Strategic Planning & Internal Consulting Staff

                                                                         Meet the Staff

          Karen Minkel                        Leif Olson                          Kristina Jones                     Jesse Fulcher

Karen Minkel
Strategic Planning and Internal Consulting Director

Karen is a certified National Charrette Institute Facilitator and has served as the project manager for the City’s award-winning City Plan 2025, the Walker Park Neighborhood Master Plan, and the Fayette Junction Master Plan. During her 4.5 years with the City of Fayetteville, Karen has developed and presented multiple ordinances to the Planning Commission, City Council and civic, community and business organizations.

She has worked as a consultant for the Pennsylvania Economy League, analyzing the fiscal impact of Pennsylvania universities and colleges on their host municipalities, and she has worked for the Fayetteville Public Schools, initiating the first farm-to-school program in Arkansas and conducting a feasibility analysis of potential district health programs. She has also worked for Matrix MHA, a public sector consulting firm in London, England, where she conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the national community policing program, which measured crime and housing management costs for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and completed regression analysis to determine the effects of a mandatory drug testing program on crime levels in three local authorities. She became interested in public sector policy after teaching fourth and fifth grade for three years in Harlem as a Teach for America corps member.

“Town and Gown,” her article on the fiscal relationships between municipalities and universities, was published in the Economic Development Journal in 2004. She completed her undergraduate work at Northwestern University and received a Master of Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley.

Leif Olson, A.I.C.P.
Associate Planner

Leif has worked as a long range planner for the City of Fayetteville planning division for 6 years. Leif has managed multiple planning initiatives that have been accomplished in Fayetteville during recent years including: the Hillside/Hilltop Overlay District Ordinance, the Downtown Master Plan vision document, form-based code adoption and architectural standards, the Outdoor Lighting Ordinance, the Access Management and Street Design standards and the Accessory Dwelling Ordinance. Leif serves as a liaison between the City and the Green Infrastructure Natural Heritage Association project where he lends his expertise on the relationship between land use and sustainability; this issue was the topic of his presentation at a 2006 state conference held by the Arkansas Wastershed Advisory group.

Leif earned a Bachelor of Science degree in City Planning from Missouri State University in 1993 and worked as a current planner in Kentucky prior to coming to Fayetteville. His interest in urban planning policy is coupled with graphic skills that have been developed through the neighborhood planning process utilized by the City. Leif also has extensive experience with moving complicated or difficult projects through the public approval process.

Kristina Jones
Strategic Planning Technician

Kristina has worked in leadership and support roles for the City of Fayetteville planning division for 3 years. As a member of the Strategic Planning team, she is responsible for administrative duties and public interface, policy research, design work, hand and computer generated graphics and models. During the Walker Park and Fayette Junction Master plans Kristina led the design studio in the preparation and development of the final illustrative master plans. She also developed award-winning computer generated 3D fly-through models, using Google SketchUp, depicting idealized build-out for each of these projects, and worked closely with Planners and Engineers during the Master Street Plan update to compile and draft a uniform set of street cross-sections. 

Kristina earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Arkansas in 2000 and took a position with Mesa Design Group in Dallas where she worked for three years. Duties included developing construction and bid sets for subdivision layout, design and detailing. Through this work she gained knowledge of hardscape and landscape construction methodologies and further developed an ability to translate schematic ideas into plan and section drawings. While in Dallas, she contributed to the ASLA State newsletter TX-ture, which was honored for an ASLA State Merit Award. In addition to her work at Mesa, Kristina has also worked for other companies in the landscape architecture and engineering professions as a designer and drafter.

Jesse Fulcher
Associate Planner

Jesse has been employed with City of Fayetteville since 2003. He worked as a planning technician and current planner before joining the Strategic Planning team this year. In addition to zoning and development review, he participated in the development of City Plan 2025, the Walker Park and Fayette Junction neighborhood plans, and updates to the City’s Unified Development Code of Ordinances.  He is currently leading the City Plan 2030 update.  Jesse earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Soil and Water Science from the University of Arkansas in 2002 and worked in environmental consulting prior to coming to the City of Fayetteville.