights packages with funding or programs that expand affordable options.