photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County Commission candidates speak at a forum on Thursday, July 16, 2026.

Transparency in economic development emerged as a key point of agreement among Douglas County Commission candidates Thursday, as they also addressed county budgeting, conservation and housing affordability at a public forum.

The candidate forum was hosted by the Lawrence-Douglas County Chapter of Women for Kansas on Thursday at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St. All of the candidates for the County Commission’s three open seats were in attendance.

All three incumbent county commissioners have filed for reelection. District 1 Commissioner Patrick Kelly, a Democrat, will be up against Democratic candidate Milton Scott in the upcoming primary election; incumbent Gene Dorsey, a Democrat currently representing District 4, will run against Ethan Spurling in the primary; and Democratic incumbent Erica Anderson, who represents District 5, will face Libertarian candidate Kirsten Kuhn in the general election this fall.

A question asked to the County Commission candidates on Thursday was where they stood on nondisclosure agreements in economic development efforts. Anderson told the crowd of almost 100 people at the library that as an elected official and someone accepting tax dollars, she doesn’t believe that is something she should do.

“I have not, and will not, if asked to, sign a nondisclosure agreement,” Anderson said.

Dorsey said he doesn’t believe elected officials should be signing NDAs and doesn’t think county staff should be signing NDAs either. Kelly agreed, and said he’s never signed an NDA.

“I can’t see that would be an appropriate thing to do,” Kelly said. “Sometimes we are asked to go on, like, tours of certain facilities, and if they say there’s going to be an NDA, I just say I’m not going to be able to go on that tour.”

Scott said it’s important for elected officials to be upfront and honest, and there’s no reason they should be doing anything behind closed doors.

“We’re taking care of the funds,” Scott said. “We’re good stewards, so there shouldn’t be any reason that any commissioner should be doing anything of that nature. That would be suspicious. And we should also look at ourselves and look at the conflicts (of interest.)”

The Douglas County commissioners have spent the last week and a half deliberating next year’s budget, as the Journal-World reported. The candidates were asked about which services funded with county dollars should be protected first. Kelly said the most important services start with basic county services – such as the County Clerk’s Office, the County Treasurer’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office and others.

“For me, that’s the first thing,” Kelly said. ” … And then we can look at other things and the services that our community members tell us are most important to fund.”

Spurling commended the current county commissioners on the recent budget discussions, saying they funded essential services, followed the values of the community and lowered the property tax rate. Spurling said he thought the community has set a good example of progressive services that provide services to underserved people in the county.

“I think an investment in helping people stay housed returns us a better return on investment than people just experiencing a housing crisis when it gets to that point,” Spurling said.

Kuhn agreed that core services should be funded first, and she added that she supported the behavioral health sales tax fund as it helps fund important mental health services in the county.

“I really appreciated during the budget deliberations that we have opened up those funds to many more things,” Kuhn said. “We’ve been growing that balance for quite a while and not utilizing it, and I’ve seen us move a bunch of services over there. So we do have the funding for a lot of those things that I know this group is probably concerned about, and as am I, as a member of the Bert Nash Governing Board.”

With the city of Lawrence situated between two rivers – the Kansas River and the Wakarusa River, the candidates were asked how they would support economic development without converting prime farmland or building in flood-prone areas and protected wetlands. Dorsey said he’s opposed to any development along the Wakarusa River and the floodplain that would disrupt the way it is today.

“It is an issue, and also the Kaw (River Valley) has some of the best farmland in the world,” Dorsey said. “So I think we should be working to preserve that.”

Anderson said the county’s Open Space Plan protects wetlands and other open spaces. She added that she aims to ensure applicants have consulted with the appropriate governing and regulatory agencies before moving forward.

“Whether it be the Corps of Engineers, our Native stakeholders, our universities, our state regulatory bodies, whomever it is that they need to be engaging with to ensure that the projects that are coming before us are truly right for our community,” Anderson said.

Scott said he thinks it’s important to protect the prime farmland and wetlands in Douglas County. Scott said leaders should be respectful of the environment and what it means to individuals in the community.

“Our policy should be in (a) position that we do no harm to the environment, to our constituents, and we should be protecting the farmland as well as Baker Wetlands,” Scott said.

If Kuhn could accomplish one concrete result by the end of her term, she said she would reduce the expenditures at the county level.

“That’s why we’re paying so much in property taxes now,” Kuhn said. ” … I can tell you definitely the reason I live out in rural Douglas County is because my partner and I literally couldn’t afford a house in town, but we could afford six acres in the county. That’s how unaffordable Lawrence is.”

Spurling also said he wanted to address the issue of affordability in Douglas County. When Spurling was buying his first home with his wife, he said they decided to live in Eudora because Lawrence housing prices were too high.

“Just in two short years, we’ve been stung by the property tax situation,” Spurling said. “So, on the County Commission, I’d like to see a Douglas County that is an economic powerhouse in northeast Kansas, a Douglas County where seniors can age in place, a Douglas County where young people can graduate and stay … and contribute to the community they love.”