Is Mike Dever right for Lawrence?
Lawrence is facing similar issues to many communities - seemingly ever-increasing rents, working class people unable to afford homeownership, and low wage jobs that aren’t keeping up with the heavy burden of inflation. Our city is changing and the upcoming November 7th, 2023 election will shape what our future looks like. Will our city leaders be focused on making Lawrence a good place to live for the average resident, or will they prioritize the desires of a wealthy few?
Mike Dever, an unaffiliated city commission candidate, is running a very well-funded campaign backed by some of the wealthiest people in Lawrence. Dever’s track record on city commission and campaign finance reports suggest that he may not understand the needs of average Lawrencians.
First you’re hearing about this election? Start here!
Ready to go deeper? Scroll on down!
A Look at the Money
It is one thing to read a candidate’s thoughtfully crafted messaging or hear them speak at forums they have carefully prepared for, but messaging does not often tell the whole story of a campaign. It is equally, if not more, important to look at who is backing their campaign and consider what interests those supporters may have.
As of July 25th, Dever had far out-raised all other city commission candidates with almost $30,000 raised.
READ MORE: Dever maintains lead in fundraising with over $45,000 raised.
READ MORE: Research article dives deep into Dever’s campaign finances.
The map below gives a look at who is funding Dever’s 2023 campaign, donors displayed had donated as of pre-primary election campaign finance reports. Use the button in the upper left of the embedded map to expand the menu and view data sources and disclaimers. Contributors can be viewed by donation amount or by occupation category. If the map is not loading properly or you would like to view a larger version, click here.
Campaign Finance Reports for all City Commission candidates are available online at the links below for both current and past elections. All Douglas County candidate reports can be viewed here.
Mike Dever Brad Finkeldei Amber Sellers Courtney Shipley Dustin Stumblingbear Justine Burton
Dever’s Track Record
Dever served from 2007-2015 and the decisions he made go beyond just the two high-profile development projects highlighted below. In addition to reading the snippets below, voters are encouraged to read up on past reporting and speak with trusted friends or relatives who were politically active in Lawrence during Dever’s tenure.
Browse past reporting on Dever from the Lawrence Journal-World here. If you are not a subscriber, unlimited free access to the Lawrence Journal-World online is available at the Lawrence Public Library.
Venture Park/Farmland Industries Site
November 2008 - Dever pushes for Venture Park acquisition, thinks his cost estimates are better than KDHE
“Kansas Department of Health and Environment estimated it would cost between $10 million and $16 million during the next 30 years to clean up the property, which has been damaged by years of nitrogen fertilizer spills.”
““Instead of paying a private contractor $100 an hour, we may be able to pay someone in-house $25 an hour to do the same job,” Dever said.” [source]
May 2021 - City still paying for cleanup costs
$1.5 million cleanup costs are to be paid by manufacturing plant, the city agreed to milllions in property tax abatements, and voted to increase abatements as cleanup costs increased. [source] [source]
Dever did not regret no-bid contract to developer
January 2013 - Dever pushes for Rock Chalk Park project
“City Commissioner Mike Dever clearly has become one of the more passionate supporters of the project. He made a closing statement where he tried to give assurances to the public that the city was poised to make a good investment with the project.
“I know the vision of this facility scares some people,” Dever said. “It is a large project. But I think the city is in as good a position as it can possibly be to take on this project.” “ [source]
May 2013 - Dever does not regret no-bid contract to Fritzel
“Dever said he doesn’t regret the decision to allow the infrastructure to be built without going through the city’s normal bidding process. He said he still believes the economies of scale of having one infrastructure contractor will benefit the city.
Amyx said he wishes the city would have used its normal bidding process.
“I’ve had concerns all along,” Amyx said. “I wish we would have just put all the city portions of this project together and put them out there to bid and seen what we came up with.” “ [source]
November 2014 - Public Not Happy
“…a significant number of people…were unhappy with previous decisions by the commission, particularly the commission’s support of $22.5 million in funding for the Rock Chalk Park sports complex, and the use of a no-bid contract to build a portion of Rock Chalk. Both Dever and Schumm were major supporters of the Rock Chalk Park project. “ [source]
This page previously detailed the felonies that Fritzel was later charged with, but there is nothing to indicate that Dever was aware of Fritzel's crimes. Fritzel was a respected developer before his crimes came to light and the authors of this site don’t wish to stray from focused, honest, good-faith voter education. If readers are interested in more information about Fritzel, the Lawrence-Journal World and Topeka Capital Journal have both reported on this topic.
This page was last updated on November 4th, 2023. Remember to VOTE on NOVEMBER 7TH!