Editorial: City schedule

A new schedule for Lawrence City Commission meetings could have benefits as long as it provides enough opportunities for public input on city business.

Reducing the number of meetings the Lawrence City Commission has each month has some potential pitfalls, but it also has enough potential advantages to make it worth a try.

At the suggestion of City Manager Tom Markus, commissioners are scheduled to consider a new meeting schedule that would reduce its regular meetings from four each month to two. Those meetings would occur on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, with a regular work session scheduled on second Tuesdays. Fourth Tuesdays would be available for special meetings if the commission found that necessary and the tradition of skipping a meeting in months with five Tuesdays would continue.

Having fewer meetings, Markus said, would give the city staff more time to work on various city priorities, as well as give commissioners an opportunity to learn about issues and get their questions answered. As envisioned by Markus, the second-Tuesday meetings would include action on consent agenda items followed by a work session that would include no formal action. The sessions would be open to the public but probably wouldn’t include an opportunity for public comment — unless there is some provision for comment on a consent agenda item.

Mayor Mike Amyx agreed that the regular work sessions would benefit commissioners by giving them a chance to talk to one another and “work out some details.” The schedule also would put Lawrence more in line with other similar communities whose commissioner meet two or three times a month.

As noted at the outset, there are a couple of potential pitfalls that commissioners will have to guard against. First, commissioners already have moved the start time of their meeting up to 5:45 p.m. to avoid late-night deliberations that tax commissioners and hamper public comment. If having just two regular meetings results in longer agendas and meetings, that would be a serious drawback.

Perhaps even more important is the need to preserve avenues for public input on issues. Members of the public will be able to monitor discussions at the work sessions, but it would be unfortunate if they feel that commissioners are using those sessions to informally set a direction on various issues before hearing public comment at a regular meeting.

Keeping that in mind, it’s good to try new things from time to time. Maybe the new schedule will better suit staff, commissioners and the public and lead to smoother city decision-making. If it doesn’t work out, the city can always go back to its current schedule or come up with another plan.