Political affiliation not always accurate

City issues regroup city commission candidates

By Matt Erickson

Friday, March 30, 2007

Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative — you won’t find these terms peppered into discussions of city politics in Lawrence, as they are in debates about national and state politicians. But some people involved in city politics say Lawrence’s politicians, including this year’s city commission candidates, do fit into distinct groups.

Some of the commission candidates, though, say it’s not so simple.

Burdett Loomis, professor of political science, has been involved in city politics for about 20 years through his position with his neighborhood association and his support for candidates in city races. Loomis said this year’s candidates fell into two groups based on their views about retail, business and residential development.

pullquote

The opinions of some may have common threads versus the opinions of others, but the use of phrases, such as ‘pro-growth’ or ‘progressive,’ do not accurately describe the issues at hand in this election.

-Rob Chestnut, city commissioner candidate

One group, he said, could be called “pro-growth” or “pro-development.” These candidates — which he said included business executives Rob Chestnut and Mike Dever and, to a lesser degree, former pastor James Bush — want to make it easier to develop businesses and residential neighborhoods in Lawrence, he said.

Loomis said the other group — the “smart growth” or “progressive” group — showed more caution with development and favored more restrictions on developers. He said incumbent commissioners Dennis “Boog” Highberger and David Schauner and retired school social worker Carey Maynard-Moody fell into this group.

Dever and Chestnut finished first and second in the primary election Feb. 27, and they have raised more money from campaign contributions than the other candidates. The top three vote getters in the general election April 3 will win commission spots.

Chestnut said he disagreed with the characterization that he or any other candidate was a member of a group.

“The opinions of some may have common threads versus the opinions of others, but the use of phrases, such as ‘pro-growth’ or ‘progressive,’ do not accurately describe the issues at hand in this election,” he said.

Dever and Bush also said they didn’t think they could be accurately grouped with other candidates.

Chestnut said he did think the two incumbents had not shown enough commitment to economic development.

John Nalbandian, professor of public administration, was a city commissioner and mayor during the 1990s. He said momentum had swung back and forth between the two camps of Lawrence politics for years, and he said it was swinging the way of the pro-development candidates.

“I just call it pendulum politics,” he said.

Loomis said Chestnut, Dever and Bush were linked by the support they received from residential developers and people in the real estate industry.

All three candidates received $500 contributions from the Kansas Realtors Political Action Committee.

In past elections, Schauner and Highberger were supported by the Progressive Lawrence Campaign, a group that promoted a policy of “smart growth.” The group is not operating during this election.

Schauner and Highberger did not object to being grouped together.

Schauner joked that he wouldn’t object to being called smart, but he said he differed from other candidates in that he wanted to make sure the city maintained control over its growth.

“If we have a city that is run by, and the rules are made by, people whose goals are to make money by building houses, then we’re going to have a city where it’s very expensive to live,” he said.

Maynard-Moody said she wasn’t sure how accurate it was to put the candidates into groups, but she said many voters might view the candidates that way.

“Sometimes it’s not the reality but the myth that voters latch onto, that drives the election,” she said. “Whether this managed growth or smart growth versus pro-growth or pro-development is a myth or reality, I’m not sure.”

Kansan staff writer Matt Erickson can be contacted at merickson@kansan.com.

— Edited by Will McCullough

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