The Lawrence City Commission will meet virtually beginning at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Here are some key items the city commission will hear and consider. Confused? See our “meeting lingo” guide at the bottom of the page.
• An update on 12 goals for criminal justice and social justice reform that commissioners named in June 2020. (Regular agenda)
• Banning “conversion therapy,” which attempts to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, for minors. If passed, if a person or entity is adjudicated guilty or pleads no contest to violating that law, they could be fined up to $500, and each “therapy” session with a minor would constitute a separate offense. (Regular agenda)
• A report on a study of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical’s emergency medical services. (Regular agenda)
• A request from Paul Werner Architects to rezone land at 1733 Massachusetts St., in order to demolish a vacant gas station and build 12 housing units. (Consent agenda)
• Declaring an emergency to issue about $31.8 million in bond sales to finance building projects that were previously approved. (Consent agenda)
• Authorizing the city manager to come to agreements for distribution of $450,000 in affordable housing trust fund awards. (Consent agenda)
• Holding an estimated 10-minute executive session to discuss pending litigation at the end of the meeting.
Click here to check out the full agenda on the city’s website. You can email written public comment to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org until noon the day of the meeting or sign up to comment during the meeting here.
A livestream of the meeting will be available here.
Meeting lingo:
• Consent agenda: A list of a bunch of items that are considered “routine,” so the governing board usually makes one motion to approve the whole list. A member of the public or a member of the governing board can request that an item or items be pulled from the consent agenda for discussion before a vote. This vote usually occurs toward the beginning of meetings.
• Executive session: Closed to the public, generally to discuss pending legal actions or personnel matters. The governing board may or may not take action once the public meeting resumes.
• Regular agenda: Items the governing board will generally discuss or hear during the meeting, rather than approving them with no discussion.
Questions? Terms missing? Email us at hello@lawrencekstimes.com.
