A task force recently formed to study the city’s form of government will have its third meeting this week.
The 11-member task force, chaired by John Nalbandian, will review a proposed timeline for the task force to determine its recommendations about the makeup of the city commission, whether the mayor should be directly elected and more.
The city commission approved a resolution in February to create group and task it with reviewing four topics: “(1) how to elect the nonpartisan mayor; (2) at large and/or district nonpartisan representation of commissioners, including the number of commissioners; (3) terms in office of the commissioners; and (4) such necessary subjects directly related to the specific topics listed herein.”
The short-term task force is scheduled to decide on its recommendations by June 2. The timeline the group will consider approving Wednesday is, necessarily, pretty tight, though four additional meetings are scheduled in the interim: Monday, April 19; Thursday, April 29; Monday, May 17; and Thursday, May 27.
The task force will also review a revision of values for its recommendations, elements of the council-manager form of government and discuss possible roles and responsibilities of a mayor Wednesday.
The group has had no public comment through its first two meetings. Written comments can be sent to bjwalthall@lawrenceks.org or dropped in the utility billing dropbox at Sixth and New Hampshire streets by noon the day of the meeting to be included in the agenda materials.
To make a comment during the meeting, set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, register via this link. It will stream live on the city’s YouTube channel and at lawrenceks.org/live.
