The Red & Black is a 501c3 nonprofit. Please consider a one-time gift or become a monthly supporter. Cancel anytime. The Georgia Youth Justice Coalition (GYJC) held a youth town-hall Wednesday with Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Commissioners at the University of Georgia. Students asked questions regarding housing pressures, flock cameras and more. District 2 Commissioner Melissa Link, District 3 Commissioner Tiffany Taylor and District 8 Commissioner Carol Myers talked with students about how they got elected into office before turning to the biggest political issues Athenians are facing. The discussion began with the housing crisis and the amount of students living in Athens. “UGA has pretty much doubled its enrollment in the early years I've been here,” Link said. She argued the university hasn’t kept up with student housing, having only built two new dorms in the past 10 years. The university will also be renovating Creswell Hall, a first-year residence hall, with construction beginning in May 2027. This will push students into graduate student housing. As a result, “the student population is set upon the free market, and they're competing with regular working-class folks,” Link said. Link said a state referendum allowing public universities to partner with private developers to build tax-exempt dorms on public land was passed in 2014. She said UGA has not taken advantage of the option, leaving more students to compete for housing in the private market. One question brought…
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