14 file for vacant City Commission seat; applications now public

Fourteen people filed applications to fill the vacant seat on the Lawrence City Commission.

City officials released the list shortly after the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline for submitting applications. The person chosen will serve out the unexpired term of former Commissioner Jeremy Farmer, who resigned last month amid financial questions at Just Food, a local food bank where he worked as executive director.

The slate of candidates includes some former city commissioners and some who have run unsuccessfully for the commission in the past.

The 14 applicants, listed in the order in which they filed their applications, are:

• Terry Riordan, pediatrician and former city commissioner who was defeated for re-election in the 2015 elections

• Scott Morgan, editor/publisher and former Lawrence school board member who ran unsuccessfully for the Kansas Senate in 2008 and for Kansas Secretary of State in 2014

• Jeffrey S. Southard, retired attorney

• Allison Puderbaugh, environmental project assistant

• David Schauner, attorney who served two two-year terms on the City Commission from 2003 until 2007

• David Crawford, retired instructor for the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers who ran unsuccessfully for the city commission in 2015

• J. Douglas Robinson, custom product sales employee at Home Depot

• Caleb Stephens, adolescent addictions counselor, therapist and social worker

• Joe O’Brien, associate professor in the KU School of Education

• Kenneth Easthouse, call center supervisor at General Dynamics who has served as an election judge for the Douglas County Clerk’s office

• Mike Anderson, late-night television host who ran unsuccessfully for the City Commission in 2015

• Karl Watson, chief financial officer at engineering consulting firm GPW & Associates

• Kolbe James Murray, junior at KU studying finance

• Lisa Ann Larsen, geologist at Larsen & Associates, Inc.

Schedule for filling Lawrence City Commission vacancy

Thursday, Sept. 10 — City staff forwards application materials to Advisory Committee, City Commission, and City website

Thursday, Sept. 17, 6:30 p.m. — Advisory Committee meets in City Commission Room to review applications and select semi-finalists.

Thursday, Sept. 24, 6:30 p.m. — Advisory Committee holds public forum in City Commission Room and identifies six (6) candidates to forward to City Commission

Tuesday, Sept. 29, 5:45 p.m. — City Commission accepts list from Advisory Committee and determines who will be interviewed by the City Commission in a public meeting on Oct. 1st.

Thursday, Oct. 1, 5:45 p.m. — City Commission convenes special meeting to interview applicants for vacancy and discusses candidates and vacancy.

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 5:45 p.m. — The City Commission elects the successor by a majority vote of the four commissioners. The person selected to fill the vacancy is sworn into office and seated on the City Commission.

— Source: City of Lawrence website