After a primary election earlier this year narrowed a crowded field of Lawrence City Commission candidates, four are still in the running, and at least one seat on the commission will be occupied by someone new.

Two four-year terms on the commission are on the ballot this year. The Journal-World reached out to the four candidates — Mike Courtney; Bart Littlejohn, the lone incumbent; Kristine Polian; and Bob Schumm — to answer questions on a variety of issues facing the city.

Advance voting has already begun in Lawrence. Voters may vote in person at the county election office at 711 W. 23rd St. Hours for in-person early voting run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Oct. 24; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Oct. 27 to Oct. 31; and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 1. The last day for advance voting will be Nov. 3, from 8 a.m. to noon. More information about polling locations, dates and times is available on the Douglas County elections website, dgcoks.gov/county-clerk/voting-and-elections.

Along with questions about housing and economic development, the Journal-World also asked candidates how they hope the city can capitalize on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The candidates shared their thoughts below.

Mike Courtney

photo by: Contributed

Mike Courtney

One campaign theme that Courtney has often spoken about is finding creative ways to add more housing in the city. One solution he has offered is building modular homes, which are constructed off site. Courtney said he has been working with advisers — including with a group who created a similar project in Overland Park — to develop a plan to build 100 such homes within city limits.

Courtney also noted that the new Land Development Code prioritized infill development, and the lack of available space in the city and available lots “has greatly increased property taxes and rental prices.” He would advocate that the city consider annexing land to its east and west to provide more housing options.

To generate more economic development activity, Courtney believes the community needs to do something different. He said the job description for the city’s vacant economic development director position “reads like a nice desk job in City Hall,” which is “not what our community needs.” Courtney feels the role should be approached differently, and the city should bring in “a hunter” who can potentially bring in marquee companies from the Kansas City area to deliver “tangible wins for Lawrence.”

Courtney said he “cannot disagree enough” with the addition of membership fees for users of the Parks, Recreation and Culture department’s recreation centers. He suggested creating a foundation similar to the Friends of the Lawrence Public Library to raise funds instead. Courtney said he is worried about the longevity of the facilities if the fees go into place, and he would work to postpone the implementation of fees if he were elected.

In terms of next year’s World Cup, Courtney said he would not be surprised if Lawrence is selected as a base camp, and he thinks the city should make the most of the influx of tourism. That includes “temporarily reduc(ing) all barriers” to allow Lawrence residents to rent out homes or rooms using sites like Airbnb or Vrbo. He also thinks the city should create a campaign to showcase Lawrence to national and international leaders and highlight that it would be a good place to invest in.

Bart Littlejohn

photo by: Contributed photo

Bart Littlejohn

As the lone incumbent in the race, Littlejohn has said he believes the city during his time on the commission has made headway in addressing housing needs, noting that the city added over 400 affordable units in 2023 and 2024. Still, Littlejohn said the city needs to expand the “options and variety” of housing through annexation and infill to ease the pressure on both homeowners and tenants.

Littlejohn believes the next focus for the city should be finding the “missing middle” on housing and creating starter home options. He said the city has been working on creating an affordable housing incentive policy, and the commission will have a meeting in November on that topic.

Littlejohn said he thinks the city has faced a revenue problem, and the city needs to continue to encourage more commercial ventures to locate here and use “incentives if necessary” to bring in those businesses. He also said he supports creating “an economic ecosystem” that can help people start their own business. Those policies can help the city address the current property tax imbalance between homeowners and businesses, he said.

In approving the fees for the recreation centers, Littlejohn said he felt the city needed to “find a solution that was most sustainable for the department.” He said PRC has needed to make cuts year after year to the point that any more cuts “would not be feasible.” Littlejohn said he believes some of the processes geared to generate more revenue for the department like exploring a sponsorship plan or a “friends” organization are “in play,” but they can take a while to establish.

With the upcoming World Cup, Littlejohn said the city needs to take advantage of the influx of people. If Lawrence were picked as a base camp location, he said he had heard of an idea to have “special food festivals” that serve the cuisine of the national team that is staying in Lawrence. He also said he was interested in working with downtown Lawrence groups to allow vendors to work in empty spaces on a temporary basis to provide opportunities to small businesses or entrepreneurs.

Kristine Polian

photo by: Contributed

Kristine Polian

Polian said the affordable housing plan the city created has been a good start as long as it can be sustained financially; however, she believes that creating new infill development should be a “lower priority” as it won’t “provide the necessary growth” that can maintain or lower property taxes and the costs of houses.

Polian said that to start, the city needs to do more annexation to get more plots, and the city needs to “devise a plan” for how it can provide services to the newly annexed areas.

Polian believes the chamber of commerce and the city-county Economic Development Corporation are currently working to bring business to the community, and she would want to make sure that “the City’s policies and procedures” for development “are efficient and effective.” She said there are many “roadblocks” that make development difficult, so she would focus on removing those.

Polian said she does not support the implementation of user fees for the rec centers. She believes the cost of administering and enforcing the membership fees, along with “alienating the community,” is not worth it for the increased revenues the fee plan would provide. Polian said there are other revenue options with the rec centers the city should explore, such as getting more revenue from “commercial users” of the facilities.

Polian sees the World Cup as a way to showcase the city’s “brand image” as a college town, its “rich history” and its “welcoming and diverse community.” The ultimate goal would be to attract future visitors to Lawrence and future economic opportunities to Lawrence. Polian said she thinks the city should “plan how to use the increased revenues” effectively, such as by improving existing infrastructure or paying off debt from infrastructure projects.

Bob Schumm

photo by: Bremen Keasey

Former City Commissioner Bob Schumm filed Wednesday to enter the race for Lawrence City Commission.

Schumm, a former mayor himself, said the city “must build more homes” to make housing costs more affordable. He said he would work to annex more land to the west and east of Lawrence, in part because having large tracts of land like that allows developers to “build to scale economically” and make homes that would be more affordable to first-time buyers.

Schumm noted the city used to build “250 to 300” homes per year, and now it’s much lower. He suggested creating an incentive program for builders, such as the offering “no-charge building permits” and free water services for builders who build entry-level homes.

Schumm said that he would fully support adding more businesses in Lawrence, but he believes the city has a “poor reputation” of being hard to develop in. Schumm thinks the city should create a campaign to assure potential businesses that Lawrence is “open for business.”

While Schumm felt the amount that PRC was asked to cut was “too great” compared to other city departments, he does not agree with the implementation of fees for the city’s recreation centers, saying there were other ways to increase revenue that weren’t implemented.

Schumm said he was the mayor at the time Sports Pavilion Lawrence was sold to the public, and he promised play would be free back then because the funds to build and operate the center came from a sales tax fund from voters. Schumm said he did not want to “go back on (his) word” and would work to repeal the user fee if elected.

Schumm thinks there is a unique chance to show off Lawrence with the thousands of visitors coming for the World Cup. Schumm thinks the city should enhance its public transportation for visitors. If the site were chosen as a base camp, he said major arterial roads should include signage in the visiting team’s language and a program should be developed for hospitality employees that can educate them on the “different cultural customs” of the visiting fans.