photo by: John Young

Lawrence city commissioners listen to public comments about the mayoral selection process during the City Commission meeting, April 26, 2016, at City Hall.

New City Manager Tom Markus is suggesting a change in how the Lawrence City Commission operates.

A proposal of Markus’ going before the City Commission on Tuesday would cut the “great many hours” commissioners and city staff spend in public meetings, he said. The number of commission meetings each month would be reduced from four to three, and one of the three would be a work session rather than a regular meeting.

In his slightly more than two months on the job, Markus said, he has found that meetings take “a large amount of staff time that could otherwise be used to work on City Commission priorities.”

“We’re just in constant agenda prep,” Markus said. “It’s not the most productive or efficient use of staff. “

“Just because they’ve done it this way forever doesn’t mean you can’t try other alternatives. I think it’s worthy of a try.”

Mayor Mike Amyx said the commission schedule has been the same since before he became a commissioner in 1983.

Just prior to Amyx’s start, the commission stopped meeting the fifth Tuesday of the month. In December 2014, the City Commission changed its weekly start time from 6:35 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. in an attempt to avoid late-night deliberations.

The commission now meets at 5:45 p.m. every Tuesday except for in months that have five Tuesdays. Work sessions are sometimes held before the 5:45 p.m. start time.

Under the proposed schedule, the start time for meetings and work sessions would be 5:45 p.m. Regular meetings would be held the first and third Tuesdays of the month, and the second Tuesday would be a work session, at which no formal action would be taken besides on a consent agenda. No meetings would be held the fourth Tuesday.

Amyx said Markus “had some good ideas” with the schedule change.

Both said the monthly work sessions would allow for better dialogue among commissioners.

“The biggest selling point of the idea is that it creates the opportunity to sit down in a work session format on issues,” Markus said. “With 90 percent of issues, there’s a commonality among the views of the City Commission. It’s that 10 percent that require extra deliberation, and this creates that opportunity.”

Amyx agreed, noting it would’ve been beneficial to have a work session on the East Ninth Project last week, instead of being faced with a vote after nearly four hours of presentations and public comment. At the end of discussions on that issue, commissioners agreed to meet about it in a work session.

“One of the things it does is gives the opportunity for the commission to sit down and work out some details,” Amyx said. “Rather than on a Tuesday night after a lot of time of public hearing when we’re trying to redesign something and make changes, and then put it off.”

Markus said that Iowa City, where he served as city manager before coming to Lawrence, held two meetings per month.

“I’ve done it in the two previous communities I’ve been in,” Markus said. “I thought they were productive. I think the same thing will happen here, too.”

Lawrence also has more meetings than other nearby cities.

The Manhattan City Commission meets twice monthly with a work session in between, as does Lenexa. Olathe meets twice and holds a work session when needed. Topeka holds three regular meetings every month.

Topeka’s start time is 6 p.m., and the others start their meetings at 7 p.m.

Markus said if the change were approved, special meetings could be scheduled on fourth Tuesdays of a month if a majority of the City Commission votes to hold one.

To make the change, the commission would have to vote to pass a new ordinance Tuesday. According to Markus’ proposal, the new schedule would be adopted this month if the commission were to pass it on a second reading June 14.

Commissioners meet at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.