McRae has been building familiarity with city commission for months

Except for incumbent Mike Rundle, Ken McRae has attended more Lawrence City Commission meetings over the past year than anybody else running for the office.

He’s regularly attended the meetings, getting familiar with issues and processes in preparation, he hopes, of joining the commissioners behind the desk in April.

“I’ve been a regular attendee for about 13 months now,” McRae said at a recent candidate forum. “This is something I’ve been dedicated to for a long time.”

Perhaps as a result, McRae gives among the most detailed answers of any candidate when discussing his goals for the commission.

He sounds like other candidates when assessing Lawrence’s growth (“The city commission should be out in front directing growth”) but offers a method to addressing the issue. One technique: Encourage “cluster” residential redevelopment.

“The idea is to ‘cluster’ the development in the suitable areas, using smaller lot sizes, while protecting the sensitive areas from development,” he said. “Because the area of development is clustered, there is a reduction in the amount of streets and sewers needed. This reduced infrastructure reduces the cost of the project and promotes affordable housing.”

On the budget front, McRae is fiscally conservative. Although a slow economy is squeezing the services local and state governments can offer, he said it’s unfair to make up the shortfall by increasing taxes.

“The more difficult political decision, to delay spending for the short term, is the best decision for the long-term future of Lawrence,” he said.

This is one of 11 city commission candidate profiles that will run in alphabetical order online each weekday, Monday through Friday, through Feb. 21.6News will provide an accompanying video profile at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. each weeknight through Feb. 21 on Sunflower Broadband’s cable Channel 6.Video and text profiles on the candidates will be compiled through the series online on our City commission candidates site.

McRae criticizes the city’s new ban on July 4 fireworks, calling it unworkable. Better, he said, to partner with fireworks vendors to find a compromise.

“By passing the ordinance, the city commission removed any incentive the vendors had to work with the city,” he said. “Those vendors operate outside of the city’s jurisdiction and control. A cooperative effort would be much more likely to produce the desired result.”

¢More election stories, voting information and links to download a voter registration form and an application for an advanced ballot