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

Nancy Thellman

Democrat

Nancy Thellman wants to continue to be an example of a good civil servant should she be elected to a third term as 2nd District Douglas County commissioner.

Douglas County Commissioner Nancy Thellman.

The Democrat, who was an ordained Presbyterian minister and nurse before taking a seat in 2009 on the County Commission, said she wanted to provide the civility too often missing in the public sphere.

“These days especially, basic human decency in politics is wanting,” she wrote in response to a Lawrence Journal-World question on her priorities for another term. “My highest aim is to fight that sad trend and regain the trust of weary citizenry — at least on the local level.”

Her prescription for realizing that goal is to listen and learn and then take action as she and her fellow county commissioners have done in their search for solutions to overcrowding at the Douglas County Jail and the needs of those with mental illness within the justice system and community at large, Thellman said.

“Personally, I have spent literally hundreds of hours talking to citizens on a one-to-one basis, reviewing the data, talking with other local officials, visiting facilities in other cities and states, and gathering all the input I can,” she said. “I want to make sure we get this right for now and years to come. And I say this not just because of the fiscal implication of inaction — which is substantial — but because of the human implications for our citizens both inside the jail and out.”

From the County Commission’s review, Thellman said she was convinced of the need to expand the jail and the need for a mental health crisis intervention center. She said she will work to fund and build both if re-elected. There are structural problems at the jail associated with the increase of female inmates and those with mental health issues, she said. There are also capacity issues that has the county paying $1 million a year to house inmates in the jails of other counties, Thellman said.

In addition to the proposed jail expansion, the county is attempting to reduce overcrowding by adding to the programs that has given it the second-lowest incarceration rate in the state, Thellman said.

“Since 2014, we’ve added three new diversion programs: Behavioral Court, pre-trial supervision and the access, identify and divert program in the jail,” she wrote.

Despite the current County Commission’s support for linking the jail expansion and crisis center, Thellman said the decision of how they would be presented on a future funding referendum or referendums would be the job of the County Commission seated in January.

“The new commission will prioritize these needs, finalize the proposals, provide education to the public and ultimately choose how to present them on the ballot,” she wrote.

Her introduction to politics was through a leadership role in the successful fight to save prime Grant Township farmland from a proposed industrial and warehouse park, Thellman said. She remains committed to preserving the rural character of Douglas County, she said. Among her successes in that area, was the introduction in 2009 of the county’s Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation program she championed, which provides annual grant funding to preserve the county’s historical and natural sites. She also worked to create the state’s first food policy council.

“To date, our local Food Policy Council is responsible for leveraging $1.2 million in outside dollars toward local efforts building a sustainable, equitable local food system,” she wrote.

Thellman is now co-chair of the Horizon 2020 Steering Committee, which is working to update the city of Lawrence’s comprehensive plan and that of its growth area. In that role, she said she has advocated for infill development over sprawl, walkable neighborhoods, bike and pedestrian friendly multi-modal transportation and strong environmental policies combined with language that acknowledges the planning challenges of climate change adaptation.

Thellman adds the comprehensive plan update must address the need for affordable housing.

“I also remain committed to working on the serious problem of lack of affordable housing in Douglas County,” she wrote. “My main interest for the county is to advocate and find funding for the creation of more transitional supportive housing for the folks who have the most difficulty finding affordable housing: The homeless, those with chronic mental illness and/or addiction, and those who have little or no personal and financial resources.”