The streamers have been cleared away, the black-eyed peas have been eaten. New Year’s is over, and with it all the looks back at 2005.

It’s time to think about 2006. Here’s what some local and state leaders say are the challenges and opportunities on the horizon.

Randy Weseman

Lawrence public schools

“The No. 1 challenge is, has been and always will be student achievement,” said Weseman, Lawrence superintendent. “We have areas we’re doing well in and some we’re not doing so well in.”

The school district will be busy with renovations and repairs to buildings around the district.

“We have some bricks-and-mortar projects to bring in and complete – they’re a high priority. Between the two, frankly, everybody’s kept pretty busy.”

Weseman isn’t fretting – much – about the ongoing school finance debate in the Kansas Legislature.

“Oh, to some degree, but that’s pretty much out of our hands,” he said. “Our challenge is to take on the issues we have some control over. We’ve talked to our legislators, they know where we stand, and the Kansas Supreme Court has made its decision. The challenge now is for the Legislature to execute the order. I don’t know how we can influence that process any more than we already have.”

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius

2006 will be a make-or-break year for the governor, who faces a re-election campaign and school finance battles. She’s trying to look past all that, saying that foresight for the state’s future “is really critical.”

“It’s really taking advantage of the opportunities that we have, to look down the road 10 years and make the really strategic investment that will keep Kansas at the forefront of what is happening.”

She added: “What are the kinds of investments we can make to give Kansas business owners, parents, children, the tools that they are going to need to succeed?”

Mayor Boog Highberger

Highberger said that he thought the city would have a good opportunity to have a serious discussion about how the city grows in the future.

He hopes a new development code will be completed to replace the city’s current zoning code, that a new annexation policy will allow the city to get ahead of growth, and that results of a new study of the costs of growth will be ready for city commission review and action.

“I think all of this could really help us start a true community visioning process,” Highberger said. City commissioners have been discussing hiring an outside consultant who would help the community create a broad vision that would identify the key values and characteristics that the city wants to have as it grows for decades to come.

“I would really like to put this whole issue of growth versus no growth to rest,” Highberger said. “I think everybody realizes the community is going to grow. I think now it is just an issue of how we grow.”

Lavern Squier

president and chief executive of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce

Squier said a community visioning process is a unique opportunity for the community.

“I think for 2006 the opportunities would center around a growing desire of elected officials at the city and hopefully the county to concentrate on a discussion about what the community is going to look like in the future,” Squier said.

Squier said the challenge will be fully committing to the process and sticking with it no matter how difficult it may become.

“We need to remain committed to the structure that will allow us to take advantage of this rare opportunity,” Squier said.

He said it also will be important to make sure that the process is inclusive.

“Everyone needs to see this as an effort that they can have a voice in, and we need to be respectful of varying views, but we also need to be cognizant of time. We can’t allow this to be a process that just drags on.”

Craig Weinaug

Douglas County administrator

The big issue challenging the Douglas County Commission will be deciding how subdivision regulations will be handled, the county administrator said. There are significant differences between the city of Lawrence and the county about how development should be regulated.

“Either the city and county will work out the differences or you may see the county going its own way and developing regulations that are independent of the city regulations,” Weinaug said.

The county also will have to decide where industrial parks will be located, how they are developed and who will pay for that development, Weinaug said. In addition, there could be discussions with township boards later in the year about the county taking over more rural road maintenance projects, and that could change the role of township governments.

Jo Bryant

United Way

In 2006 the United Way of Douglas County will be faced with using charitable dollars more effectively to help change people’s lives for the better, director Jo Bryant said.

“We know that charitable dollars are not infinite,” she said.

Bryant also hopes the United Way can more effectively communicate to the community that human needs are increasing here.

“I think we have a growing population of people who are having a more difficult time making ends meet,” she said.

Paul Carttar

Kansas University

Carttar, executive vice chancellor for external affairs at KU, said 2006 will be a year for the school to “strengthen our ability to serve the people that rely on us.”

“I think 2006 is going to be a good year,” he said. “I think the Legislature has a growing understanding and appreciation of who we are and what we do. There’s every reason to believe that the other changes we have under way – whether it’s the various positions we’re filling or other major initiatives – are going to work very well for us.”

The single biggest change in store, he said, is that there will be new faces in visible, high-level positions throughout the university.

“We have every expectation that our community will be enhanced by those new faces,” he said.