The LJWorld voter’s guide was published this past weekend (10/19/2025). Here is my detailed answer to the third question about Rec Center Fees:
3. The 2026 budget that recently passed included implementing membership/user fees for the Parks, Recreation and Culture’s rec centers, in part to offset cuts to the department. Do you agree with the implementation of fees? How would you address the PRC department’s shortfall on the commission?
I cannot disagree enough with the new Rec Center fees. I believe implementing Rec Center fees will fundamentally alter not only the health and wellbeing of many Lawrence residents but also compromise the longevity of our Rec Centers and quality of life in our city.
At the start of this campaign, I again proposed a Friends group to help generate support for Parks & Rec. The Lawrence Library has done a fantastic job of using such a group to help raise funds for its programs. This model shows that it can work in town and reach the amount that was needed.
In fact, this idea is recommended in the City’s official Parks and Rec Master Plan, approved in January of this year, but it was never implemented. Section 8.2.5 discusses successful fundraising motions such as a Friends Group and or a Conservancy, with regional examples of successful models. This plan also recommends many of the creative fundraising sources recommended by the No Fees for Lawrence Rec Centers petition, which gained over 2,000 signatures.
My own journey into community advocacy started in 2021 when the Prairie Park Nature Center was on the chopping block. My wife, my neighbors, and friends, all came together to argue passionately for the continuation of our major neighborhood anchor institution. We met with City officials at the Nature Center and proposed the idea of a Friends Group to help fund the Nature Center. Our coalition followed up with the City for over a year and did not receive a reply.
We have had an entire year to help solve the Parks and Recs budget deficit, and the best we came up with is to penalize people who were promised free access. Many people use SPL as their primary form of exercise. I have heard from people who say the facility increases their quality of life, improves their mental health, and prevents hospital visits. This decision will fundamentally alter the health and well-being of citizens in our community.
I truly worry about the longevity of the Rec Center facilities if these fees go into place. We will start to see local gyms and clubs offering competing and lower fees with longer hours, better amenities, and childcare.
The new City Commission will be seated at the beginning of December, a month before these Rec Center fees go into place in January 2026. I will work to postpone the implementation of these fees and make it my mission to eliminate these fees before the long-term damage is irreparable.