Man who led Wyandotte County unification effort says combining Lawrence, Douglas County governments ‘would take a generation’

It “would take a generation” to unify the governments of Douglas County and the city of Lawrence, even if there were a general agreement to do so, a man who led the effort that created the Wyandotte County Unified Government told the Douglas County Commission on Wednesday.

Douglas County commissioners invited Kevin Kelley, director of the Dwayne Peaslee Technical Training Center, to speak about his experience in Wyandotte County. There, Kelley was the president of a grassroots effort that successfully advocated for the unification of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., governments. He then served on the committee that worked out the details of the dissolution of the city and county governments and the creation of a new unified government.