Dear Commissioners,

I hereby request authorization to appoint a task force to address concerns

about affordable housing and transitional housing in Lawrence.

I would like the task force to perform the following tasks:

1. Coordinate the affordable housing summit  proposed by the Joint Housing

Committee of the League of Women Voters, the Lawrence Association of

Neighborhoods, and the Kaw Valley Living Wage Alliance.

2. Review the Community Housing Assessment Team (CHAT) report and recommend

implementation of the actions suggested in that report, as appropriate.

3. Make other recommendations as appropriate to help ensure the

availability of quality housing that is affordable for individuals and

families earning at or below the local median income.

I would like to direct the task force to come back to the commission with

some initial recommendations within six months and to issue a final report

within one year of its first meeting.

I will be recommending appointments to this committee by a separate memo. I

hope to have commitments from all the proposed task force members prior to

the February 28 city commission meeting, but I may not have these all in

place before the agenda is posted on February 23. I apologize in advance

for the late posting of this item. I would like to make the appointments on

February 28 so that the task force can begin its work as soon as possible,

but the appointments can be deferred to our next meeting if you prefer.

Thank you for your consideration.

Mayor Dennis "Boog" Highberger