From crazy to credible.

The Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods hasn’t changed so much in 15 years, its members say. But how the association is perceived by the rest of the community has evolved considerably.

Jordan Lerner, left, president of the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods, and Steve Lopes, former president, discuss Old West Lawrence. The two were photographed Wednesday at Seventh and Louisiana streets. LAN marks its 15th anniversary today.

“I think there was a lot more resistance to LAN in the early years as being naysayers, obstructionists,” said City Commissioner David Dunfield, a former association chairman. “I think it’s become clearer over time that the issues LAN articulates are important to citizens generally.”

The association is celebrating its 15th anniversary. Members gather today to celebrate an organization that has grown from those early “crazy” years to an important voice in how the city is policed and planned.

“It’s a group to be reckoned with, to some degree,” City Manager Mike Wildgen said.

Steve Lopes, the association’s first president and still its newsletter editor, said that was for sure.

“In my opinion, LAN is the consummate ‘community power structure’ in Lawrence enduring and effective,” he said.

Early days

Getting started wasn’t easy.

Lopes, a longtime member of Old West Lawrence, said the association grew from several bruising political battles in the city during the 1980s including attempts to halt a downtown mall and Douglas County Bank’s demolition of houses in the 800 block between Kentucky and Tennessee streets.

Before that, he said, efforts to bring together Lawrence’s growing list of neighborhood organizations had failed.

“A lot of things came together in the late ’80s,” Lopes said. “The neighborhoods had not cooperated to this point. They had fought each other.”

	For a list of neighborhood associations and contacts, go to www.lawrenceneighres.org/cdd8.html. For more neighborhood news, go to ourneighborhoods.ljworld.com. For links to maps and pictures of Lawrence neighborhoods, go to growth.lawrence.com.

On Jan. 29, 1987, however, several neighborhood association presidents put that antagonism aside for a meeting in the home of Art and Mary Thomas, who represented University Place Neighborhood Assn. That led to monthly meetings between the presidents until the association was formally started in October of that year.

The association’s founding didn’t mean cooperation between neighborhoods was easy. To this day, only 12 of Lawrence’s 26 neighborhood associations are formal members: Barker, Brook Creek, Centennial, East Lawrence, Indian Hills, Old West Lawrence, Oread, Pinckney, Sunflower, Sunset Hills, University Place, and West Hills Home Assn.

Most of the other associations, officials say, are inactive.

“We got involved in carefully chosen issues, the God, motherhood and apple pie kind of stuff,” Lopes said. “The first couple of years, we weren’t too careful.”

What it does

Among the first efforts: Getting the city commission to pass the “noise ordinance” police still use to restrain late-night parties.

“The KU students didn’t like us too much,” Lopes said.

The group also worked in 1988 with the Lawrence Motor Carriers Assn. to keep heavy truck traffic off neighborhood streets. In subsequent years, the association pressed the city to study stormwater regulations and pass the “Simply Equal” act prohibiting housing discrimination against homosexuals. It also has weighed in on the creation of Horizon 2020 (the city-county long-range planning guide), the development of “big box” stores and proposed new floodplain regulations.

The organization also sponsors candidate forums every city commission campaign cycle.

Dunfield said the association’s stands have grown out of common concerns to maintain services to neighborhoods, control traffic and live safely.

“I think they’ve been very successful,” Dunfield said. “I think all these things get more city hall attention than they did 15 years ago.”

Looking ahead

Two years ago, the city created a new position to deal directly with neighborhoods and their concerns: the neighborhood programs specialist.

“We’re trying to reach out to neighborhoods, let them know there’s somebody who can help them get what they want or the information they need,” said Cindy Nau, who holds the job.

The city also benefits, Nau said.

“The neighborhoods are able to give me their perspective and I can pass that on to other departments,” she said. “That helps the city know what concerns are without people having to go speak in front of the city commission.”

Jordan Lerner, the association’s president, said today’s gathering will help members decide the organization’s future. The Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods, he said, should grow with the city.

“Personally, I’d like to see more involvement from neighborhoods west of Kasold,” he said. “They have the same issues we do, but they’re newer and don’t have neighborhood organizations. But there are people living there.

“I think LAN is a critical advocate in the city,” Lerner said. “Just about anything that happens in the city happens in a neighborhood.”