Opinion: Mayor gets leadership award for city work while others are not allowed give opinion

Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul received the Community Leadership Award from the Community Investment Alliance for his personal involvement with the Lakewood launch of an Extreme Weather Overflow Shelter. (news release here; link removed from lakewood.org) This was the first year for the shelter, which operated out of the Whitlock recreational enter.  During the Feb 27 Lakewood City Council meeting, the City Manager reported that 11 guests used the shelter the first night, and 33 guests were there the second.

There is no doubt that Mayor Paul works tirelessly for the City of Lakewood. However, other Council Members would like to work tirelessly on the issues they care about and are often stymied as to how to do that. Councilor Springsteen says information is withheld. Councilor Olver is famous working towards a new dog park but cannot talk to staff about it for fear of undue influence. When Olver tried to offer opinions and discussion points on bike paths, there appeared to be a Council protest. What is the difference between Olver asking to help on bike lanes or dog parks and the Mayor lending leadership to the weather shelter and “helping resolve issues that arose during its operation”?

Perhaps after Mayor Paul’s long tenure in Lakewood he has figured out a way to get into a leadership position in city operations. This may be something worth sharing because Lakewood Council Members seem to be continuously reminded that such a thing is not possible.