photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.

Three more people filed to be a candidate for the Lawrence City Commission, including a former commissioner.

Michael Courtney, Amanda Nielsen and Courtney Shipley all filed to join the crowded field vying for one of two seats on the commission.

Lawrence City Commission candidate Courtney Shipley is pictured at the Douglas County Courthouse on Tuesday, November 5, 2019.

Shipley served on the City Commission from 2019 to 2023, serving a term as mayor in 2022. She had run for a second term in 2023, but did not win re-election that year.

photo by: Contributed

Mike Courtney

Courtney is a small business owner who said he wanted to run to help tackle the “growing economic challenges that will shape our community into the future.” In a press release, he said that Lawrence is at an “inflection point,” and he wants to address financial difficulties in the city to ensure people are not priced out.

“I will fight every day to make Lawrence more affordable for you and your family,” Courtney said.

Courtney said three of his campaign priorities will be tackling affordable housing, finding a way to provide relief from increased utility payments and finding a way to avoid charging fees for recreation centers.

photo by: Contributed

Amanda Nielsen

Nielsen said she moved from California to Lawrence in 1999 and said she had respect for its historic “free state” ideals that led to its founding in the first place.

Nielsen told the Journal-World she is a single mom who works two jobs, so she said she is familiar with the hardships many in the community suffer from. Nielsen appreciates the many programs in the city that help the most vulnerable, and she said she wants to make sure assistance programs don’t go away during uncertain financial times while making sure the city is a “good steward” of those resources.

Nielsen also said the city needs to plan for issues on the horizon like an aging population, saying she wants to make sure plans are in place and relationships with resources like the senior resource center are strengthened.

All three candidates will be seeking one of two at-large seats on the five-member commission.

The other candidates for City Commission are Paul Buskirk, Eric Hyde, Alex Kerr, Steve Jacob, Ruby Mae Johnson, Steve Noble, Bob Schumm and Peter Shenouda, plus current City Commissioner Bart Littlejohn, who is seeking reelection. Commissioner Lisa Larsen, who holds the other seat with a term that is expiring, has not yet announced whether she plans to run. The deadline to file is June 2.

A primary for the City Commission race will take place on Aug. 5, after which the top four vote winners will move on to the general election on Nov. 4.