Candidate Profile: Charles Davis For Lakewood City Council

LAKEWOOD, CO — Twelve City Council candidates are running for Lakewood's Nov. 2 municipal election.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Charles Davis is running for Lakewood City Council - Ward 2.

Age: 53

Family

Been married for 25 years to Kristina, have an amazing 22 year old daughter and a fantastic 20 year old son. Both kids are good humans which was my main goal as a parent.

Education

Bachelors of Architecture from Iowa State University

Occupation

I'm in my fourth year being a Mortgage Loan Officer.

Campaign website: www.charlesforlakewood.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

To improve the professionalism, transparency and engagement of our city government to the people of Lakewood. I'm running to be part of the solution. I'm running to represent the unique concerns and needs of Northeast Lakewood and to be a voice for improvement and progress in the oldest part of Lakewood.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My life experience, school of hard knocks education as well as the better part of a decade of on the ground community experience, activism, and involvement in Northeast Lakewood.

How do you think local officials are performing in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I believe that the City of Lakewood has done an amazing job at navigating the pandemic. Sadly, however some of our councilors have not kept the most professional and representative approach to government whilst running remotely.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I'd love to see Lakewood expand the energy that the resurgence of West Colfax has seen. The people who have spearheaded and been an integral part of this, myself included, have been amazing, involved, and have taken personal ownership in the process. We must expand this collaboration, communication and compromise to create partnerships that continue to evolve and invest in Lakewood. I'd also love to see some residential recycling mandates to increase our sustainable efforts through residential recycling programs. Perhaps requiring local carriers to include recycling, not as an option, but as part of their monthly service or subsidizing these at a residential level to assist in adoption.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I'm, arguably, on my fourth major career, but throughout it all I've been a problem solver, mediator and translator. My professional history provides for a unique approach and understanding of the value of negotiation and compromise with all parties involved. Working together should be the solution and not the problem, which it often is now.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Leave each day a better person. Learn something new each day. Help someone improve themselves every day!

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I'm very much a socially liberal person and a fiscally conservative person. I believe we can be responsible with our public funds AND assist people and community. The two are not mutually exclusive, they are uniquely intertwined. I'm for public-private partnerships and not legislation down to the nth degree. We don't need more shopping cart ordinances, we need partnerships between community, shopping facilities and the government to provide effective solutions.