Artificial intelligence became a hot topic for the Lawrence sustainability advisory board Thursday, as members explored environmental goals they’d like to pitch to the city commission and how the city could actually implement them.
The board members reviewed a document of proposed goals member Patrick Ross put together based on community feedback and group discussion. The suggestions encompassed ideas for renewable energy, transportation and transit, native ecosystems, waste reduction and more.
Ross wanted to increase residents’ bike usage, but other members pointed out that was a challenging metric to track. Ross proposed the city could “use AI and track what people are doing.”
“We have a lot of cameras in town these days that are a big issue in a lot of people’s eyes, that I have a different view of them, and they could be used to track things like this,” Ross said.
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The Lawrence Police Department implemented a controversial camera surveillance program through a contract with Axon Fusus in 2025. During an April public meeting, many people in Lawrence showed up to express concern and dissent over the program and lack of community oversight.
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There is also an ongoing national conversation about Flock Safety cameras, which many police departments use to track vehicles and license plates. (DeFlock, an open source map tracking the cameras, shows that numerous Flock devices are located in Lawrence.)
The technology has come under fire for its connection to stalking, among other concerns. For example, a police chief in Sedgwick, Kansas is one person who has used the tech to track an ex-girlfriend.
When board members Thursday also considered how to implement a ban preventing cars from idling in school zones, Ross’ idea was, again, to use AI and surveillance cameras.
He said communities nationwide are pushing against data centers “for very good reasons,” but it is worth looking at the benefits, as well.
“I think we need to have a conversation as a community about what our future is going to cost us, because data centers are coming, every single economy is adapting them,” Ross said.
He suggested legislating the centers instead of instituting flat-out bans.
“What people are really up in arms about is the environmental cost, specifically water, electricity, other forms of pollution,” Ross said. “But we can also just create legislation to say that we’re not going to let you build that type of data center, and theoretically, companies could build data centers that don’t have that impact.”
Chaffin said she knew Ross was partly being tongue-in-cheek, but said she would be remiss if she didn’t put in her two cents.
“It’s not just the environmental concerns, it’s also just the surveillance state, right? Like, that’s already scary enough,” they said.
She was also concerned that some of the pitches, like banning vehicle idling, would target the everday individual.
“Yes, like, I do want to see the idling decrease and I do want there to be realistic enforcement,” Chaffin said. “ And also … I do worry about becoming a place where cities can over-rely on small fines and fees for the average person.”
Chaffin, as well as board chair Nancy Muma, said bans would need to be married with public education rather than just “AI sent a ticket to your house.”
“I don’t think that that’s the solution that is going to be most equitable on other measures and the human sustainability,” Chaffin said.
Ross acknowledged their concerns, while adding that Axon Fusus was “for our security and well-being as a community, presumably.” He also floated the idea that an idling ban could apply to police cars.
Progress on the proposals
The group didn’t finish reviewing the goals document Thursday night, and plans to revisit it during the next meeting.
Members did agree to shift some of the draft’s focus away from increasing bicycling to decreasing car use writ large.
“It’s not that I just want you to ride a bike because that’s great for exercise and it’s so fun, and everyone should get roller skates and unicycles, that’d be great,” Chaffin said.
But carpooling or walking would also accomplish the goal of reducing car use, they argued.
Muma wanted to ask the city to revise the weed ordinance, which an earlier iteration of the board focused on. City code currently prohibits any property from having “weeds” taller than 12 inches.
“Well, of course, those aren’t weeds; they are native plants,” Muma said.
The board also firmed up plans to ask the city to continue tracking and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, to plant more native trees and to look at building a commuter rail between nearby cities.
There were two public commenters at the meeting. Dominique Sexton asked the board to consider ideas within the food system, like community gardens.
The future of the board
Starting next week, ESAB will not have a quorum, meaning they will not have enough members to host meetings.
The group will be unable to meet in September if the city commission doesn’t appoint another member in time. As of now, the next meeting is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24.
One member, Chris Reimer, resigned, and Chaffin did not reapply for another term. Meanwhile, the commission hasn’t appointed anyone to fill former member Mohsen Fatemi’s seat, and Ross’s term will end this week if the commission doesn’t reappoint him.
Muma and Kathy Richardson, the city’s director of sustainability and staff liaison to the board, said the commission doesn’t tell them if anyone has applied to fill the open seats on the board.
Board members agreed to not cancel the September meeting yet in hopes of the commission reappointing Ross or appointing another applicant to the board.
The city will post details about the September ESAB meeting, including a time, location and agenda if it is to proceed, on this page. People can watch the full Thursday meeting on the city’s YouTube at this link.
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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at [email protected].
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