Lawrence voters won’t have to wait until April for an election.

James Bush, a Lawrence pastor who thinks the city needs to do more to promote growth, became the seventh candidate for the Lawrence City Commission, forcing the need for a primary Feb. 27.

Bush, who is the senior pastor at Lawrence’s First Southern Baptist Church, said he decided to seek a seat on the commission after becoming frustrated by hearing candidates and commissioners say the city needs to do more planning.

“Horizon 2020, the city’s comprehensive plan, is a tremendous, visionary plan that we should move forward on,” Bush said. “It is not additional planning that we need. It is implementation that we need.”

Bush said he would promote himself as a pro-growth candidate who was interested in expanding the community’s tax base.

“I don’t think development is a bad thing,” Bush said. “When I hear comments like ‘We need more planning,’ that doesn’t sound like progress to me. It begins to come across as ‘We don’t want any more people living in Lawrence.'”

On other issues, Bush said:

¢ He would like to present a new sales tax option for Lawrence voters to consider. Property taxes have “overburdened” many residents, he said, and the community needs to look for ways to share its costs among more taxpayers.

¢ The city needs to increase its maintenance budget. He criticized the city for sometimes using bonds of 10 to 12 years in length to pay for road improvements that likely will not last the full length of the bond.

¢ He would urge completion of the South Lawrence Trafficway, although he stopped short of endorsing a route.

Bush – who has lived in Lawrence since 2002 – said although he is a minister, he does not plan on running a campaign that focuses on faith-based issues. Instead, he said he was running to fulfill what he thought was a civic and individual responsibility.

“I just believe that, eventually, a person has to run for public office,” Bush said. “I can talk or write about something and it has some meaning, some impact, but to be effective you have to lay it on the line.”

Bush, 41, is running for one of three at-large seats on the five-member City Commission. Voters will narrow the field to six candidates at the Feb. 27 primary. Candidates have until noon today to file for the election at the city clerk’s office at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.

Two of the three incumbents – Commissioners Boog Highberger and David Schauner – have filed for re-election. Commissioner Mike Rundle announced that he would not seek another term.

Others who have filed are Rob Chestnut, chief financial officer at Allen Press; Mike Dever, owner of a Lawrence-based environmental consulting firm; Carey Maynard-Moody, a retired school social worker; and Michael Limburg, a forklift operator with Amarr Garage Door Group.

Candidates file in Eudora, Baldwin City races

The pace of candidates filing for city councils and school boards in Baldwin City and Eudora picked up Monday.

Here is a list of candidates who filed Monday at the Douglas County Clerk’s Office:

¢ Baldwin City Council: Jennifer L. Hayes, Kenneth Wagner and Kenneth D. Niehoff. There are three positions up for election.

¢ Baldwin school board: David Wagner and Doug Mead, both for at-large position 7. There are four positions up for election.

¢ Eudora City Council: Maria C.H. Nelson. Three council seats are up for election.

¢ Eudora school board: Mark Chrislip and Joseph A. Pyle, both incumbents. There are four seats open on the board.

The filing deadline is noon today.