Lakewood Election 2017: Meet Charles K. Davis (City Council Ward 2)

LAKEWOOD, CO -- In Lakewood's City Council race for Ward 2, current council member, Scott Koop, first elected in 2011, is term-limited. Charles K. Davis is running against Jacob Bruce LaBure.

Candidate Questionnaire Charles K. Davis (Ward 2)

Age: 49
Previous political experience: None. This is my first time running for office.
Previous community experience: I am a member of the West Colfax Community Association (WCCA) and on the (40 West) Art Line Champions Group. I am a past president of the board for my church.
Occupation: Director for two technical departments for a large regional Law Firm.
Education: I have a Bachelors of Architecture degree from Iowa State University (1993)
Website: www.charleskdavis.com
What are the three biggest advantages Lakewood has today?
I’d say location location location as all three but I’m not sure that’s your intent. :-) So here they are:

1. Location - Close proximity to the mountains and downtown Denver
2. People - Lakewood has some of the most involved citizens I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. The involvement from the ground up is what makes Lakewood such a forward thinking city.
3. Variety of living choices and lifestyles and open space and parks. Lakewood has some amazing rural neighborhoods with large lots and and space as well as a vibrant ‘downtown’ in Belmar with living, shopping and entertainment options.

1. Growth - With growth comes a greater strain on our resources and infrastructure. We must work together to create a balanced approach to growth to protect our historic and rural neighborhoods and allow for highly sustainable vibrant multi-use areas like Belmar.
2. Aging infrastructure - Lakewood has kicked the can down the road on some of our aging infrastructure, such as storm sewers. This aged environment can be dangerous, cause havoc for citizens and prevent new business from coming into our city. We must start investing in our future for our kids and their kids.
3. Homelessness - Lakewood has seen an influx in homeless people and we simply, along with the balance of Jefferson County, do not have sufficient and consistent enough resources. We must work with all parties, public, private, interfaith and community-based services organizations to create a cohesive approach to helping those in need be it short term housing, mental health issues, general health issues, education and the list goes on and on.

What’s the best way for Lakewood to manage growth?
Through managed and thoughtful investment, development, redevelopment and appropriate focus on infrastructure. Lakewood must preserve its past while working towards the future.

Are there areas where Lakewood could be providing better service to residents? How?
The outreach and support services aspect of our community, reference the homelessness response above, is an area that is in need of focus. These are issues that have negative effects on citizens, property and property values as well as often tie up our police agents and pull their focus away from larger issues. The expansion of new officers budgeted for 2018 that will create a special unit for outreach, mental health and support issues will allow the balance of our peace officers to focus on their primary job. Serving and protecting the citizens of Lakewood.
What other issues do you feel will be important for the next Council to address? How should they be addressed?
There are a great deal of issues that are always before the council and they should be met head on and not kicked down the road. Acting for the sake of acting serves no-one. We must do our due-diligence, our research and understand as many angles of any problem brought before us prior to making decisions. Finally, Lakewood City Council should try not to get stuck in the weeds on smaller one-off issues. To the extent that their are one-off problems, so be it, but most of these issues are the result of other larger issues and are just symptoms. It is up to the leaders in our government to look past symptoms and focus on solutions that have wide reaching positive results.

Read more Ward 2 council candidate profiles in the Looking @ Lakewood voters guide and the Lakewood Sentinel candidate survey.

Watch a candidate forum for Lakewood City Council's Ward 2 candidates here: