THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2007
NEWS
3A
CITY COMMISSION ELECTION
Candidates' stances on issues affecting students
BY MATT ERICKSON
At least one new face will appear on the city commission after today's election. Two incumbents and four newcomers will compete for three available seats. The top two vote-getters will serve four-year terms, and the third-highest vote-getter will serve a two-year term. Find more election information at douglascountyelections.com.
DENNIS "BOOG"
HIGHERGER, INCUMBENT
WHAT WILL BE YOUR PRIORI- TIES IF YOU'RE RE-ELECTED?
"My priorities will remain building strong neighborhood and making sure
Highberger
that we adopt a code of traditional neighborhood design.
WOULD YOU SUPPORT EXPANDING THE CITY'S RENTAL REGISTRATION PROGRAM TO ALL RENTAL PROPERTIES
PROPERTIES?
"Yes. This will provide even stronger protections for students and others who rent houses and apartments."
WHAT MORE SHOULD THE CITY DO TO KEEP DOWNTOWNT SAFE?
"I think we need to continue to strictly enforce the ordinance prohibiting people from having guns near bars."
WHAT OTHER ISSUES ON YOUR PLATFORM SHOULD STUDENTS CARE ABOUT?
"I want to make sure that we are a leader in resource conservation and environmental protection. I want to continue to build strong neighborhoods, and every student who doesn't live on campus lives in a neighborhood. And I want to make Lawrence safer for people who bike and walk."
DAVID
SCHAUNER,
NEWCOMER
Schauner
WHAT WILL BE YOUR PRIORITIES IF YOU'RE RE-ELECTED?
"Iinfrastructure and jobs. We need to continue to work on repairing a backlog of broken infrastructure, and we need to work on making our farmland property our employment gateway to our Johnson County friends to the east."
WOULD YOU SUPPORT EXPANDING THE CITY'S RENTAL REGISTRATION PROGRAM TO ALL RENTAL
"Yes, I would. I think for some of the new apartments, we don't need to inspect every one of them, but much of the rental properties people are living in, including students, don't have fire extinguishers and other safety measures."
WHAT MORE SHOULD THE CITY DO TO KEEP DOWNTOWNE SAFE?
The city commission general election is today. Six candidates two incumbents and four newcomers are competing for three seats.
"I think we need to license those businesses that have an occupancy of more than a couple of hundred people and monitor what's going on in those businesses. We have an obligation to make sure that those places are safe places for people to go."
WHAT OTHER ISSUES ON YOUR PLATFORM SHOULD STUDENTS CARE ABOUT?
"I've supported creating a domestic registry in Lawrence. I think it's something whose time has come. I think it's the next step in the recognition that not everybody lives the same lifestyle. I also think rental registration is important. Students ought to have a safe place to live."
JAMES BUSH, NEWCOMER
WHAT WILL BE YOUR PRIORITIES
IF YOU'RE ELECTED?
"My priorities will be the same that I campaigned on — bringing more
Bush
jobs to Lawrence, expanding our tax base through economic development and easing the burden on the residential taxpayer."
WOULD YOU SUPPORT EXPANDING THE CITY'S RENTAL REGISTRATION PROGRAM TO ALL RENTAL
PROPERTIES?
"I have considered this issue a great deal and discussed it often, and my answer is that I would consider expanding the rental registration program to include all rental properties."
WHAT MORE SHOULD THE CITY
DO TO KEEP DOWNTOWN SAFE?
"I believe we may be approaching the degree of 'urban myth' to presume downtown is not safe. I would increase police presence during the hours patrons arrive rather than focusing all attention on when they leave, and press for the enactment and enforcement of stricter gun laws."
WHAT OTHER ISSUES ON YOUR PLATFORM SHOULD STUDENTS CARE ABOUT?
"I suspect students do care about my primary platform of job creation, economic development and lower taxes. In addition to these issues, I support the completion of the South Lawrence Trafficway, continued strengthening of downtown Lawrence and returning the city commission's focus to local issues."
ROB CHESTNUT, NEWCOMER
WHAT WILL BE YOUR PRIORITIES IF YOU'RE ELECTED?
"Establish a long-term economic
development plan between the city commission, county commission and Chamber of Commerce. Work with the other commissioners and the city staff on ideas for clarifying the planning process. The commission needs to review the budget process in 2008 and beyond to look for opportunities for better cost management."
Chestnut
WOULD YOU SUPPORT EXPANDING THE CITY'S RENTAL REGISTRATION PROGRAM TO ALL RENTAL PROPERTIES?
"Code enforcement is essential, and I would first review the effectiveness of the complaint-based system now in place. As a commissioner, I want to see a draft of the expanded program to see how it would improve enforcement and ensure it can be funded properly in the budget."
WHAT MORE SHOULD THE CITY DO TO KEEP DOWNTOWN SAFE?
"Law enforcement is going to need a larger presence in downtown. In particular, police need to be seen during the earlier part of the evening as many of the venues start to get busy."
WHAT OTHER ISSUES ON YOUR PLATFORM SHOULD STUDENTS CARE ABOUT?
MIKE DEVER, NEWCOMER
"The local job market has not grown over the last five years. This has an adverse impact on opportunities for students. Rapidly increasing property taxes are having a direct impact on the cost of renting in Lawrence for students."
WHAT WILL BE YOUR PRIORITIES IF YOU'RE
ELECTED?
"My first priority would be to identify all the commission items that have been put on the agenda to this point and
Dever
to move those processes forward. I think the second one for me would be to bring some new ideas and concepts towards embracing the growth of local businesses, and removing some of the pitfalls we have now, to do everything in our power to create a more business-oriented commission. This equates to job growth. And then, take a good, hard look at infrastructure."
WOULD YOU SUPPORT EXPAND-
ING THE CITY'S RENTAL REGISTRIA-
TION PROGRAM TO ALL RENTAL
PROPERTIES?
"I don't have enough information to answer yes or no, but I'm a little hesitant, because I'm worried about expanding the city's ability to just walk into residences to inspect without a complaint from a third party. I think it gives the city an overwhelming authority to go into something that should be private, and they will be slapping a fee onto all landlords to do that."
WHAT MORE SHOULD THE CITY DO TO KEEP DOWNTOWN SAFE?
"A stepped-up police presence downtown would dramatically affect the safety downtown."
WHAT OTHER ISSUES ON YOUR PLATFORM SHOULD STUDENTS CARE ABOUT?
"One of my major goals is to allow people to shop locally in Lawrence. I'm interested in doing whatever I can to evaluate the bus system. Anything we can do to synchronize the operations of KU on Wheels and the Lawrence Transit System
would benefit students dramatically. I would also like to champion the expansion of wireless Internet accessibility."
CAREY MAYNARD-MOODY,
NEWCOMER
WHAT WILL BE YOUR PRICI
ELECTED?
Maynard Moody
"I will exercise fiscal responsibility as I work on the budget. I will work to promote personal safety downtown as well as shape
policies and programs to enhance the viability of downtown. I will push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in city facilities and services."
WOULD YOU SUPPORT EXPANDING THE CITY'S RENTAL REGISTRATION PROGRAM TO ALL RENTAL PROPERTIES?
"I have not had time to study this issue enough. I look forward to doing that if elected."
WHAT MORE SHOULD THE CITY
DO TO KEEP DOWNTOWN SAFE?
"Increase police presence — on foot and bicycle — in the downtown after 10 p.m."
WHAT OTHER ISSUES ON YOUR PLATFORM SHOULD STUDENTS CARE ABOUT?
"This election is particularly important because students are the generation that stands to inherit this unstable planet Earth. The global climate change is impacted by decisions all city governments make collectively. Students should care about the stability of the planet they will inherit. I have made the environment a big issue in this election."
Kansan staff writer Matt Erickson can be contacted at merickson@ kansan.com.
- Edited by Darla Slipke
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