From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 22, 1990:

Lawrence City Commissioner Shirley Martin-Smith today said she thought the commission’s search for a city manager could be improved by allowing community leaders to meet and discuss local issues with candidates for the job. “It’s as much our job to sell the city to the applicants as it is the applicants’ job to sell themselves to us,” Martin-Smith said in an interview this morning. “This process is a two-way street. I think this would give candidates a better perspective on the community. They’re coming to work for the whole city, so they need to get a perspective on the whole city.” Other commissioners, however, were giving lukewarm support to the idea. Mayor Bob Schumm, citing confidentiality issues, was the most adamantly opposed to the plan.