photo by: Bremen Keasey

Chris Koliba (left), the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, Policy & Governance at the University of Kansas, and John Nalbandian, a former mayor of Lawrence and professor emeritus at KU, were part of an event hosted by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce discussing proposed changes to the government on the ballot in November.

As speakers described the proposed changes to the structure of Lawrence’s government during a presentation to the Chamber of Commerce, some in the audience expressed hesitancy about the need for change.

The event featured presentations from John Nalbandian, a former mayor of Lawrence and professor at the University of Kansas who chaired the task force that provided recommendations for the change of the government, and Chris Koliba, a distinguished professor of public administration, policy and governance at KU. Cori Wallace, the city’s director of communications, and Sherri Riedemann, city clerk represented the City of Lawrence on the panel.

Lawrence currently uses a commission-manager form of government with five elected city commissioners and an appointed city manager. The commissioners are elected at large, meaning they can come from any geographic area of the city, and the commission chooses one of its own members each year to serve as mayor.

The ballot proposal would grow the number of commissioners from five to six. Four of them would represent specific geographic districts that would be drawn up by the city while two would represent the city at-large. All six commissioners would have four-year terms.

There would also be a separate election to select the mayor. The mayor would oversee commission meetings, but the mayor wouldn’t vote with the rest of the six-member commission, except to break a tie. All of the commissioners would serve four-year terms, though the elections would still be staggered so that no more than three seats would be up for election at the same time.

Lawrence’s appointed, professional city manager position would stay the same under the proposed changes.

If voters approve the referendum, the first election that will reflect the new structure would be the November 2025 election.

Nalbandian said the proposed changes won’t fundamentally change the government. Although the mayor is being elected directly, Nalbandian said there won’t be a huge distinction between mayor and the rest of the commission in terms of who the city manager answered to. Nalbandian said the commission will still be the governing body that could hire or fire the city manager.

Nalbandian, who headed the task force first formed in 2021 to recommend potential changes to the government, said part of the task force goals were to give recommendations based on certain values like what could increase voter turnout, provide fair representation for residents and produce results for effective policy-making and implementation.

Koliba said studies have found holding direct mayoral elections helps increase voter turnout because it’s seen as a more “big ticket” item, and it helps center debates on policy issues those cities face.

“By having a mayoral election, there’s really a referendum on the bigger issues of the day for the city,” Koliba said.

Koliba said the kind of blended approach to government — having a directly elected mayor who is a part of the governing body working with the city manager — in this proposal has been proven to produce higher quality services compared to a council-manager government form. In a council-manager form of a government, an elected mayor generally has the authority to hire and fire managers and department heads within city government.

Many people who attended the meeting seemed hesitant about the potential changes. Some participants questioned why there weren’t hypothetical districts drawn up already to get an idea of what they might look like.

City staff said they were advised to wait until after the election to draw up any districts. Riedemman said the planning department and GIS workers with the city would have an input, but ultimately those districts would be enacted by an ordinance approved by the commission. They’ll also be working with the county, who recently underwent a similar process

Others had questions on why the mayor would only be able to vote to break ties. Nalbandian said that his task force suggested the mayor be able to vote, but the city commission modified it to only tie breaking votes when it approved the referendum in February 2023.

One person in the discussion felt like there was no need to change the government, feeling like the city should keep an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset. Additionally, he asked if the Chamber had a position on the referendum.

Bonnie Lowe, the CEO for the Chamber, said the board had decided not to take a position on the issue yet.

Voters will decide the issue as part of the Nov. 5 general election. Voters have until Oct. 15 to register to vote in the election. Advance voting begins on Oct. 16.