LAWRENCE — We are nearing the halfway mark for 2025. WRTV checked in with the Mayor of Lawrence, Deborah Whitfield.
She shared that some health and safety changes are coming to the community.
"It's live longer in Lawrence. Everything that we do, we're looking at health care, social determinants of health, our policies," said Mayor Deb Whitfield.
Mayor Deborah Whitfield says the Lawrence Chief Medical Officer and officials from Marion County determined there is an 8-year difference in life expectancy between the residents of 42nd and Post Road and those in Geist.
That is why they are working to provide additional health resources to residents.
"It is important to understand. We know diabetes, stroke, heart, cardiovascular, all those issues. Exercise, the social determinants of health, look at transportation and housing, all of that affects your health, and so getting an opportunity to know again what exists in the city and our gaps," she said.
A new resource is coming to Lawrence to address some of these concerns. It's called "Crosswalk."
Crosswalk is an emergency services agency, connecting low-income or disadvantaged residents to transportation and health services. The goal is to better serve those who call 9-1-1 with non-life-threatening issues.
The city hopes to officially announce the new service in July.
"We're gonna have something coming up that's gonna be very helpful for our runs. We're looking forward to announcing that soon," said Mayor Whitfield.
As for public safety, applications to join the Lawrence Fire Department are up 73% from the last hiring process, two years ago.
"We have about 83 firefighters. We have five stations. We also have our EMS, and we're doing well. New engines are coming in. For our public safety, we need to make sure that they have what they need, stay on top of their certifications, stay on top of the tools, the equipment being in compliance is very important," said Mayor Whitfield.
Lawrence police are developing a Critical Response Team. It will be overseen by the city's chaplain and two representatives from each of the eight Lawrence neighborhoods.
While the CRT was in the police chief's five-year plan, Whitfield said, residents voiced concerns following a February incident.
"I am going to say that really ignited me to move forward quicker than we probably would have. It's a positive move. I think it's a great move for the city of Lawrence. We are 50,000 strong and growing, and so we need to start acting and thinking like a city that wants to embrace and understand the needs of Lawrence," she said.
She's aiming to have the team established by late summer or early fall.
Housing Task Force
Lawrence's Housing Task Force will be collecting data for 6 months to a year.
"Lawrence sits right between Indianapolis, which we're about 15 minutes away, and then you have Fishers, Noblesville, Carmel, and Westville. So we're right in a unique situation that we can continue to build," Mayor Whitfield said. "We're not landlocked as people would want to say because we do have land that's undeveloped, and so that again is what the housing task force is gonna work at. Give me the areas where land is undeveloped, and what do we need to do to reach out to others to see how we can develop our density."
Mayor Whitfield wants to see more investors and restaurants pop up in Lawrence.
"We have the people. People want a steakhouse. They want pasta. This mayor wants a steakhouse. I've been saying that all the time, but we have the space to do this," she said.
Roads
The city said it has used 4,827 tons of asphalt for continued pothole repairs.
"We know that there's some streets that need to be taken care of, and we are looking at grants and funding for roads so that we could take care of the streets of Lawrence. The issue in Lawrence is sometimes the streets aren't actually in Lawrence; they may be Indianapolis, so understanding our roads. What I like to tell people is, if you see a blue sign that says City of Lawrence and then the street that's Lawrence and we could take care of that and then you can also make sure you call in or or visit www.CityofLawrence.org and then there's a place where you could file for potholes and let us know what we need to do.
This story will be updated.
