The Journal-World sent a 16-question survey to each candidate running for three at-large seats on the City Commission. Fourteen people filed for those seats. The March 3 primary election will whittle the field of candidates down to six for the April 7 general election. These answers are presented as they were received from the candidates.

Candidate profile: Terry Riordan

• 63 years old, a Lawrence physician and an owner of a local pediatric practice, who is finishing his first two-year term on the commission.

Do you believe a new police headquarters facility is needed, and if so, are you open to considering a property tax or sales tax increase to fund the facility? 

As a city commissioner I have studied this issue in great detail and visited our facilities, talked with police officers in my office and listened to Chief Khatib discussing their needs. I am fully supportive of a Police Station. I believe its possible without raising taxes. If we take the money that is set aside for the Police by the city, use city owned land, delay some noncritical capital improvement projects and use the one cent sales tax when the public health building and our golf course bonds are retired this should allow us a new facility without raising taxes.

The city in 2014 approved a new registration and licensing program for apartments and other rental units in the city. It is set to begin inspections in July. Do you support the program as approved? 

I wholeheartedly support this program. This is about public health and safety. I pushed hard for passage when this regulation was voted on. This public issue was addressed using no tax dollars. We have 172 completed inspections with a 77% failure rate. 129 violations were lacking smoke alarms and 65 GFCI receptacles which are easily corrected with very little cost and more importantly, lifesaving. Windows that didn’t open, window locks and nonfunctioning plumbing fixtures were common. There was a 76% reinspection rate with a 76% correction rate. This program was needed and already successfully facilitating needed safety improvements .

As part of the Rock Chalk Park sports complex, the city entered into a public-private partnership with Kansas University Endowment and a private development group. As part of that agreement, the city is paying for about $12 million worth of infrastructure that was exempted from the city’s standard bidding process. Do you support public-private partnerships that involve the city paying for work that was not bid? 

I was not on the city commission when this this public-private partnership with the KU was fashioned. This partnership had several flaws which were unintended by well-meaning previous city commissioners. It is obvious to me and all Lawrence citizens that every project has to be bid. I did not then nor can I now support a no-bid process for city projects. As a pediatrician supporting public health I am extremely supportive of the final project. 80,000 visitors to rock chalk Park in January 2015 can’t be wrong. I don’t support the process. I do support healthy citizens.

In 2014 the city approved tax rebates for projects in East Lawrence, downtown and near the KU campus that were either wholly or largely for apartment development. Do you support providing tax incentives for apartment development? 

I support a well reasoned and judicious use of tax abatements. The low income projects in East Lawrence produced affordable high quality housing. Mixed use apartment projects and a new Hotel have invigorated the downtown. The Public Incentive Review Committee carefully analyzed data and stated that there would be a significant return on each dollar used as an incentive and bring new tax dollars to Lawrence citizens. As long as we can justify incentives, improve our tax base and return dollars to the citizens I will seriously consider using incentives but only if it is justified.

The city last year opened Lawrence VenturePark, the new business park that was built on the former Farmland Industries fertilizer plant site in eastern Lawrence. Do you support the idea of providing tax abatements and other financial incentives to attract businesses to that park? 

Lawrence is a wonderful city and many outside businesses investigate expansion into our community because of this fact. In my discussion with other cities , I conclude that a great community and a strong school system with a good workforce is essential to getting our foot in the door. The Dwayne Peaslee center for technical education and the school systems new tech center are an absolute necessity for us to bring new businesses to Lawrence. However, today’s market emphasizes profitability and public incentives carefully used are necessity to close the deal. So I would support the use of reasonable and thoughtful incentives.

In 2015, the city is budgeted to provide about $220,000 to the Lawrence chamber of commerce to lead the community’s economic development efforts. Do you support that arrangement with the chamber? 

In the past the chamber has had at best mixed results for recruiting large businesses to Lawrence. However with the appointment of Larry McElwain and his expert and very active homegrown staff there emphasis has changed dramatically the focus of the Chamber of Commerce. This is best evidenced by the Dwayne Peaslee center which has been championed by the chamber and provides us with a technical workforce that will bring new jobs to Lawrence. The chamber is now focusing hard on small business entrepreneurship still supporting large business expansion. This new direction causes me to be both supportive and optimistic.

In 2008 voters approved a three-tenths of a percent sales tax to fund city-street maintenance and other infrastructure projects. How would you rate the condition of city streets today? 

Look around and see the tremendous improvements of our city streets, are infrastructure for water both waste and for drinking using tax monies. The reconstruction of the intersections at 23rd and Iowa, sixth in Iowa, 15th in Iowa and Wakarusa are just three of these planned improvements with many more to come. The double inlet system for drinking water from the Kaw, the 36 inch water line pulled under the river to give duplicate water source to North Lawrence and subsequently south Lawrence are just two examples of anticipating public needs and meeting them correctly. This is a slam dunk improvement.

In 2014 the city built a new dual-lane roundabout on Wakarusa Drive, and is considering building more in the future. Do you support the use of roundabouts in the city? 

Children hate shots, citizens hate roundabouts but just because we don’t like them doesn’t mean they are bad. Safety first. There are 16 conflict points at a four-way stop and four conflict points at roundabout. Four-way stops cause high impact T-bone collisions with severe injuries and roundabouts are minor rear end with minor injuries. Roundabouts produce less CO2. I travel Wakarusa daily and see up to 20 cars stopped at Harvard and at most one car at the roundabout. Although I hate roundabouts there safer for our citizens and the environment by scientific studies. Let’s go with safety.

Based on current city capital improvement plans, the city is scheduled to spend about $3 million in 2015 and 2016 on a project to rebuild a portion of Ninth Street as part of an effort to make the area into an “arts corridor.” As currently proposed, do you support the project? 

This project is really a corridor that connects downtown to the arts district and will energize both areas. Using complete streets will encourage walking, biking and safe automobile travel. It will incorporate art projects that are made by local and national artist. We have a $500,000 grant to reduce the price making it even a better value. Most importantly this project showed how the citizens of East Lawrence voiced their concerns for unintended changes to their community lifestyle and We listened creating a task force that takes those worries into serious consideration. It’s a big win for the entire city.

The city has been asked to approve financial incentives designed to spur the installation of additional gigabit, super-fast broadband service in Lawrence. Do you support the idea of providing a financial incentive to private companies interested in providing enhanced broadband services to the community?

Fiber access to all Lawrence Citizens is paramount for me. Access to gigabytes fiber will bring new businesses to Lawrence and also allow expansion of existing businesses requiring this. We own a ring of fiber around the city with excess capacity and can be rented to companies at low cost, this being a great incentive. Utilizing access to city right-of-way as an incentive is also smart. Building out a system for the city is too costly and best left to private companies with incentivizing their buildout as above with some incentives as mentioned above. Incentives only if necessary.

What is the biggest issue facing Lawrence neighborhoods? 

There are different neighborhoods with different needs. East Lawrence needs sidewalks, safe streets and support for their older homes with low cost city services. Oread has many needs with parking and rental blight being very important. West Lawrence requires thoughtful development of open land and repair of high volume streets suffering from overuse. I could go on and on but am limited by 100 words.

Given the other needs of the city, what is the likelihood that you would support additional funding for trails, bike lanes and other pedestrian-oriented projects in the community? 

I am for health and safety of the of the citizens of Lawrence as a pediatrician. It makes great good sense to me to create trails for walking, safe bike lanes for both exercise and as a mode of transportation. We already have in place a route that almost encircles the city now we should finish this and create safe paths to schools and work for children and adults. I support this type of transportation for many reasons but once again it must be done with careful planning and careful use of tax dollars.

Given the other needs of the city, what is the likelihood that you would support the idea of city assistance for a new conference center in the community? (Full disclosure: Members of The World Company, which owns the Journal-World and LJWorld.com have put forward a proposal for a downtown project that includes a conference center.) 

I would be very much in support of a conference center but only if we can afford it. We have many other needs that have to be met before we consider a convention center. This might be a good example of trying to think out-of-the-box and encourage private rather than public investment. Public investment could be considered but only after we take care of our police needs and other infrastructure projects that need to be funded. There are ways of public support without great public cost in our city toolbox that can be used here.

In 2014 there were six homicides in Lawrence, the highest number in at least a decade. Is there anything the Lawrence City Commission can do to improve public safety in the community? 

I am very concerned about the homicides in Lawrence Kansas. We need to first look at the root causes of these incidents and try to solve them. We also need to support our police as stated above because they need adequate facilities that allows them to protect us. We should encourage every citizen to participate in reporting unsafe activity and inform officials of unsafe and dangerous situations. Citizen involvement encouraged by the Commission is cheap and effective. Prevention is a must. Safety First.

A proposal has been made by a development group to create a major new retail area just south of the South Lawrence Traffic way and Iowa Street interchange? Are you supportive of rezoning property for major new retail developments in the community?  

This developer has withdrawn this request. It was excellent proposal to bring new tax dollars to Lawrence. It was also a complicated plan because it significantly increased commercial/retail space that is far above city recommendations for this area. Despite this difficulty, I truly believe that this node will be developed in a very appropriate way in the near future and I would be supportive of a project similar to the one that has been withdrawn from discussion when that occurs. We cannot say yes/no unless we have a project before us that can be judged on its merits.

What’s your vision for the type of community Lawrence will become in the next decade? 

I am very excited about the possibilities for Lawrence to rise from the ashes of the great recent recession and boldly move forward as a city. We have a great foundation of city projects that promote health and safety for our citizens and we need to build upon them. To me the most important emphasis would be placed on engaging our citizens and regaining their trust. Trust is built by actions not by words. YOU DONT SHRINK A CITY TO GREATNESS so lets rebuild trust by Commission actions, involve citizens in a proactive way and move forward as a city.

More election coverage

• Catch up on City Commission candidate profiles, chats, questionnaire responses and more before the April 7 election.