photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Mayor Brad Finkeldei, second from left, gives a gift to the previous mayor, City Commissioner Mike Dever, on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.

“You can tell I’m excited about what next year brings,” Brad Finkeldei said Tuesday as he began his second stint as Lawrence’s mayor.

How could you tell? He’d just gone through a whole list of upcoming projects he’s looking forward to – from KU’s Gateway development to the Costco in west Lawrence to possible housing developments west of K-10.

“It’s going to be a great year,” he said, and added, “I look forward to working with all of my commissioners and the entire city team to make it happen.”

Finkeldei, who previously served as mayor in 2021, was unanimously elected mayor for the upcoming year by his fellow commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday, just after the swearing in of new commissioners Mike Courtney and Kristine Polian. Courtney was chosen on a 4-1 vote to serve as vice mayor; the other vote was by Commissioner Amber Sellers, who nominated and voted for herself for that position, as she has done multiple times before.

The results continue the commission’s tradition of choosing its mayor and vice mayor based on past election results. Finkeldei was the vice mayor this past year, and Courtney was the top finisher in November.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

New city commissioners Kristine Polian, left, and Mike Courtney are sworn in on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at Lawrence City Hall.

In his remarks after the vote, Finkeldei said the city had shown strong growth in 2025, and that he expected more in 2026. He pointed to the total valuation of commercial building permits from the past several years – about $121 million in 2021, $45 million in 2022, $101 million in 2023, $105 million in 2024, and then a spike to $234 million in 2025 as of Nov. 21.

“Let that sink in,” he said. “In 2025, we doubled our total permit value from any of the last four years.”

There was also big growth in the value of multifamily housing permits – roughly $20 million in 2021, $27 million in 2022, $2 million in 2023, $16 million in 2024 and then $59 million through Nov. 21, 2025.

But, as Finkeldei said, “that was a lot of numbers,” and some people prefer a more qualitative approach.

“Other people just really want to talk about projects, things they recognize,” he said, and there was plenty he was excited about on that front, too.

Two of the most impactful projects in Lawrence next year, he said, would be KU’s new convention center at its renovated football stadium and the new Costco store planned near Rock Chalk Park.

“Any one of those in any year would be outstanding,” he said. “To have two of those come online in the same year,” he said, would be “huge.”

He said the Mercato development that Costco will be moving into, which has more than a dozen undeveloped lots, has already seen much more interest just because Costco is coming.

“I’m told the phone is ringing off the hook to fill those lots,” he said.

Looking ahead, Finkeldei also said that the city is moving past the “idea phase” for developing to the west of Kansas Highway 10. He said developers already own land in the area, and he anticipates “we’ll see annexation and development requests” in 2026.

He pointed to new housing being developed on New Hampshire Street and the revitalization of old properties there like the former Journal-World printing plant building. “Think about what New Hampshire Street will look like in 2026-2027 and what that will do to downtown,” he said.

And he even said that with development at the city’s VenturePark, such as the expansion being undertaken by US Engineering Metalworks, the city might have to look for more industrial park space in the future.

“There’s just a lot to celebrate in 2026,” Finkeldei said.

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Outgoing Mayor Mike Dever hands a plaque to outgoing Commissioner Lisa Larsen at the Lawrence City Commission’s meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.

A farewell to Larsen and Littlejohn

Before the new commission was seated, outgoing mayor Mike Dever presented ceremonial plaques to Lisa Larsen and Bart Littlejohn, whose terms both ended on Tuesday.

Larsen was first appointed to the commission to fill a vacancy in 2015 and did not seek reelection this year. Littlejohn had served since 2021 and lost his reelection bid this year.

Upon receiving her recognition, Larsen said she wanted to keep things brief.

“I think sometimes politicians talk too much, and you’ve heard from me for 10 years,” she said. Then, fighting back tears, she said a few words of thanks.

“Thank you to the community, and especially to the staff for their dedication and their support and their passion.”

Littlejohn thanked his family and friends “for loaning me to the City of Lawrence for four years.” He said he thought the commission had gotten a lot done during his term, and that he hoped the new commission would carry on the work.

“As a commission, we accomplished a whole heck of a lot,” he said.

He said that as a commissioner, “you’re always learning,” and expressed his appreciation for city staff, the community, and anyone he’d left out.

“I just want to go ahead and thank you all for this opportunity to serve,” Littlejohn said, “and all the best.”

photo by: Sylas May/Journal-World

Outgoing City Commissioner Bart Littlejohn, right, holds a plaque given to him by outgoing Mayor Mike Dever at the Lawrence City Commission’s meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.