The City of Lawrence is starting its 2025 budget process while questions about the 2024 budget continue.
During a recent Lawrence Common Council meeting, Councilor Rick Wells (D-District 2) voiced questions that he said he tried to get answered earlier without success. He asked about the purchase of a vehicle for Mayor Deb Whitfield’s use and whether city staff had been reassigned to help with remodeling the mayor’s office. Wells also asked why City Controller Humphrey Nagila had not submitted any of the required monthly finance reports this year.
Wells asked those and other questions on Sept. 3. Nagila sent an email Sept. 5 to all city council members in response and Current received a copy of the email through a public records request.
In the email, Nagila stated that city staff members did not help remodel Whitfeld’s office, other than move some furniture. He also stated that the mayor’s trip to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was not funded by the city; and the mayor’s use of a city-owned vehicle is customary for Lawrence mayors, with the exception of Mayor Steve Collier, who served from 2016 until the end of 2023.
Nagila also addressed the lack of monthly finance reports.
“The controller’s office acknowledges the responsibility to publish the city’s financial updates to the city website and intends to continue this process,” he wrote. “As stated during the budget workshops, the controller’s office is currently understaffed and has had to manage a change in administration, collective bargaining agreements with police and fire unions, annual state audit and budgeting. We have set internal measures to ensure that city financial reports continue to be published on the city website.”
When posted, those updates should be available at cityoflawrence.org/financial, where earlier reports and the city’s 2024 adopted budget can be viewed.
