City Commission decides to interview six remaining candidates at special meeting Thursday

The six finalists for the Lawrence City Commission vacancy are, in alphabetical order, from left, Lisa Larsen, Scott Morgan, Joe O’Brien, Terry Riordan, David Schauner and Karl Watson.

The Lawrence City Commission unanimously voted Tuesday to advance all six finalists to the interview stage in the process to fill the vacancy left by former Mayor Jeremy Farmer.

Commissioners were given the opportunity to cut any of the finalists recommended by an advisory committee or add any qulified candidate, including eight others who applied for the position but were previously eliminated.

The commission will hear from the candidates at a final interview Thursday.

“I would strongly recommend that we invite all six to participate in this process,” Mayor Mike Amyx said. “I think we need to hear from these folks and be able to get their answers to questions. I think the committee did a great job and made hard decisions.”

A 12-member advisory committee narrowed the pool of applicants to six after a four-hour public forum Sept. 24.

Candidates moving on to final interviews Thursday are: Lisa Larsen,Scott Morgan, Joe O’Brien, Terry Riordan, David Schauner and Karl Watson.

Before the vote, Candice Davis, chair of the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods, told commissioners she thought the vacancy should be filled “with someone who has spent time working in city government and understands the complexities in the different departments.”

“It really is a pretty large learning curve,” she said.

Also on Tuesday, commissioners decided how the special meeting Thursday would be structured and what questions they’d pose to candidates.

Each of the four current commissioners will ask each candidate the same two questions. Candidates are allotted two-minute responses to each question and another two minutes for closing statements.

During a public comment period, each person will be held to a five-minute time limit.

Commissioners will then have 30 minutes to deliberate.

At the end of the meeting, commissioners will select the final one or two candidates. Those chosen Thursday will move on to an Oct. 6 meeting at which the City Commission will nominate and elect the new commissioner.

While deciding Tuesday what questions to ask the candidates, Commissioner Matthew Herbert said he’d like each commissioner to choose their own.

“That gives a representative example of the body,” Herbert said. “Ultimately, all four of us are going to have to work with this person as a teammate and as our fifth voice.”

Candidates will know beforehand what questions they’ll be asked.

The questions, along with the commissioner who will ask them, are:

Mike Amyx

• What single issue that this commission has decided did you disagree with? Why, and what would you have done differently if you were a commissioner?

• This commission has set priorities and goals that we wish to work for — how will you assist this commission in being able to meet its goals?

Leslie Soden

• What constitutes a desirable, healthy neighborhood that you would wish to live in?

• How do you interpret the results of the election last April, and how will that influence your decisions as a commissioner?

Matthew Herbert

• The city of Lawrence has a population of nearly 93,000, and yet on any given Tuesday, City Hall hosts fewer than 30 residents at the weekly meeting. As a seated commissioner, what are your plans to engage those in the community who do not attend the meetings in the process?

• Two weeks ago, the Lawrence City Commission was faced with the decision whether or not to give the Lawrence Arts Center $100,000 in transient guest tax funds for the purpose of expanding the Free State Festival. Two commissioners were in favor of full funding, and two were opposed. As the fifth member of the commission, you would have been the final vote to break the tie. Explain how you would have voted and why.

Stuart Boley

• What do you think a commissioner can do to encourage constructive conversations on controversial issues?

• What can we do as commissioners to ensure that Lawrence continues to be home for working people of modest means?

Thursday’s special meeting starts at 5:45 p.m. in the City Commission room at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. It will be aired live on WOW! Channel 6 and streamed at lawrenceks.org/stream.