Lawrence City Commission candidate Aron Cromwell to chat with LJWorld.com readers

missouri_street

The City Commission has considered two proposals for street renaming on an ad hoc basis in recent months. They were handled in inconsistent manners. Some municipalities allow “honorific” names only for “secondary” signage. Others prohibit living people from being considered. Virtually all having formal policies mandate formal notice to affected parties. Lawrence has no formal renaming policy.

Should Lawrence consider adopting such a policy.

Moderator

Hi. I’m your moderator Chad Lawhorn. With us today is City Commission candidate Aron Cromwell. Thanks for being here, Aron. We have some questions, but are still accepting questions from the audience.

Aron Cromwell

Thanks to the Journal World for having me here- I look forward to answering your questions!

jonearle

Some of Lawrence’s parks are looking a little worse for wear. Do you have any ideas how we can keep our town’s public spaces as inviting as possible?

Aron Cromwell

One of the best features of Lawrence are our Parks- when I travel and come home I always notice this-

We must fund our greenspace well. I want to make sure that new neighborhoods have the same access to parks as the older parts of town- we must not let projects get passed that don’t have the required greenspace.

walkingonwater

Mr. Cromwell, I’ll be blunt – you loaned your campaign $8,000 and promised to return your commissioner salary if elected. Sounds like a guy who thinks he can buy the election. To be honest, a candidate promising to return a salary always sounds like a gimic to me. How do you respond?

Aron Cromwell

Yes I loaned my campaign money. I wanted to ensure that my campaign had the opportunity to get its message out. It is unfortunate that media exposure that is necessary to get my message out is so expensive.

I firmly believe that the salary that the city would pay me would be better spent on social issues in town- by donating it I am simply moving the city’s funding where it would be better used.

Moderator

We’re still accepting questions. We are nearing the end of the questions that were submitted beforehand, so here is your chance.

Gootsie

What are your feelings for renaming streets?

Aron Cromwell

In Lawrence we have a great pattern of State Names and Numbered streets that makes navigating in town easy. We should really not be spending our time and money on undermining our street name system. From time to time I suppose it may be appropriate to rename streets, but I think it should be a process that is clear and not done for trivial reasons.

Moderator

Those are the questions that we had for this chat. One last chance to submit any. Otherwise, we’ll wrap it up. Thanks for being here, Aron. Our next chat is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday with Tom Johnson. As a reminder, the election is April 7.

Moderator

We did get one more questions, so we’ll continue.

helios

You talked about incentives to help stream line city services. Could you maybe expand upon this. A second, and unrelated question. Farmland use. Where do you stand? We have some great land in North Lawrence and I’d hate to see concrete poured over it.

Aron Cromwell

I am not sure what you mean by stream-lining city services….
As far as farmland use I am very committed to keeping high production farmland as agricultural. Once this land is paved you can not put it back in production. The city commission must lead our community into the future– what would be highest and best use of Class 1 soil land be if gas (and thereby Food) prices were much higher? Furthermore we need to encourage local food distribution and processing facilities.

Moderator

Now we’re done. Thanks to all.

Aron Cromwell

Thanks for the questions-

Remember that on April 7th we have an important election. With tightening budgets setting priorities becomes very important. Be sure to look into the candidates priorities and vote accordingly. More on my positions can be found on my website at www.CromwellForLawrence.com.

I am in favor of changing the focus of job development towards small business and entrepreneurs, tourism (including historical and agri-), and making Lawrence more attractive as a retirement location. I own a green business and want to encourage more. Also I believe strongly in maintaining our funding for social programs at levels of at least 100% their current levels- these agencies will be taxed in the days ahead.

Thanks-

Aron Cromwell