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Residents, school committee member urge audit of FY2026 budget at Lawrence City Council meeting
Summary
Multiple public commenters at a Lawrence City Council meeting criticized the proposed FY2026 budget, called for an independent audit and warned of political motivations in an election year; no council action was recorded during public comment.
Public commenters at a Lawrence City Council meeting urged the council to order an audit of the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget and questioned the document’s authorship and transparency.
In the most direct appeal, Lenny Rohr, a member of the Lawrence School Committee, said, “If there’s money missing, we need to do an audit on this.” Rohr spoke during the meeting’s public participation period and repeatedly implored councilors to re-examine the budget, saying it “doesn’t look right.”
Rich Russell, a resident of 34 Cross Street, criticized the budget authors and warned voters to “try to get it right this time,” linking his concerns to the upcoming election year. Russell said campaign activity across the city — including what he described as “at least 8 visible campaign signs” near May and Manchester streets — underscored his worry that political considerations were influencing budget decisions. He added, “signs don’t vote, people do.”
Lizzie Rivas of District 8 told councilors that expenses in recent decisions were “not clear and processed and not completed clear to the community,” and demanded that “every decision made here present well and committed to all of us.”
All comments occurred during the meeting’s public participation period; the transcript shows no formal motion, vote, or council directive in response to the requests for an audit. The speakers asked the council to increase transparency and, in Rohr’s case, to pursue an explicit audit rather than rely on internal explanations.
The meeting’s public participation rules gave each speaker two and a half minutes; speakers were advised they would hear a beep at 30 seconds remaining. No legal or statutory references to an audit requirement were cited by the speakers, and the council did not state a follow-up timetable during the portion of the meeting captured in the transcript.
Without a formal council motion or vote recorded in the transcript, the matter remains a public request rather than an enacted oversight step. If councilors choose to act, any next steps would need to be formally moved and recorded in a subsequent agenda item or meeting.
