Minneapolis City Council To Consider Adding Unhoused People To Its Housing Advisory Board

Minneapolis City Council To Consider Adding Unhoused People To Its Housing Advisory Board

The proposal would remove one seat from the Lived Expertise Advisory Group (LEAG) and create two new seats for individuals who are currently or were formerly homeless.

A Minneapolis City Council committee has approved a proposal to add two people who are currently or were previously unhoused to join its housing advisory board.

The resolution to restructure the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on Housing, which was authored by Ward 9 Council member Jason Chavez, will be presented to the city council at Thursday's meeting after being approved by the City Council's Business, Housing & Zoning Committee last week.

The committee's purpose is to have housing experts and residents advise the Mayor, City Council, and city departments regarding matters related to housing policy.

"We're working day and night to figure out ways that we can address homelessness with a humane approach," Chavez said to Bring Me The News. "We know that to address homelessness, we should be talking and working with those who are most impacted by it or disproportionately impacted by it."

The amendment to the committee proposed by Chavez would remove one seat from the Lived Expertise Advisory Group (LEAG) and create two new seats for individuals who are currently or were formerly homeless.

One of those individuals would represent single-member communities, and the other would represent multi-family communities.

"I believe fundamentally that by working with unhoused residents, whether they're currently unhoused or were in the past, we can dive deep into the root cause of the issue to ensure that the city council and the mayor get advice on tackling it," Chavez said. "I think that is a very good thing. It's a positive way to ensure that we're learning from those with the experience and leaving with them in mind."

Currently, the board comprises 12 Minneapolis resident members, eight appointed by the council and four appointed by the Mayor, and ten representatives of organizations and entities that work on housing affordability, creation, preservation, and management.

The restructuring would add a representative for the unhoused community at a time when homeless encampments are at the forefront of city discussions amid a spate of violent crime affecting unhoused communities.

Chavez explained that the decision still needs to be voted on at Thursday's City Council meeting before it is sent to the Mayor, who can approve or veto the amendment.

SOURCE: Bring Me The News