City commissioners are ready to send a letter to Gov. Sam Brownback urging him to reconsider the decision to close Lawrence’s SRS office.

Commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting unanimously directed Mayor Aron Cromwell to sign a letter asking the governor to keep the office open. Cromwell said he wanted to give the Douglas County Commission the chance to join in the letter, but commissioners urged staff members to write the letter soon.

“I think time is of the essence here,” said City Commissioner Mike Amyx. “I think the hardship created by so many people is something I can’t even guess what it will be like for clients of SRS.”

Commissioners gave Cromwell the authority to sign the letter without it first being reviewed by the full commission. But commissioners said they did want the letter to clearly ask the governor to keep the existing office intact rather than asking for SRS to keep at least some presence in the city.

“We don’t want a watering down of the SRS presence in the city,” City Commissioner Bob Schumm said.