FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan appointed a Housing Task Force to address the growing affordable housing crisis in the area in June.
When Jordan initially formed the task force, councilmember D'Andre Jones said the group lacked representation for the renting population in Fayetteville.
At a city council meeting on July 2, Jones and councilmember Sarah Moore presented a resolution to put a renter on the task force. Although the council voted against the resolution, 5-3, they ultimately decided to place a renter on the committee at its latest meeting.
On July 24, the task force added another member, Dustin McGowan, to represent the 60% of the housing population in Fayetteville that rents.
"We agreed with the community that it was important to incorporate the lived experience of being a renter today in Fayetteville on the decision-making body," said Keaton Smith, a member of the task force.
Smith said much of the task force's work has been finalizing logistics with the city.
After Wednesday's meeting, they've created four subcommittees to begin addressing specific issues. That includes an immediate action team to move ideas along the proposal and vetting process throughout the next couple of months, a team looking at best practices locally, nationally, and internationally, and a team focused on collecting stories and lived experiences through online and in-person surveys and data collection techniques.
Those committees will exist for around two months to brainstorm solutions before they bring in a third-party facilitator to plan the next eight or nine months of the process.
With only a month and a half into the project, Smith told 5NEWS the group has learned that housing is deeply personal.
"Our personal finances are obviously private and personal, the stability or lack thereof that is tied to our housing situation, our hopes and dreams for the future, where we imagine spending time with our families. These are, you know, our safe spaces," Smith said.
The group has a year to bring back all recommendations to the city council.
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