A city co-sponsored debate on affordable housing was not a forum for steel to meet steel, but for community members to question how the city, county and community could ensure more people can afford to be housed.

The Kansas Leadership Center facilitated a conversation anchored on the resolution “Lawrence is doing enough to be a place where there is housing for all.” People were welcomed to agree or disagree with the resolution, but no speaker dissented that people should be housed affordably. Rather, the question was: “How?” 

The opening speaker, Trina Tinsley, agreed with the resolution. She went from being a homeowner to being unhoused while escaping domestic violence in another city. Eventually, she gained a felony by attempting to flee to Mexico.

When she returned to America, she said she struggled to find work or housing due to her felony status, until she was connected with the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority and Lawrence Family Promise.

“Lawrence has been a huge blessing to my family with Family Promise, opportunities with Tenants to Homeowners, opportunities with the city,” Tinsley said. “And I’m grateful for the programs that Lawrence has. Without these programs, my son and I, we wouldn’t be able to have stable housing.”

Other speakers lauded the work that the city has done thus far, but simply wanted to see more: more affordable housing stock and different types of housing options, or more incentives for developers to build housing for middle- and lower-income families.

Sen. Marci Francisco spoke in agreement with the resolution, not because she felt the city or county could rest on its laurels. She said she was proud to have provided 18 units of affordable housing, but honed in on wealth inequality.

“I’m not sure that the issue is housing affordability as much as having more equality between incomes and distribution of wealth,” she said. “… We are not going to be able to tax ourselves enough to provide housing for everyone. But we could think about what is a livable wage.”

Monte Soukup, a member of the city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board, suggested that lack of political will is holding the city back from taking stonger action for affordable housing. Some crowd members rumbled in assent, nodding and snapping their fingers.

Mariel Ferreiro, another member of AHAB, said that many of the suggestions were “technical issues” that can easily be solved.

She felt that advancing affordable housing means gaining public buy-in beyond the city commission, beyond the advisory board and even beyond the people who attended the debate to consider broader reform.

“What we are seeing is a national issue. What we are in Lawrence is a microcosm of that,” she said. “There is a plethora of solutions that include decommodifying housing, that include creating housing as a public good, not as the single source of generational wealth-building.”

KLC facilitators at the debate followed a model that encouraged speakers to approach each other with respect and curiosity. The goal was to come away with a better understanding and respect for other views to generate. The conversation structure provided by KLC didn’t lend itself to a shared action or debate “winner” by the end of the evening.

Most attendees agreed that the structure provided fertile ground for conversation; some wanted to know what the next productive steps could look like or who the conversation ultimately served.

A speaker who did not name themselves noted that a majority of attendees were white. They also said the conversation focused heavily on home ownership, which might not be the primary concern for people who are currently facing housing insecurity.

“I am curious about the thought that went into the planning of the time and location of this event,” MaKayla Reed, another speaker, said. The debate ran from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the school district’s central offices, 110 McDonald Drive.

“The school district building is 6-1/2 miles away from the Lawrence Community Shelter, and the last bus that can get from here to the shelter leaves at 6:30 p.m.,” they said. They suggested that future events should be more equitable and “accessible for those most impacted by this issue.”

Ferreiro said she was glad to see people actively engage in discourse, even if there was disagreement.

“I always love an opportunity for open dialogue and for listening to people,” she said. “I think that’s the only way we can do any really meaningful work … I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was more conversation-based, more of the ability to actually hear people’s experiences.”

Jabs about the city commission were in no short supply, as some debaters said they preferred the evening’s structure to public comment at a commission meeting.

“Any actionable thought process amongst the city would really benefit from a citizen forum like this proceeding even discussion within the closed doors of city professionals,” said the concluding speaker, who did not name themselves. “… The referendum process seems to have really died out here … In terms of the general community getting the chance … to actually take a city-based issue, pro and a con, and be able to speak about it in front of these professionals that are doing so many things that are influencing our lives — I think that would be a very valuable thing.”

There are a few upcoming opportunities to provide input on the city’s Affordable Housing Study during roundtables.

The first set of roundtables will be from 5 to 6 p.m. and again from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9 at the Lawrence Public Library, Meeting Room B, 707 Vermont St. Find out about more opportunities at this link.

The next Affordable Housing Advisory Board meeting will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 in the City Commission room at Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., and on Zoom. See the agenda here.

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

Nathan Kramer (he/him), a multimedia student journalist for The Lawrence Times since August 2024, is a senior at Free State High School. He is also a news photo editor for Free State’s student publication, where he works as a videographer, photographer and motion designer. See more of his work for the Times here.

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