Lawrence councilors say mayor hampered budget process; independent adviser withdrew amid alleged intimidation

Councilors and residents at a Lawrence City Council meeting said the council has not received a draft 2026 budget and that the council’s ability to perform budget oversight has been undermined after an independent financial adviser withdrew. At the meeting an unnamed councilor told constituents the adviser “has now withdrawn, not because of any workload amount, but because of direct harassment and intimidation from the mayor.” The councilor said the adviser’s firm cited harm to other client relationships as the reason for withdrawing and called the conduct “unacceptable.” The concern came during a broader string of council comments about transparency. One councilor said the council had been asked to approve claim vouchers, ordinances and resolutions “all without looking at a monthly budget,” and that “departments suffer because of this lack of transparency.” The councilor said the administration had promised a draft budget by Sept. 5 but that the council had not received it. Resident Daniel Rapp urged residents to review recently posted Indiana State Board of Accounts material and said the board’s report for 2024 included an unusual combination of terms: “Unmodified means it’s clean. Adverse means it’s bad. You cannot have something somewhat bad on a unmodified,” Rapp told the council, urging public review and participation in the October public hearing on the budget. Councilors also said they had not met the city’s new controller and that correspondence to the mayor about budget concerns had not received a written reply. No formal council action was taken at the meeting on these governance concerns. One councilor said they planned to issue a press release informing residents of the council’s difficulties obtaining budget documents; the comment was presented as a public statement rather than a formal motion. Why it matters: The council approves the city budget and vendor payments; without timely access to budget drafts councilors said they lack the documents needed for oversight. The withdrawal of contracted independent financial expertise raised questions among councilors about the working relationship between the council and the mayor’s office. What councilors asked for: Councilors asked that the administration provide the budget draft to the council and that financial materials, including the proposed general, water and sewer budgets, be posted for public review when they are delivered to the council. What the council did: No ordinance or formal directive resulted from the discussion at this meeting. The comments and citizen requests were recorded in the public record and will inform follow-up at future meetings.