Candidate Profile: Lakewood Mayor Michael Summers

Editor's Note: As part of Lakewood Patch's local election coverage, we will provide profiles of . These profiles will offer biographical and issue-oriented details about each of the candidates to help you, the voters, make more-informed decisions at the ballot box.

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Name: Michael Summers

Age: 57

Occupation: Mayor of Lakewood; Owner of Summers Rubber, although he’s not responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company.

Education: Wittenburg University; MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management

Political Affiliation: Democrat

Office Sought: Mayor

Previous Political Office Sought or Held: Lakewood School Board, 8 years; Ward 3 Councilman for three years.

Candidate Statement: 

I pledge as Mayor :

• A commitment to service
• A commitment to growth
• A commitment to safety

Service means

• Nimble & accessible and cost effective city government
• It means my commitment to you to give all I’ve got
• It also means leveraging the enormous intellectual talent among our citizens to serve our city

Growth means:

• Housing quality
• Preparing and preserving our greatest asset for its 2nd century of service to our families
• Adding additional housing styles to address all phases of our lifestyles
• Business vitality
• We need to Continue our success of supporting the convenience and quality of life we enjoy
• Adding revenue to support core services
• Financial strength
• Not for its own sake, but for the purpose of creating a capacity to invest in our future.

Safety means:

• Investing in prevention
• Investing in response- speed and strength
• Supporting our first responders which are police, Fire, EMS
• this includes Training, equipment, technology, and appropriate staff levels
• Safety also means that we all have a role