Marc Greendorfer
Protecting Rights and Traditions, Addressing the Issues that Matter to Bozeman.
Meet Marc
A Proven Leader. A True Neighbor. Your Voice.
I am a civil rights attorney at a non-profit civil rights advocacy organization. I also have a small for-profit corporate practice that focuses on creating and counseling businesses.
My campaign focuses on addressing the issues that matter to Bozeman residents, not partisan talking points.
I reject divisive agendas and am an independent in almost every regard.
A Bold Vision. Real Solutions
Permanent Property Tax Reform
What is needed is a new property tax system that limits the assessed value on primary residences. The way this would work is a baseline property valuation will be set, likely based on the purchase price of the residence for the current owner, with increases in that valuation capped at a certain percentage per year, like 1%.
In this way, those who have lived in their homes for a long time and who are likely on a fixed budget will not be penalized for increases in home values that do not reflect the owners' actual finances. For the elderly, this is the difference between being able to stay in their homes or being forced out of town by property taxes.
Defending Rights for All
The world is better off when people who love each other are not prevented from exercising equal rights in all respects. This should not be a controversial position, but in some corners it is.
I was born and raised in the San Francisco/Bay Area and then lived in New York City for many years. I grew up, went to school and worked with many LGBTQ+ individuals and reject any attempt to diminish their rights to full, equal and robust participation in all areas of life. This means that I support same sex marriage, I support the application of anti-discrimination laws to LGBTQ+ Montanans and I will oppose any efforts to deny LGBTQ+ Montanans of equal rights.
Regarding abortion, this is another area where the state should not be involved. It is a personal decision of the mother and father alone, but subject to the assessment of medical professionals who balance the needs of the parents with the developmental status of the fetus. I support unfettered abortion rights until the end of the first trimester.
Addressing Housing Needs
One of the reasons so many people come to Bozeman is the relative lack of sprawl and "stucco forests" in the city and surrounding areas. The easy, but wrong, answer to the soaring cost of housing, and lack of attainable housing, is to simply build more.
While this is, indeed, part of the answer, it must be balanced with the need to preserve the character of Bozeman and the importance of not developing agricultural land and open space simply to provide more housing. Infill of existing developed areas, such as the 7th and 19th Avenue areas, relaxing restrictions on the number of residents allowed in dwellings and incentives for higher density housing development in the center of the city are all potential answers.
We can not allow Bozeman to become a city filled with encampments of tents or recreational vehicles, as that will destroy quality of life for all. Rather, I support initiatives like Habitat for Humanity or the development of tiny houses on city owned land, where people can live comfortably, safely and with dignity, while avoiding the blight of feel-good homeless policies.
Protecting the Environment
As a hunter and angler, I prioritize clean air, pure water, healthy forests, abundant wildlife, and thriving ecosystems. Responsible stewardship—whether through voluntary conservation, private land trusts, innovative restoration projects, or targeted protection of truly irreplaceable natural areas—deserves broad support and encouragement.
However, I reject environmental policies and initiatives that use ecological concerns as a pretext to infringe on private property rights, erode individual liberty, or expand government power and control. When regulations, zoning restrictions, land-use mandates, or climate-related schemes effectively strip owners of the ability to use or manage their own property, when they impose top-down dictates that limit personal freedom and economic opportunity, or when they concentrate more authority in bureaucracies rather than local communities and individuals, they cross a dangerous line. True environmental progress can and should be achieved without sacrificing the foundational principles of liberty and private property that have historically driven both prosperity and responsible stewardship in America.
Public Safety
As a civil rights attorney I often have to deal with law enforcement. Sometimes, it's to report threats made against clients or groups I represent, other times its to report threats made against me personally (unfortunately, this happens more often than I expected and frequently comes from gangs and hate groups). In each case, law enforcement has been considerate, responsive and diligent, even though they also become targets by helping my clients or me.
Of course there are some bad apples in law enforcement, just as there are bad apples in every field. This does not overshadow the daily benefits we receive from those who put their lives on the line for us. While I support rigorous investigations and punishment of those who betray their badges, I will never support calls to inhibit law enforcement personnel from doing their jobs. I reject any call to defund or eliminate law enforcement, whether it is overt or through policies that expose law enforcement personnel to added risks for simply doing their jobs.
In fact, I support allocating additional amounts in our state's budget for both law enforcement and emergency services personnel and will work to enact legislation, such as sentencing enhancements for violence against law enforcement and emergency services personnel, that provides additional protections and benefits for those who serve in these critical fields.
Firearms Rights
Yes, there is a problem in the United States with violence. The answer, however, is not to engage in a blanket denial of rights. Imagine if someone proposed curtailing First Amendment rights as a solution to the violence issue, pointing out that so many incidents of "gun violence" (a term I am putting in quotes since it is a political term meant to illogically imply that guns are capable of violence) are preceded by communication and gatherings of some sort. Further, one could argue, convincingly, that gang activity, rather than guns, is the root of "gun violence", as expert testimony before Congress has documented.
If we truly wanted to reduce "gun violence" in this country, we'd ban gangs, communications among gang members and all rights of association for gang members. You may say "why would we infringe First Amendment rights of people simply because they may be in a gang"? The same can be said about gun ownership, especially for semi-automatic weapons with detachable magazines. 99.9% of all such weapons are never used in criminal activity, yet many politicians want to ban them outright.
The point is that as a matter of precedent and our system of rights, it is never acceptable to engage in bans of fundamental rights simply because a tiny minority of individuals abuse the right.
Whether it is outright bans or indirect bans through regulation (e.g., limitations on magazines, onerous fees or insurance requirements, waiting periods on or registration of components or ammunition, or regulation based on cosmetic elements), I simply will not support any legislation that infringes the most important right protected by our federal and state Constitutions.
This doesn't mean I reject any form of regulation of guns. The Supreme Court's ruling in the Bruen case is the model I follow in this regard.
Education
Schools should be places where children learn to be loving, accepting and patriotic Americans, not where they are taught to loathe themselves and their communities. We do not need to, and our schools must not, counter past discrimination with current and future discrimination.
On a daily basis, I work with students and parents who have been discriminated against as a result of public education being infiltrated by the hatemongers behind Critical Race Theory and Ethnic Studies. I have had to file complaints with the United States Department of Education on behalf of students who are being discriminated against and prevented from obtaining a quality education.
Every penny of Montana's education budget should be devoted to making our students the most well-educated and capable students in the nation, focused on the basics of science, math, reading and writing, with no place for the destructive teachings of Critical Race Theory and Ethnic Studies that turn children into bigots. In fact, these teachings often constitute a form of "soft bigotry of low expectations" that do exactly the opposite of what they are claimed to do.
Moreover, parents, and only parents, should have the final say on everything that children are exposed to in schools.
Taxes
Safe roads, law enforcement, fire and emergency medical, services for the truly needy (rather than for everyone) and preservation of the natural environment are all areas where the state certainly should operate and taxes to provide for these services are appropriate. Taking over the role of parents, turning schools into breeding grounds for extremist thought and becoming the provider of all that a person wants or needs is not the role of the state, and taxes should absolutely not be raised or allocated for such things.
Montana is a state for those who value liberty, small government and individual autonomy over oppressive government and welfare, and our taxes should reflect this.