Douglas County Commissioner Candidates Split Positions on Public Housing, Development Incentives, Wind Energy – The Lawrence Times

Candidates running for a seat on Douglas County Council have different views on the commission’s role in providing more affordable housing, they discussed during a forum Wednesday.

The forum was hosted by the Lawrence Board of Realtors and moderated by Danielle Davey, Director of Government Affairs.

Following the August primary election, Douglas County voters will elect their own commissioners in November representing Districts 2 and 3, as well as the newly added Districts 4 and 5.

Find out which district you are in by going to myvoteinfo.voteks.org and entering your name, date of birth or address.

Wednesday’s panel included Brad Chun, an independent candidate in District 2; Karen Willey, the incumbent Democratic candidate in District 3; Pat McDermott, a Republican in District 3; Gene Dorsey, a Democratic candidate in District 4; Steve Jacob, a Libertarian in District 4; Timothy Bruce, a Republican in District 4; and Erica Anderson, a Democratic candidate in District 5; Kirsten Kuhn, a Libertarian in District 5; and Rich Lorenzo, a Republican in District 5.

Incumbent Commissioner Shannon Reid, the Democratic candidate in District 2, was unable to be present Wednesday, so her deputy read aloud written responses submitted earlier by Reid.

All candidates said they would seek to lower property taxes and would work to lower property taxes in Douglas County — currently about 44.2 mills — but some candidates had other solutions to achieve that. Continuing that discussion, another one took place on affordable housing.

Lorenzo, who cited supply issues, also added that developers regularly face barriers, including slow processes after submitting their projects.

“I think we need to make it easier for developers,” Lorenzo said. “The process needs to be easy and streamlined, and man, let’s work together. Let’s get to ‘Yes.’ Let’s not make it harder for everyone to do business in Douglas County.”

Chun said the county should loosen restrictions on developers and then “get out of the way.” For projects outside city limits, the county could suggest that developments be built closer to existing infrastructure, he said.

Kuhn, who said she is running her campaign primarily to reduce government overreach, said less is more. As commissioner, she said she would first advocate for reducing county commissioner salaries, which are currently $50,000 a year.

“The people you’re excluding are the unemployed, the underemployed, the poor and the elderly,” Kuhn said. “These are the people who are at risk of becoming homeless and exacerbating the problem we already have. … It’s the county’s fault and we need to change that.”

Bruce said the county should play a supporting role to cities but “know where our place is.”

When asked by an audience member, Lorenzo, Kuhn, Anderson, Jacob and McDermott all said they were not fans of using incentives to attract businesses to the county. Chun and Lorenzo said making communities, especially Lawrence, “attractive” overall was more important, and McDermott agreed.

Dorsey, Bruce and Chun said they would consider incentives on a project-by-project basis. Anderson agreed, saying incentive programs typically come from the state, but local governments have to do the math and weigh the pros and cons before potentially awarding them.

“Sometimes some projects just can’t be done on their own,” Bruce said. “I think we have to be smart about it. It’s not an open checkbook.”

On May 1, the Douglas County Commission approved revised wind energy regulations, much to the chagrin of many village residents.

However, the approved regulations increased the required setbacks for wind turbines from property lines to 2,500 feet from the 1,500 feet proposed in the draft. The increased setbacks were intended to assuage opponents’ concerns, although some wind power advocates argued that the additional distance would essentially make any wind power projects unfeasible.

“The question was asked about the wind regulations, and I would say I think they are acceptable. I am not thrilled with them,” Willey said. “I would say that as far as the distance and the setback, we asked the Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Department to review the literature. The 2,500-foot setback that we adopted was in line with their recommendations.”

Willey and Reid, both current commissioners, defended their votes in support of the new rules.

McDermott called those who opposed the regulations “quite heroic.” More than 60 people participated in public comments at the May 1 meeting, and about two-thirds of them opposed any wind energy expansion in Douglas County.

McDermott, Dorsey, Lorenzo, Bruce and Chun said they would take further steps to support the wind ban as commissioners. Dorsey added, however, that he supports the new rules in their current form, although he suggests the commission focus on policy first and then outline regulations.

Jacob said he considers wind turbines to be “obsolete technology.” Similarly, Kuhn said she would rather promote solar energy options — such as building panels — but also values ​​property owners’ rights.

Anderson said wind turbines in rural areas mainly benefit corporations, which is why she opposes their construction in those areas.

“I’m a proponent of solar and wind when it comes to residential development,” Anderson said. “But when we think about commercial and large-scale commercial land use, I’m not a proponent because I don’t think it benefits the taxpayer or the resident. And unfortunately, what we’ve seen so far is that it benefits primarily the commercial entity.”

The general election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 5.

Oct. 15 is the last day to register to vote in Douglas County, and Oct. 29 is the last day to apply for early voting. Douglas County voters can quickly complete both at KSVotes.org.

Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about her work for the Times here. Check out her band bio here.

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