photo by: Mike Yoder

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

Lawrence city leaders will soon receive an update from the city’s first director of equity and inclusion that highlights some of the city’s efforts since the position was created.

As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will receive a presentation from Farris Muhammad, who has been in his position with the city since November 2020. As part of the presentation, which the commission recently requested, Muhammad will discuss some of the city’s current and upcoming equity and inclusion efforts.

Muhammad’s presentation will cover the city’s approach to equity work; the city’s involvement with projects and programs in the community; accomplishments so far; and future goals and priorities, according to a city staff memo to the commission.

Muhammad considers both internal and external equity and inclusion issues as part of his position, meaning those related to how the city interacts with the community and issues related to the city’s nearly 900-member staff. One of the key initiatives Muhammad has been leading is the city’s implementation of a model from the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, which seeks to “normalize, organize and operationalize” dialogue and action steps related to equity.

Part of that effort includes prioritizing equity and inclusion in the commission’s strategic plan. Equity and inclusion is one of six commitments in the plan, meaning it will be one of the considerations as the city seeks to make progress on the five goal areas established by the plan. The plan comprises goals related to arts and culture; strong and welcoming neighborhoods; safety and security; prosperity and economic security; and infrastructure and transportation.

As part of that effort, the city will be collecting data related to equity and inclusion as it relates to each of the five goal areas. For example, the city will look at several data points and how they vary by race, including median income, the perception of safety, and the percentage of residents who rate the community as welcoming. Other data points include the percentage of women and minority owned businesses; the percentage of households spending more than 30% of their income on housing; and the percentage of residential units within a half mile of a school or library, city green space, and a city walking/biking trail, among other data.

In other business, the commission will receive a presentation from LiveWell Douglas County regarding the group’s youth tobacco prevention efforts. The group will discuss four proposed strategies: amending purchase, use and possession laws to put accountability on retail owners; addressing gaps in tobacco policies; curbing “retailer spread”; and adding e-cigarettes to clean indoor air laws.

The Lawrence City Commission will meet virtually at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, and some staff will be in place at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. The public may attend the meeting in person at City Hall or participate virtually by following directions included in the commission’s meeting agenda, which is available on the city’s website, lawrenceks.org.