A conversation with Lawrence Mayor Lisa Larsen on city-county cooperation, a new fire chief, downtown growth

Would anyone who lives in rural Douglas County really care if the city and the county merged their information technology departments? Or their purchasing departments? Or their payroll offices?

Larsen’s best guess was that most residents wouldn’t object to that type of cooperation.

“I would think any citizen would want to have their governments continue to look for efficiencies,” Larsen said.

She said some of those administrative functions would be good places to consider for consolidation. After all, is overseeing the computer systems at City Hall really that much different than overseeing them at the Douglas County Courthouse? Such consolidation doesn’t require a new governing body. It simply requires a good, functional agreement between the city and the county.