photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

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

The Lawrence chamber of commerce has officially endorsed a proposal on the November ballot that would change the city’s government structure to one with a directly elected mayor and some city commissioners elected by districts.

The Chamber announced in a statement Friday afternoon that it would endorse the proposal. In the statement, Chamber President and CEO Bonnie Lowe said the chamber voted to endorse the proposal during its regular meeting on Thursday.

Lowe said the Chamber believed that voting “yes” on the referendum would be an important step “to ensure our community’s readiness for the challenges of today as well as the coming decades.”

The city’s current system has a five-member commission that elects one of its own members each year to serve as mayor. Under the proposed new structure, the number of people on the commission would grow from five to six. Four of them would represent specific geographic districts that would be drawn up by the city, and the other two would represent the city at large. All of the commissioners would serve four-year terms, though the elections would be staggered so that no more than three seats would be up for election at the same time.

There would also be a separate race for mayor that would take place every four years. This mayor would still oversee commission meetings, but wouldn’t vote with the six-member commission except to break a tie.

Lowe said that although the proposal was not without its challenges, the Chamber believed a direct election for mayor would allow for a more strategic implementation of the city’s long-term vision, and that the structure would encourage more participation and representation from all parts of the community.

“We believe the proposed new government structure represents a strong vision for our City’s future,” Lowe said.

Advance voting is currently going on in Douglas County, and Election Day is Nov. 5.