The Progressive Lawrence Campaign, a political force that helped get City Commission candidates elected during the last two campaigns, has been quiet lately.

City Commissioners David Schauner and Mike Rundle, who both ran under the PLC banner, said Wednesday that they believe the group is no longer active.

“If it is, I’m not aware of it. I don’t think they’ll be a factor in the campaign at all,” Schauner said.

Melinda Henderson, PLC coordinator, said she was not ready to speak about the group’s future. Wally Emerson, who has been a leader of the group, also declined to comment.

Schauner said he believed the group had run out of steam.

“It is tough to keep an all-volunteer organization active,” Schauner said. “It is tough to find the time and the money and the energy to keep something like that active for the long haul.”

That was also Rundle’s assessment of the organization’s status.

“I think the key players have had their energies drawn elsewhere,” Rundle said. “It is obviously a volunteer commitment, and unfortunately there is not volunteer energy waiting in the wings.”

But Schauner praised what the organization had accomplished in its four-year existence. He pointed to the creation of a new development code, to increased discussion about the need for good planning, and to efforts to give neighborhoods a greater voice as issues that the group has successfully lobbied for.

“I think one of the missions of the PLC was to begin a community dialogue about what the future is going to look like,” Schauner said. “I think they were very successful in that.”

The organization served as a political action committee during the last two City Commission elections in 2005 and 2003. The group accepted contributions from area residents, then spent money and worked to elect candidates who represented the group’s thoughts on growth, development and the need for more progressive planning.

The group took the Lawrence political process by storm in 2003. The three candidates it supported – Schauner, Mike Rundle and Boog Highberger – swept the top three spots in the election, creating a majority on the five-member commission.

In 2005, the group was successful in helping Schauner get re-elected, which preserved the three-member majority on the commission.

Schauner is up for re-election again in 2007. He said Wednesday that he is still contemplating whether to run for a third term. Highberger and Rundle also are up for re-election. Rundle said Wednesday he’s still exploring the possibility of running again. Highberger previously has said that he’s leaning toward seeking re-election. Attempts to reach Highberger on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

City Commission elections will be April 3. Candidates have until noon on Jan. 23 to file for election. If more than six candidates file, there will be a primary election Feb. 27.