photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Lawrence City Hall is pictured on Oct. 11, 2024.

Lawrence voters on Tuesday narrowly rejected a referendum that would have altered the city’s structure of government, voting down a proposal that would have included a direct mayoral election and additional commissioners in the city, with some voted on by districts and others serving at large.

A total of 18,815 Lawrence voters, or 50.86%, chose “no” on the referendum, according to the unofficial vote totals from the Douglas County elections office with 100% of precincts reporting, while 18,178 voted “yes”, or 49.14%. That means the city government will keep its current format, with five city commissioners who choose one of their own members to serve as mayor each year.

The idea of modifying Lawrence’s government structure came about in 2021, when a task force was created to review the current government structure and suggest changes to it. The last time Lawrence changed its form of government was more than 70 years ago.

The City Commission chose in 2023 to add the proposal to this year’s general election ballot.

Craig Owens, Lawrence’s city manager, said the proposal to change the government was based on community conversations over the past several years, and that getting it on the ballot was a good step to gauge how the voters felt on the issue.

“It was a good conversation that will help us appreciate better the current system and how it will continue to guide our work to serve the community,” Owens said.

A “yes” vote on the referendum would have implemented a new structure that would have increased the number of city commissioners from five to six. Four of them would have represented specific geographic districts that would be drawn up by the city, and the other two would have represented the city at large. All of the commissioners would have served four-year terms, as they do today, and the elections would have been staggered so that no more than three seats would be up for election at the same time.

There would also have been a separate race for mayor that would have taken place every four years. This mayor would still have overseen commission meetings, but wouldn’t have voted with the six-member commission except to break a tie.

Chris Koliba, a distinguished professor of public administration, policy and governance at the University of Kansas, said studies have shown direct mayoral elections — like the one proposed under the referendum — increase voter turnout. Additionally, he said there generally is a bigger focus on policy issues the city faces with a direct mayoral election.

The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce had endorsed the proposal in late October just weeks before the election, with CEO Bonnie Lowe saying the proposal “represents a strong vision for our City’s future.”