New Fayetteville mayor Molly Rawn zeroes in on housing, infrastructure, city staff
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Fayetteville Mayor Molly Rawn. Photo courtesy of City of Fayetteville.
Fayetteville Mayor Molly Rawn is newly on the job leading the second-largest city in Arkansas, and her first orders of business involve meeting with the city's staff to see what practices should stay or go.
State of play: The police and fire chiefs report directly to the mayor, and all other dozen-ish department heads report to the mayor's chief of staff. Rawn wants to work more directly with department heads to better understand what they need to run their departments effectively.
- "We now have a moment to stop and say, 'OK, are these processes and practices working? Are they setting us up to best serve our residents?'" she said.
Background: Rawn unseated four-term former Mayor Lioneld Jordan after winning 51% of the vote in the December runoff election made necessary when no one won outright in a four-way November general election.
- She led Experience Fayetteville, the city's tourism arm, for eight years. She has said that the position allowed her to work with all city departments plus Fayetteville businesses and that the role was about improving quality of life for residents and visitors alike.
Zoom in: Fayetteville has several adopted plans on everything from arts and culture to economic vitality to parking. Rawn is not throwing any of them out, noting that many had community and stakeholder input.
- The city's plans generally lay out a direction without being overly prescriptive on tactics, meaning the implementation may look a little different under her administration than they would have under Jordan's.
What she's saying: Updating the city's water and sewer infrastructure is on the docket, Rawn said.
- Making those investments will help business and housing developers because inadequate infrastructure prevents building. Plus, the city taking on the costs makes it easier for smaller businesses to develop.
- The city also needs more staff in departments like development services to speed up projects.
Residents should also expect some changes around land use policy that will affect housing availability and affordability. Rawn has pointed out that the city's zoning laws make it illegal to build housing or limit the allowed types of housing in some areas.
- Rawn envisions making a strategic plan for housing and likely establishing a full-time staff position dedicated to housing that will work with all departments that housing touches.
Zoom out: Rawn says she is "unabashedly Fayetteville's biggest cheerleader," calling it the best place in NWA. But she knows NWA's become more regional and wants Fayetteville to be more engaged with regional conversations.
- Unhoused people are in Fayetteville because it's where the resources are, but homelessness is a regional issue that NWA should be addressing as a whole, she said.
Context: Fayetteville has been addressing homelessness in an "ad hoc" way like facilitating funding for homelessness-focused organizations, Rawn said.
- While the city may continue some of those same efforts, it should also include addressing homelessness in its housing plan with more specific goals and ways to measure progress.
The big picture: Rawn wants those upset about the state of national politics to still be proud of their local government.
- "We have a lot of people in our community that are scared and that feel vulnerable and that have received a lot of what I would consider to be hateful rhetoric, and I want to ensure we are modeling what it looks like to have a government that is responsive to the needs of all of its residents, that is treating people with respect," she said.
What's next: The State of the City address coming up in March. We'll be watching for more details on Rawn's plans.