Renters account for more than 60% of Fayetteville, and are among its most vulnerable. Despite this we are not proportionally represented by the city council (1 member of 8 is a renter) NOR on the Housing Crisis Task Force (1 member out of 10 is a renter). Our issues are dire, and though the city council, staff and mayor have done some good, they have been slow to act and have given far more concern to developers and landlords rather than renters. If the city government’s overtures of concern for renters in Fayetteville are sincere, let them prove it by establishing a Renter’s Council! Sign this petition to let the Fayetteville city council and mayor know that you are in support of giving renters as well as those such as the homeless living in a property they don’t own, the voice and the power that we deserve!

A year ago, grassroots groups led by Arkansas Renters United (ARU) pressed the city council to declare a housing crisis and establish an emergency ad hoc committee to advise the city council and mayor on how to solve this crisis. Unfortunately, the former mayor and members of the city council filled all "Housing Crisis Task Force" (HCTF) initial 9 positions with comfortable, middle-class home-owners, despite renters making up 60% of all who live in Fayetteville and many ARU members applying. Only after backlash did the city relent and appoint a single additional renter member to the HCTF. Given this sorry state, it's unsurprising that in the year since its establishment, the HCTF has managed to only draw up a few dozen recommendations (the vast majority of which have not been implemented or even drafted as ordinances), AND the vast majority of these recommendations do nothing in the way of directly helping renters which make up the bulk of the Fayetteville and who face the bulk of the housing related suffering. 

Additionally, despite the HCTF inviting more than a dozen of guest speakers to their meetings, the bulk of these speakers represented developers and associated non-profits rather than renter’s organizations like ARU or homeless aid organizations. Now after a year, the HCTF seems to be proposing to form a standing committee that will focus on ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) people, which is as noble a goal as solving the housing crisis, BUT the fundamental problem remains: those closest to the problem, poor renters and homeless folks, are those who should be empowered to craft the solution. If this new ALICE committee is anything like the HCTF before it, or like the vast majority of city boards, commissions, and committees (BCCs), it will be staffed mostly by comfortable, middle-class homeowners who are disproportionately disconnected from the key issues of this crisis. Despite it's flaws, it is notable that even this proposed ALICE-focused successor committee to the HCTF was spearheaded largely by the single renter member of the HCTF. Imagine what renters could do together if we had a council fully dedicated to solving our problems?

Over the past year as the HCTF has dilly-dallied, there are ever more homeless people suffering openly on our streets, and almost none of the housing being built is affordable (defined according to HUD as rent plus utilities and other housing costs being 30% or less of income) to anyone earning less than the median wage. According to the City of Fayetteville’s 2025 Housing Assessment, while the rate of total home units in 2023 has finally achieved parity with total population growth, most of that new housing was only for the UofA students and otherwise outside of the realm of affordability for most. At the same time, the median income across all age groups in Fayetteville has fallen or remained stagnant, with the number of households requiring monthly rent of less than $500 to be considered affordable jumping by 16% from 2022 to 2023.

Fayetteville DEMANDS a Renters Council! As a baseline qualification all members must be renters (i.e. have a lease to live in their current residence) or otherwise be living somewhere where they don’t own the property and aren’t a family member of the owner (e.g. the homeless). 

Powers:

• Fast Tracking Issues to the City Council Agenda
  • Currently, some BCCs like the planning commission as well as city staff members have the authority and are expected to add items to the agenda of city council. 
  • Some members of city council have said that they expected the HCFT to propose much-needed/impactful ordinances (they haven’t), but if ordinance crafting is the expectation of a body tasked with solving the housing crisis, then the Renters Council must be able to propose items for the agenda directly rather than via a staff or council member.

•  Monitoring Enforcement of Renter Protections
  • Previous attempts at instituting mild renter protections such as the Truth in Leasing ordinance (an ordinance simply to have landlords more clearly list all their obscure fees) have been objected to by some members of city council because of worries of inconsistent or impractical enforcement.
  • The city does already have a public reporting mechanism SeeClickFix where any citizen can report violations of city ordinances, but there is no member of city staff dedicated to the monitoring of compliance with renter protections and landlord regulations. 
  • Therefore, the Renters Council will work to continually monitor compliance with existing and new protections and regulations related to renters and housing issues.

• Realistically Wide Scope
  • Renter’s Issues are broader than just key issues like housing affordability, landlord abuses, and the habitability of residences. Renters compose the vast majority of those living and working in Fayetteville. Additionally, they are the most intensely affected by the accessibility of green space, transportation, and dignified employment, and are among the most vulnerable to pollution, poverty, and catastrophic weather. The homeless, who face the worst of these issues, are themselves homeless renters– as in, housing-first solution to homelessness will most-likely take the form of creating affordable rental homes.
  • Despite this being 60% of the population, only a single member of the 8 city council members is a renter. Renters and others in precarious living situations must have a voice!
  • Therefore, the Renters Council will have purview over all aspects of city policy which affect renters and those otherwise living on property they do not own, across the realms including but not limited to transportation, housing generally, economic development, city planning, and environmental protection.

Duties:

• Meet at least twice at least twice a month.
• Develop an annual work plan.
• Present quarterly to the City Council on the progress generally and specifically regarding the annual work plan.
• Meet with and host presentations from relevant community groups, economic interests (e.g. developers), and city staff to self-educate on relevant matters. 

Composition and Terms:

• 15 members all must be renters or otherwise be living somewhere where they don’t own the property and aren’t a family member of the owner (e.g. homeless, “couch-surfing”). 
  • 2 positions appointed by the mayor
  • 4 positions appointed by the city council
  • 5 positions appointed by the Renters Council
    • 2 of these 5 positions must reside in public housing or use housing vouchers
    • 2 of these 5 positions must be a student at the UofA
    • 1 of these 5 positions must have experiences 6+ months of homelessness in the past 5 years
  • 4 positions appointed by community organizations delegated by the Renters Council.  
    • These 4 positions can be delegated however the Renters Council sees fit, for instance:
      • All four positions could be delegated to four separate groups (e.g. ARU, CirclesNWA, 7Hills, New Beginnings)
      • Some orgs could be delegated 2 or more of these appointments (e.g. 2 positions to ARU, 1 position to CirclesNWA, 1 from 7Hills)
      • Or all four positions could be appointed by just a single org if the council chooses.
• Renters Council members serve 2 year terms and have a limit of serving two terms consecutively.
• At least one staff member from the Development Services Department will attend meetings and aid the Renters Council.
• When the first set of council members is first being appointed:
  
  • The first 6 chosen by the mayor and city council like most BCCs 
  • Then these 6 members will appoint another 5 members themselves
  • Then these 11 members delegate the remaining 4 appointments to some number of renter-related community organizations

Here's the link to the draft of the ordinance.

If you're a renter and are would seriously consider applying for a position on the council were this ordinance to pass: Please sign our interest form!