photo by: Bremen Keasey

Candidates for the Lawrence City Commission answered questions Monday night during a candidate forum about how they would handle the city's finances if they were on the commission.

In the second of two forums hosted by former Lawrence mayors, City Commission candidates discussed Monday night how they would tackle financial issues facing the city if they were on the commission,

The four candidates who are vying for two open seats in the Nov. 4 general election — Michael Courtney, Bart Littlejohn, Kristine Polian and Bob Schumm — were all present at the forum, which was held at Peaslee Tech. They answered questions that were created and asked by former mayors, including Marci Francisco, Ron Chestnut and John Nalbandian.

In the first forum last week, the candidates were mostly asked questions that related to housing policy, as the Journal-World reported. Monday night, the majority of questions covered how the city has been handling its finances.

Among the questions asked by the former mayors, candidates were asked if they had concerns about the budget that recently passed which included infrastructure projects that would request around $126 million in debt financing and what cuts or changes to the city budget they would make. As the Journal-World reported, the commission voted 4-1 to pass a 2026 budget last Tuesday that included widespread cuts.

photo by: Bremen Keasey

Marci Francisco, a former Lawrence mayor, asks the four City Commission candidates a question. It was the second forum hosted by former mayors, and candidates Monday night were asked about how they would approach the city’s finances.

Courtney said he had concerns about that level of debt the city planned to issue, especially since he said many residents told him they were concerned about rising costs in the city. He said he would take a fundamentally different approach from the current commission by reviewing the projects deeper and “stopping to ask why” a project is being funded and not being afraid to say no. Courtney said that since Littlejohn, the lone incumbent in the race, has been on the commission, he only voted “no” 11 times in over 2,500 votes — Courtney joked he heard “more nos before breakfast” from his children.

One of the changes Courtney suggested he would explore right out of the gate would be to change the Capital Improvement Plan process from a five-year plan to a 10-year plan. He said that Wichita uses a 10-year CIP, and he believes that it could make it much better for “spreading out costs.” He also said if he was elected, he would revamp the way the city does its economic development. Instead of having a manager who is mostly around city hall, he’d want to hire a “hunter” that works to get big companies — like Kansas City-based firms Garmin or H&R Block — to bring some development to Lawrence.

Polian also said she had concerns about the debt and budgeting process for the city, which was a main concern on why she decided to run. Polian said she had been working in municipal governments with a focus on finances for over 20 years, and she does not agree with the city’s plans to issue debt because she hasn’t seen a long term financial plan. She said if she was elected, she would aim to convince the city to not issue any more debt until the city knows “where it stands financially.”

Polian also noted that the city’s budget is “in a pinch,” and she would prioritize not spending extra money outside of the five core services — police, fire, sewer, water and roads — until the city knows where it stands. She believes that, in some of the recent budgets, amenity spending had superseded infrastructure. Additionally, Polian said she’d want to take a hard look at how some departments are being run and potentially “reduce some labor costs” for inefficient departments.

Schumm said the $126 million of infrastructure projects the city plans to issue debt for is a lot of money, and he believes the city is “spending too much money.” He noted that during the past few years — especially with the COVID-19 pandemic — the city received a lot more federal money, but it has gotten “out of control.” Schumm said if he was elected, he would challenge people coming in for big infrastructure projects and “get spending under control.”

As far as the recent 2026 budget, Schumm said he did not agree with the city adding entry fees for the city’s recreation centers, and he’d work to re-implement “free play” if he was elected. He said the city fell behind based on a misfigured sales tax projection, which led to scrambling suddenly to cut $6.5 million in the budget. Schumm said one change that he would make would be to reduce the city’s headcount and “get people off the payroll” through attrition and buyouts — adding he agreed with the city last year implementing a voluntary early retirement program.

Littlejohn supported the city’s planned debt issuance and the overall budget for next year. Littlejohn said that prior city commissions often “passed the buck” on big infrastructure projects for many years, mentioning some pipes in the city were there since the 1940s or ’50s. He said those neglected projects were now being built, and he feels those moves put the city on track to be at the “lowest cost of ownership” for its infrastructure by tackling the deferred maintenance. Littlejohn said the investment is needed, and he believes that the costs will eventually “look like a bell curve,” and by tackling the projects now, the city in a few years will see relief from costs.

As far as the city’s budget, Littlejohn said in the past few years, the city has cut “close to the bone” for many departments, but especially the Parks, Recreation and Culture department, which he said faced a particularly heavy burden. He agreed with other candidates that one focus he would like to see is more economic development, which can help add in more commercial tax revenue and attract businesses.

photo by: Bremen Keasey

Around 50 to 60 people attended the second Lawrence City Commission candidate forum Monday night at Peaslee Tech. The forum included a five minute break where residents could mingle with each other and discuss what they heard.