Bob Stafford

Bob grew up in Fayetteville and attended Fayetteville Public Schools. He was a proud Butterfield Bronco, Woodland Cowboy, and Fayetteville High Bulldog. He was also a Razorback and attended the UofA School of Architecture. Growing up, his parents founded the Star Shopper, a weekly advertiser. There, he learned the value of hard work and collaboration. Bob also learned the value of preserving the things we love; as a child, his parents were part of the campaign to save the Old Post Office, in the middle of the Fayetteville Square, from demolition. Bob got an early start working in the family business, learning graphic design, typesetting, layout, and printing. He went on to study architecture, photography, and art. He has worked in related fields, including construction and fabrication, ever since. Today, Bob runs a small digital marketing agency with his lovely wife, Evelyn Rios Stafford, who serves as a Washington County Justice of the Peace. His photographs have appeared on the cover and pages of the New York Times SF Arts Weekly, and San Francisco’s MUNI public transit vehicles and stations. In 2021, the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce awarded his company an Excellence in Business Award. Bob’s been involved in civic causes for many years. He has held successful fundraisers for musicians who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and Japanese artists who suffered likewise from the earthquakes and tsunamis of 2011. As soon as he came back to Fayetteville in 2015, he started working on the campaign to pass Fayetteville’s Civil Rights Ordinance and the millage to expand the Fayetteville Public Library. He always loves thinking about ways to improve our community. Bob currently serves on the Fayetteville Arts Council, where he is the former Chair, and worked closely with former Ward 1 City Council members Sonia Harvey and Sarah Marsh. There, he advises the city on matters related to the arts and creative economy. He has also served on Fayetteville’s Urban Forestry Commission and was a proud board member of the Transgender Equality Network for four years. Through his work on local causes, he’s become very familiar with how Fayetteville city government works. He’s participated in many city council meetings and gotten to know our elected officials and city staff well. He’s currently learning Spanish, and his hobbies include birding, gardening, hiking, and camping in the Ozarks with his wife. On November 14th, 2023, a vote for Bob is a vote for the past, present, and future of Fayetteville. For more info, and to donate or volunteer, please visit fayettebob.com