Lawrence City Commission Watch
Category: News and Politics

The voters of Lawrence overwhelmingly supported the sales tax increase measures in the November 4th election. This signals that the public is not concerned with fiscal responsibility in regards to public transportation and city infrastructure. Meanwhile, the City Commission over the last two years has shown absolutely no restraint in handing over immense sums of taxpayer dollars to developers and corporations. This combination of wreckless fiscal spending is a fierce storm gaining strength and heading squarely for City Hall. Lawrence is also losing vast sums of money due to the shattering economy, which unfortunately is poised to get much worse. The City Commission is not prepared for this, and the taxpayers are the ones who will suffer significantly.

Recently there has been revived discussion of the city purchasing the contaminated old Farmland site just east of town. Some Commissioners are now considering the deal despite the absence of a spending cap. This ludicrous move could put the taxpayers on the hook for untold amounts of millions, in a time when we can not afford to fund such an open ended project. If the City Commission does move forward on the Farmland site the public must demand a spending cap, and must demand that Farmland's trust fund of $10 million goes to funding the vast majority of the project.