After months of deliberation, the Springfield City Council agrees housing is a high priority issue.
On May 20, the City Council adopted the 2024 City of Springfield City Council Priorities by a vote of 8-0, with Councilmember Brandon Jenson absent. The list of priorities and accompanying objectives — which are used to guide the City Council and city staff in their work — is largely reflective of the previous priorities, with a few changes to existing categories and the addition of a new, standalone priority: “quality housing options.”
A housing priority has been in the works for some time, largely spearheaded by Zone 1 Councilmember Monica Horton, who represents northwest Springfield. Scores of Springfield residents advocated for the addition of housing to the City Council’s priorities, and voiced their support for its inclusion before the vote on Monday night.
“Our neighborhoods need better, and including ‘quality housing options’ is a significant step in the right direction,” Horton said at the meeting. “Housing quality, accessibility and options is everybody’s business.”
The description of the new priority reads: “A dedication to increasing access to quality housing options by promoting home ownership, improving rental housing conditions through code enforcement, supporting emergency housing needs, and expanding property reinvestment incentives to help meet the demands of a growing and diverse community.”
The housing priority will be added without related objectives and tasks — as council members continue to flesh out the specifics in committee meetings — and housing-related objectives associated with other priorities will remain.
Priority declaration ‘not the end’ of housing issues
Prior to voting on the priorities, council members heard from several citizens, including three members of the the tenants union Springfield Tenants Unite. The group advocated for the addition of housing and emphasized that work was just “beginning” to address housing issues in Springfield.
“The priority you’re voting on tonight does not include any objectives like the existing council priorities already have, and once you’ve approved the top level priority that we’re looking at tonight, and begin to consider those objectives in committee, I want you to remember whose lives would be most affected by the objectives you choose,” said Alice Barber, a leader with Springfield Tenants Unite.
Councilmember Matthew Simpson later noted that the adoption of a housing priority was not the end, but also not the beginning of the city’s work on housing. Simpson cited investments in homeless services, the recent housing study and the creation of the nonprofit Restore SGF.
“Housing has been an important part of Council priorities for as long as I’ve been on council,” Simpson said, pointing to housing-related objectives under other priorities.
Simpson also highlighted the need to not only improve existing housing, but increase the number of housing units of different types at different price points across Springfield.
Encouraging Springfieldians to be homeowners
Rusty Worley, executive director of the Downtown Springfield Association and board member of Restore SGF, championed the value of homeownership and touted the success of the nonprofit’s programs.
“It’s been really encouraging to see, just in the early days, how these programs are gaining momentum,” Worley said. “We’re seeing houses flip from rental to homeownership with the downpayment assistance program that Council voted to fund.”
Horton recounted a host of long-standing housing-related issues, and referred to the housing priority “as an extension and continuation of the work of the 2015 Zone Blitz initiative,” a program that sought to lift people out of poverty and build neighborhood pride through community engagement and education.
“Blighted nuisance properties was a success feature of that initiative then, and it should be now, just under a new name: Forward SGF,” Horton said, referencing Springfield’s 20-year comprehensive plan.
Discussion continues after months of consideration
The City Council was planning to consider a potential housing priority at a retreat after its members were unable to agree to specifics at a January meeting.
The retreat was canceled, a move that was strongly opposed by Jenson, who advocated that priorities should be discussed by all council members. Further deliberation of a housing priority was taken up by the City Council Community Involvement Committee. On April 17, the committee recommended City Council consider a housing priority while committee members continued to work on the specific objectives.
Quality housing has also been a focus of recent efforts to crack down on nuisance properties, a campaign spurred by City Council action in 2023 that tasked city staff to collect and analyze data on nuisance properties, and provide recommendations on how to address them.
Brock Rowe, director of the Springfield Department of Building Development Services, presented a list of recommendations in a quarterly nuisance property report on April 8. The eight recommendations vary in cost and scope, with some attainable with current staff and funding, others requiring additional resources, and most awaiting future City Council actions.
While the housing priority encompasses more than nuisance properties, its formal adoption as a City Council priority can induce the implementation of those recommendations, among other housing-related reform.
Housing priority precedes budget, code revisions
While awaiting a recommendation on the specific objectives for “quality housing options,” Horton envisions the housing priority will have an immediate impact on forthcoming considerations, including recommendations regarding nuisance property abatement.
The added priority precedes the adoption of the city’s 2024-25 budget, which the City Council held a public hearing for on Monday and is slated consider for a vote on June 10. The budget includes funding for Building Development Services to hire a full-time code investigator, who will facilitate neighborhood driven “Property Care Teams,” provide guidance, enforcement, support and access to resources and foster a proactive approach to property upkeep and neighborhood revitalization.
“If we’re going to have a priority, then our budget needs to, in some way, reflect what our priorities are in a real, tangible way,” Horton told the Springfield Daily Citizen prior to the May 20 meeting.
Jai Byrd, a leader with Springfield Tenants Unite, said that the city budget doesn’t allocate enough to address Springfield’s housing crisis, even with the funding for a code investigator.
“We’re not here to demand an immediate allocation of this year,” Byrd said at the meeting. “We understand the constraints and the complexities involved. However, we are looking forward to seeing significant changes in next year’s budget. We need to see even more tangible commitments in 2025 that address housing issues head on. Our community cannot handle another year of neglect.”
In the short-term, Horton suggested that a housing priority could also help guide changes to Chapter 26 of the city code, specifically concerning what constitutes a chronic nuisance and substantial progress, and steer further exploration of a rental inspection program, as well as other recommendations regarding nuisance property abatement.
Horton anticipates additional benefits of the housing priority, particularly through planning and development, will be realized under future objectives.
Other changes to City Council priorities
In addition to the inclusion of housing as a City Council priority, council members approved a few changes to their other priorities — quality of place, governance and legislative engagement, fiscal sustainability and accountability, economic vitality and public safety.
Changes include the addition of “transit and trail systems” to the multi-modal transportation objective under the quality of place priority, focus on the implementation, rather than the review of, the city’s annexation strategies, and include municipal court under public safety.
The City Council also maintains a list of legislative priorities, which are lobbied for in Jefferson City.
