Pavel Payano's family came to Lawrence in the late 80s in search of the American dream. For the past several decades his parents worked as teachers in the Lawrence Public Schools. As a product of the Lawrence Public School system, the son of two Lawrence Public School Teachers, he is deeply committed to improving K-12 education and making higher education more affordable and accessible to working class families.
The Lawrence community is facing a serious housing crisis (high rent and shortage of affordable housing). We need a comprehensive housing approach to address the impact it has on municipal service, education, traffic, and public safety. We need to have a conversion with our neighboring communities about having a regionalize approach to solving this issue. We also need to ensure that we don't over extend our tax base by continuously increasing property taxes and that our zoning laws fit the mold of our neighborhoods.