In Tuesday’s general election, Douglas County voted to add two more County Commission districts, increasing the size of the county’s governing body from three seats to five. As of 9:45 p.m. Tuesday with about 60% of precincts reporting, 18,631 votes were in favor of the ballot question, good for 61.17% of the vote. The change will cut the number of constituents that one commissioner represents from around 42,000 to around 25,000. With the vote, the next step will be drawing a new district map. The commission will have to adopt the new districts prior to Jan. 1, 2023. From there, selecting commissioners for the two newly created districts would likely involve holding a special election, with the winners serving until the next general election in 2024.
Source: LJWorld

Lawrence business owners, residents, social service providers and people experiencing homelessness spoke to city leaders Tuesday evening about the city’s response to homelessness and the management of a camp in North Lawrence. During the public comment portion of the Lawrence City Commission’s meeting Tuesday, commissioners heard from about 20 people, with a few times that number gathered in the lobby of City Hall, about the issue. Some called for additional support for the camp, and city staff said at the end of the meeting that the city was in the process of hiring additional people to provide more monitoring at the site.
Source: LJWorld