Lawrence City Commission to elect new mayor

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., Thursday, July 7, 2016

At the end of the City Commission’s meeting on Monday, Lawrence will have a new mayor.

If tradition holds as expected, the commission will vote to elect Vice Mayor Leslie Soden as mayor and Commissioner Stuart Boley as Vice Mayor.

Before that happens, though, current Mayor Mike Amyx will give the State of the City address. The address typically highlights what the commission has accomplished during the mayor’s term, as well as takes a forward look at what is in store for the city’s future.

Amyx took over the position after former mayor Jeremy Farmer resigned from the commission amid controversy in August 2015. Farmer later pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen funds stemming from his time as director of the nonprofit food bank Just Food.

As all commissioners but Amyx had recently begun serving their first terms at the time of Farmer’s resignation, commissioners elected to have Amyx step in a mayor. Monday will conclude Amyx’s sixth term as mayor in a political career that stretches back to the 1980s.

After the commission holds the elections for the positions mayor and vice mayor, the new mayor will be provided time to make comments. The newly elected mayor typically takes that time to discuss his or her outlook for the city.

Lawrence voters do not directly elect the city’s mayor and vice mayor, who both serve one-year terms. However, by tradition, the commission elects the two commissioners who received the highest number of votes in the most recent election.

The commission’s Monday meeting takes the place of its regularly scheduled work session on Tuesday. The commission will vote whether to approve a consent agenda, but there are no work session items.

The City Commission will convene at 5:45 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.