City Elections
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, April 8, 1987
3
Darcy Chang/KANSAN
Rita Schmidtberger, Lawrence resident, checks to make sure all of the ballots are in before they are tabulated. Yesterday's city elections drew a 55.5 percent vote turnout, the highest in 15 years.
Darcy Chang/KANSAN
Susan Bailey, Lawrence resident, listens to a live radio broadcast at the Douglas County Courthouse as she awaits results from the second wave of ballot counts.
Angino, Hill lose election, plan to enjoy other pursuits
By PAUL BELDEN
Staff writer
Ernest Angino and Howard Hill may not be city commissioners anymore, but they don't plan on slowing down.
Angino and Hill finished fourth and fifth out of six candidates for Lawrence City Commission in yesterday's election. Bob Schumm, Mike Rundle and Dennis Constance were elected to the three open seats on the commission.
Angino and Hill both ended four years on the city commission. Angino was elected to a four-year term in 1983, and Hill was appointed to the commission in 1983 to fill a vacancy and then won a two-year term in 1985.
After learning of his defeat, Hill said, "I've been thinking about all the things I have to do and want to do, and I can't work them all into a schedule that excludes the city
commission, much less one that includes it."
Hill said he might lobby the new commission on issues that affected the University of Kansas and would spend time with his family.
"I've got one daughter, Melissa,
"who is 15, and another, Tiffiney,
who is 13. So in three years and
five years, if our plans progress, they'll
be entering KU. So these are
precious years to me."
Angino, a KU professor of civil engineering and geology, said he would finish an oceanography book, which was interrupted by his election to the commission in 1983. He also said he would seek work as a water-science and water-technology consultant.
"I can assure you that if I publish the book, I'll be making more than the $2,000 a year the city commission pays," he said.
Not that he enjoyed hearing the
"Nobody likes to lose. I mean, come on, don't kid yourself. You don't run to end up last," he said.
election returns.
Angino especially didn't like the appearance of being defeated primarily because of his support for a proposed downtown mall. The three referendums on the mall were overwhelmingly defeated in yesterday's election.
"It's disappointing if everything on an election for a city the size of Lawrence hinges on one issue," Angino said. "When commissioners, be they the new ones or the old ones, make a thousand decisions a year, to be judged on one issue is unfortunate. But so be it."
"Do I think it's healthy? No, I don't think it is healthy. But I'm not saying that they did it on that basis. It's clear that they wanted a change, and they had a change."
city's voters to a pendulum
"You know, the pendulum swung four years ago, and it swings now, and who knows two or three years what will happen?" Hill said.
He said he thought the commission had done its job well the past four years.
Angino and Hill agreed that tough decisions faced the new commission.
Hill likened the mood of the
future. These are critical times ahead, regardless of who is on the commission."
Angino said he thought the downtown area already was sick.
"I do think that downtown Lawrence is in serious trouble. And it's my humble opinion that they're in serious trouble now," he said. "And they're not as viable and as strong as people would have you believe."
"I think that downtown is extremely healthy," Hill said. "How healthy it is in the future depends on how well the city plans for its
With those warnings, Angino and Hill took their leave of city government and went home to their families.
City voters reject downtown mall in referendum
Staff writer
By TODD COHEN
Lawrence voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed downtown mall three times in yesterday's city elections.
More than 55 percent of registered voters turned out to vote on a three-question advisory referendum — saying yes twice to prohibiting the closing of downtown streets for a mall, and no to public financing of an enclosed downtown mall.
The mall project, which was developed by Jacobs, Visconsi & Jacobs of Cleveland, is now in the hands of the new Lawrence City Commission, which must interpret yesterday's results. The referendum is not binding on the commission.
But mall opponents and supporters agreed last night that the current mayor, Michael Masterson,
And JVJ officials had said before the election that no mall could be built downtown without public financing or the closing of some streets.
JVJ had proposed a $55 million, 360,000-square-foot mall in the 600 block of Massachusetts and Vermont streets. The proposal asked that the city close both streets and pay $20 million to help finance construction.
Question No. 2, which asked whether the city should spend public money to help finance construction of an enclosed mall, was defeated 9,518 votes to 3,065, or 75.6 percent of voters to 24.4 percent.
Question No. 3, which asked whether the city should prohibit the closing of any downtown streets for a mall, was approved by 8,775 votes to 3,757, or 70 percent of voters to 30 percent.
In February, residents opposed to the street closings formed Citizens for a Better Downtown and collected 4,400 signatures to call for a public vote on the street closings. The commission put CBD's proposed question and two others on the ballot.
Minkin and Pat Kehde, and a large crowd of mall opponents watched election results at the Douglas County Courthouse, 11th and Massachusetts streets. They cheered and applauded loudly when an election worker posted final results.
"I think that's a pretty substantial margin. I'm really pleased and surprised." Kehde said.
Last night, CBD's organizers, Phil
Minkin said, "I thrilled. It was overwhelming. I never believed it."
Mall supporters accepted the defeat but charged that JVJ had hurt the mall by launching a big advertising campaign.
on public financing, said of JVJ, "I don't think they listened to the concerns of the people at all."
Duane Morris, chairman of the Keep Downtown Downtown Committee, which had promoted a yes vote
Richard Zinn, who has represented JVJ and its local partner, Town Center Venture Corp., refused to comment last night on the vote.
Steve Lopes, president of the Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association, which had endorsed antimal commission candidates, said, "We want to give special thanks to JVJ. The best thing to happen to us was for JVJ to buy those ads."
Nancy Hambleton, co-chairman of a political action committee formed by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said Lawrence residents tended to resent well-financed groups or people.
Mall issue big draw for voters
By JOSEPH REBELLO
Staff writer
Encouraged by pleasant weather and determined to have their say on a proposed downtown mall, more than half of Lawrence's registered voters turned out in yesterday's city elections.
Of 23,162 people registered to vote in Lawrence, 12,962, or 53.5 percent.
That turnout is the city's highest in almost 15 years, Douglas County Clerk Patty Jaimes said.
"This has been an unprecedented election, where there has been a lot of controversy," said Steve Lopes, president of the Old West Lawrence Association and spokesman for its political action committee.
Turnout in the 1st Precinct, 1st Ward, in the area monitored by Lopes' group, was 295, or 55 percent of the registered voters. The ward lies between Sixth and Michigan streets and the Kansas River.
Yesterday, members and volunteers of the Old West Lawrence PAC spent all afternoon monitoring voter registration in the committee's area. Loops said.
The city's highest turnout was in the 6th Precinct, 2nd Ward, in West Lawrence, where 710 people, or 71 percent of those registered, voted.
Voting was lightest in the 4th Precinct, 2nd Ward, at Allen Field House, where only 69 people, or 7.5 percent, registered voters, went to the polls.
Yesterday, poll volunteers Carolyn Hemphill, Sonya Cooper and Dick Mutally sat inside the field house, a dollar placed on the table for whoever could come closest to guessing how many students would vote.
Mulally, who guessed 75, won the dollar.
"Let's face it, the students aren't interested." Hembill said.
But at each of the other polling centers, more than 25 percent of registered voters showed.
Burdett Loomis, associate professor of political science, said the high turnout was due to the issues on the ballot more than the candidates for city commissioner.
Henry Johns, who was defeated in the March city commission primary, said, "The issue of the current plan for the mail was extremely unpopular. We had a group of people from out of town come in and tell us we had to do things their way."
Johns said the group, Jacobs, Visconsi & Jacobs, of Cleveland, the city's developer of record for the proposed mall, had incensed Lawrence residents by running expensive advertisements promoting its mall proposal.
"That type of arrogance angered the people," Johns said "They said, 'Wait a minute. This is our town.' That's why you see those numbers. That's what got the people out."
Juniors, Seniors & Grads... GIVE YOURSELF SOME CREDIT!
- Just bring a copy of your school I.D.
· No cosigner required
APPLY NOW ON CAMPUS!
Date: April 9,10,12
Time: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Place: Jayhawk Bookstore
"Last chance to apply this semester" CITIBANK
LAWRENCE
IF YOU THINK YOU'RE GETTING A GOOD DEAL ON YOUR
MUFFLER & BRAKES CALL MIDAS AND SEE IF IT'S REALLY TRUE. WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD
Regular MUFFLER $29.95 installed For most cars and light trucks
CALL GREG
AT
841-1767
2801 S. Iowa
QUALITY BEST
Hours
7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. MON-FRI.
8 a.m.-5 p.m. SAT.
AT THE PRICE!