The Douglas County Courthouse.

Two of three seats on the Douglas County Commission are being contested this election cycle.

Vying for the 2nd District seat is political newcomer Jesse Brinson Jr., who is running as an independent. His opponent is incumbent Democrat Nancy Thellman, who is seeking her third four-year term on the County Commission. The 2nd District includes east Lawrence precincts and eastern Douglas County, including Baldwin City and Eudora.

The 3rd District seat is open with Jim Flory’s decision not to seek a third term on the County Commission. Contesting for the seat are Democrat Bassem Chahine and Republican Michelle Derusseau, It is the first campaign for public office for both candidates. The winner will represent the district of west Lawrence and the western portion of the county, including Clinton, Lecompton, Stull, Globe and Worden.

2nd District

Jesse Brinson Jr.

Independent

There’s one key thing he would keep in mind if elected to the Douglas County Commission, Jesse Brinson Jr. said.

Jesse Brinson Jr.

“Elected officials should not approach their governance with ‘spending priorities,'” he wrote in response to a Journal-World question. “It isn’t their money to spend — it belongs to taxpayers.”

Brinson moved to Lawrence from Houston in 1999 to play football at the University of Kansas. He received his bachelor’s degree in African American studies and English in 2004. Since then he has been involved with the community’s youth through coaching in the Lawrence school district and as a volunteer mentor in the district’s middle and high schools, while working as a youth minister for Call to Greatness Ministries.

Brinson said that background has taught him how to listen and, when the time comes, work to find solutions to problems identified in conversations.

“As I have spent time in the community, I have consistently heard that people don’t feel their voices are being heard by politicians,” he wrote. “Through serving, I have been prepared to not only listen, but also to help bring skills in dialoging with others, creative problem solving and collaboration to work to find solutions for our community that put people first.”

Brinson said commissioners should listen to residents for guidance on such varied issues as the temporary location of Douglas County Senior Services as its downtown location at Eighth and Kentucky is being remodeled, possible security upgrades needed when concealed carry is allowed in county buildings and the proposed Douglas County Jail expansion and its link to a mental health crisis intervention center.

Brinson doesn’t support either the jail expansion, but gives qualified support for the crisis intervention center. He advocates investing in programing to solve the problem of jail overcrowding.

“I believe our community would benefit if we began researching programs that could decrease our jail population,” he wrote. “Programs are always preferable to prisons . . . If we can implement programs to help alleviate overcrowding and defer imprisonment for nonviolent offenders, our resources could be spent to educate at-risk groups in our community. We need to take the time to have necessary conversations and collaborate to find viable, long-term solutions for jail overcrowding in our county.”

He similarly prefers first exploring program-based mental health solutions before making an investment in a brick-and-mortar facility.

“I think there should still be some discussions to determine the extent to which current mental health providers in the community will work together to provide the best courses of treatment,” he wrote. “I believe that before we build new structures, the quality of the services those buildings will provide should be proven. Money should be spent on people, not projects.”

Brinson does acknowledge there is community support for the crisis intervention center. That’s not true of the jail expansion, he said. For that reason, the County Commission should consider them separately, he said.

“Most people I visit with have a positive view of creating an intervention center, but are so opposed to expanding the county jail, they plan to vote against the proposal,” he wrote. “It seems as though the County Commission was simply trying to get voters who care deeply about mental health services to go along with a jail expansion because they knew the jail expansion would not pass on its own.”

Brinson said the best approach to economic development was to encourage the expansion of existing businesses and then let that success attract other companies.

When the County Commission considers the update of the city of Lawrence’s Horizon 2020 comprehensive plan, it should ensure it promotes the kind of growth the county seeks, Brinson said.

On the issue of the Kansas Department of Transportation maintaining access to Farmer’s Turnpike, Brinson said KDOT had expertise in costs and safety when designing roads and their configuration.

“KDOT engineers and consultants have done an excellent job of studying the issues and presenting their findings to the county,” he wrote. “We should implement those findings, while listening to the concerns of Lecompton’s citizens and limiting their costs as a community.”