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Resident criticizes consent-agenda process; staff says change followed prior misuse
Summary
At the Jan. 14 Lawrence City Commission meeting, resident Steven Watts criticized a policy preventing the public from pulling consent-agenda items. A staff member said the restriction resulted from an earlier internal practice of requesting pulls and not following through.
During public comment at the Jan. 14, 2025 Lawrence City Commission meeting, resident Steven Watts questioned the city's practice that prevents members of the public from pulling items from the consent agenda.
"What is your problem with allowing the public to pull consent agenda items?" Watts asked. The comment came during discussion of the consent agenda and a request to remove item C4A for separate consideration.
A staff member responded during the meeting: "The reason we are not allowed to pull consent items anymore is because I made a thread in here to pull all the consent items all the time once and never actually followed through on it." The staff member's comment was offered as an explanation for the current practice and was recorded in the meeting transcript.
No formal action was taken to change the consent-agenda policy during the Jan. 14 meeting. Commissioners allowed the removal of C4A for separate discussion and proceeded to consider that item on second and final reading.
