Chat with Lawrence Mayor Boog Highberger

Welcome to our online chat with Lawrence Mayor Boog Highberger.

The chat took place on Thursday, April 14, at 3:00 PM and is now closed, but you can read the full transcript on this page.

Moderator: Welcome to our online chat today with Lawrence’s new mayor, Boog Highberger. We have several questions submitted already, so we’ll get started. If you have questions, please submit them during the chat.

First, we’d like to welcome our guest today, our new mayor.

Mayor Boog Highberger: Greetings, citizens! Let the wild rumpus begin!

Michael, Lawrence: Mayor: Given that only one PLC-supported candidate was elected this month — and that in a squeaker, perhaps aided by a backlash against the Mike Capra postcards — do you think the “Smart Growth” majority on the commission still has the support of the community? If so, how do you explain the election results? Thanks.

Mayor Boog Highberger: Michael, if you look at the decisions the city commission made during the last 2 years, almost all of our decisions were made by 5-0 votes. if you examine the issues that were discussed in the last campaign, the primary issues were those raised during the last campaign and over the last 2 years– how to manage growth, how to ensure the availability of affordable housing in our city, and how to create and preserve great neighborhoods– and there was a surprising degree of agreement among the candidates on those issues. One key issue of disagreement did stand out— how to pay for the cost of new growth– and i think all of the commissioners will review the report we get back from Tischler and Associates later this year, and take action as we each believes to be in the best long-term interest in the city. The short answer to your question is, Yes, I think we still have the support of the community.

Gregory, Lawrence: What are you going to do about the high property taxes? What about affordable housing?

Mayor Boog Highberger: Greg, I think our property tax rates are reasonable compared to other area cities and other comparable cities. Last year we deceased the mill levy slightly, and I hope that we can keep it steady again this year. I realize that a lot of people’s taxes will go up anyway because the valuation of their property will increase, but the valuation is done by the county and is not within our control. I think the entire commission is committed to doing our best to spend your tax dollars wisely. our budget process is just starting so if you have concerns about specific expenditures, now is the time to let us know. as for affordable housing, in early May we will have a Community housing assessment Team project in Douglas County. Focus groups from all areas of the community will be conducted and a community analysis will be done, and we should have some recommendations on how to proceed before the end of May.

Debbie, Lawrence: How much are the bars really loosing in terms of dollars as a result of the smoking ban?

Mayor Boog Highberger: debbie, i don’t have access to sales data for specific establishments. from what i hear informally, some places are doing as well or better than before, and some places have seen some drop off in business. I think we will see sales going up across the board as the smoking ban becomes more accepted and as more jurisdictions in the are go smoke-free.

Jim, Lawrence: I understand that there are many more important issues for Lawrence to tackle, but do you see any room in the agenda for a cannabis decriminalization measure similar to that passed in Columbia, MO?

Congratulations on being Mayor of such a great place!

Mayor Boog Highberger: Thanks, Jim. I haven’t really pursued this issue here, because i agree that we have many other important issues on our plate. I do think that spending a lot of police and judicial time on going after people who are in possession of small amounts of marijuana isn’t a wise use of our limited resources.

John Q, Lawrence: What are “YOUR” plans (IF Any), for getting “Decent Grocery Store” and/or a “Major Bank Branch” Built in “North Lawrence? If “Lawrence” is supposed to be the “Business Friendly City” It wants everybody to believe it is, It sure hasn’t been very “Business Friendly” towards the “Tax Paying Community” of the people “Who Live” there!

Mayor Boog Highberger: Jim. I would love to see a grocery store in North Lawrence, and i have talked about this problem several times with North Lawrence Improvement association president Ted Boyle. right now we don’t have any incentives to use to attract retail businesses to the city– we don’t want to be in a position of using tax dollars to attract in new retail businesses to compete with people who are already here. One problem here is the changing economics of the grocery industry– very few companies are building small grocery stores, and North Lawrence doesn’t have a big enough population to support a large grocery store. given all that, i am still willing to do anything we can to attract a grocery store to North Lawrence.

Chris, Lawrence: There is no effective way to ride a bike from the east side of town to the west. Is there anything on the radar to make a safe bicycle route across town?

Mayor Boog Highberger: Chris– good question. last year the Bicycle advisory Committee updated the city bike plan. when it has been completed, there will be bike paths and routes connecting all parts of the city. The capital improvements necessary to complete the plan are being added to the city capital improvement plan, new collector streets are being built with required bike lanes,. and we are moving forward with completing the Burroughs creek rail trail, which will hopefully eventually provide a link between Mary’s Lake and downtown. the bike plan should be available for viewing on the city web site.

Jason, DC/Lawrence: Boog, in his weekly column a few weeks back Dolph Simons asked an interesting rhetorical question that I often ask myself (I don’t think Dolph and I often have many of the same thoughts, and I don’t agree with his insinuation that no one is doing this sort of thinking now):

“The point is, whether it is a convention center, an ice rink, more parks or other civic improvements, who is doing the dreaming and planning? Also, who or what group in Lawrence will take the leadership and turn dreams into reality?”

Beyond those things already being talked about (public library, trafficway–way to go, btw!–, etc.) and those that are pie-in-the-sky or of dubious public value (convention center), what are your dreams for the future of the built environment in and around Lawrence?

Mayor Boog Highberger: Yes, Jason, I agree with you and Mr. Simons that we should dream big– but I think a convention center downtown could be a valuable addition to our city. I think we have been dreaming big– we have been working on changing our rules so that the city can take the lead in deciding where and how our city develops, and ensuring that we build neighborhoods with a sense of place that are safe places for children to walk and ride their bikes to school. but the process is slow, and it won’t be obvious that we have been dreaming big until some of the new rules are adopted, which hopefully will take place over the next two years. We have some limits to what we can do in the way of building right now because of our tight budgets, but I will admit to one big dream that I had decided not to include one of my dreams– a bicycle/pedestrian bridge from the end of the rail trail across the river to the levee in North Lawrence. If you have more big dreams, let me know…

Laura: Will the City Commission create and appoint a Police Citizen’s Review Board within the next year? If not, why not?

Mayor Boog Highberger: Laura, One of my goals since I have been on the commission is to ensure adequate oversight of the police department. I think our police officers have a very difficult job and they do it very well. however, in any organization the size of the Lawrence police Department there are going to be instances where mistakes are made or rules aren’t followed. I believe it is in the best interest of the community and of the police department to have an unbiased and objective means of reviewing allegations of improper police conduct. Based on what i’ve read and from many discussions with people on all sides of this issue, I do not support creation of a Citizen’s review Board at this time. I would like to look at the possibility of a police ombudsman outside of the police department to perform this function

Eric Lawrence: What steps are being taken to encourage business growth in Lawrence. The news makes it look like our city has gone out of it’s way to create barriers for new business (smoking ban, living wage that penalizes new businesses who weren’t grandfathered, etc)

Mayor Boog Highberger: Eric– The living wage was adopted by a 5-0 vote of the city commission and was supported by the chamber of commerce. Members of the city commission have been involved in searching for land for new industrial development, we have been actively involved in the city Economic Development Board and the Chamber-sponsored Bioscience Business Attraction Committee. All news of some recent layoffs has been disappointing, job growth was very good in Lawrence last year. We will soon be looking at the recommendations of the Business retention Task Force chaired by Commissioner Sue Hack, and hopefully will be able to implement many of those recommendations very soon.

Janie, Lawrence: Congratulations, Mayor Highberger! I have three questions.

1. I see that your plans for the year do not include addressing the long-range problem of water availability to Lawrence. Is this something you would incorporate and, if so, what measures do you believe we should take to assure that the generation of Lawrencians in 25 years will have enough clean water?

2. In the recent City Commission campaigns, some candidates said they would support Lawrence’s joining a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the gay marriage ban. As mayor, will you lead us in that effort?

3. Also, all candidates said they would pursue full investigation of unethical campaign practices toward identification of the “deep pockets” that funded Mike Capra’s very expensive postcard mailout. Will you push for this investigation to bring ethics back to Lawrence politics?

Thanks, Boog, and best wishes for your mayoral year!

Mayor Boog Highberger: Thanks, Janie!

My understanding is that the city of Lawrence has secured adequate water rights for its projected future growth through approximately 2050. Even so, I agree that the availability is going to be the crucial issue of the next century, and conservation of water is important now. The new water rate structure we adopted last year was a small step toward encouraging wiser use of water.

2. As I said the night of my election as mayor, I am proud to be a citizen of the one place in Kansas that stood up and said NO to writing discrimination into our state constitution. I will do everything I can do as mayor to make sure that our city stands up for equal rights for all its citizens, but i’m not ready to commit to a legal challenge of the constitutional amendment at this time, for a number of reasons– the lawyer in me needs to have a little more information.

3. I would encourage District attorney Charles Branson to conduct a thorough investigation of these allegations and I will urge the commission to add a tightening of campaign finance laws to our list of legislative priorities for 2006.

Moderator: This will be our last question.

Kelli, Lawrence: Would you be willing to consider a change in the city codes to mandate that all new homes built within Lawrence limits incorporate at least one alternative source of energy, like passive solar, solar panels, or wood-burning stoves?

Mayor Boog Highberger: Thanks for question, Kelli. The city commission has asked our building code board to review the International Energy Code, which sets energy standards for new construction, and I hope that we can adopt the energy code by the end of this year or early next year. i think use of alternative fuels for heating is great idea (although widespread use of woodburning stoves would cause its own environmental problems), but I would need more cost-benefit information before supporting such a requirement. I would be more interested in exploring incentives for including alternative energy sources or building more energy-efficient buildings. I do support increasing energy efficiency standards for public buildings, and the commission and the library board have agreed that the new library will be constructed according to LEED standards.

Moderator: I’d like to thank our new mayor for taking the time to come in for today’s chat. And I’d also like to thank all of our readers for providing us with all of today’s questions.

Mayor Boog Highberger: Thanks, nameless Moderator, and thank you to everyone who sent in questions.