Q&A with Wendi Strom, Lakewood mayoral candidate

Cities could allow “overdose prevention centers” under bill

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Wendi Strom, a member of Lakewood’s City Council, is the rst to announce a she is running for mayor. Mayor Adam Paul is term-limited and cannot run again.

e Je co Transcript sat down with Strom, who announced her campaign in February, to ask about her priorities, city issues and why she decided to run.

Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Je co Transcript: Why run for mayor?

Councilmember Wendi Strom: Honestly, I’m running because I think we can do better, and I do want to make sure we continue to move the conversation forward on some really crucial things we’ve been working on this year like housing, a ordability of housing, homelessness, public safety. ere’s some division in the community, and I would even say there’s some division on the dias. ere’s the “no-growth” narrative and the “weneed-a ordable-housing” narrative, and it’s not a zero-sum game. Right now, it feels like we need to be more strategic and we need to be more collaborative.

JT: Homelessness is a major issue in Lakewood: what is your perspective as to where the issue stems from and what ideas/solutions would you be pursuing as mayor?

WS: I don’t have speci c solutions right now. e navigation center is de nitely one solution. It’s already out there, but it’s going to take some time to implement. Having something in place like that where it’s got the wraparound services, I think, is critical and making sure we are addressing the human element of it while providing the housing element.

One of the things that has been really important during my time at council, and part of the reason I ran, was that I want to make sure, and do everything within my power, that our residents have the opportunity to make an income that allows them to live where they work, or work where they live, or live where they grew up, or live near their grandparents — the choice, the ability to choose.

And focusing on a lot of retail jobs doesn’t necessarily provide for that. Right? So, where can we be doing better to provide jobs that really allow people to be able to a ord to live where they work.

JT: Are there any topics you feel you’d be able to address as mayor that you couldn’t as a councilmember?

WS: ere’s not anything I feel I couldn’t address. We’ve started the conversation. It’s just a matter of making sure we continue the conversation and do so in a collaborative way that helps us move forward towards a solution and not get stuck in disagreement.

Being mayor allows me the ability to make sure that we continue to move those conversations forward and in a functional and collaborative way so we can give all of the community the solutions they deserve.

JT: Are there any other topics, similar to housing, you think you could better push along as mayor?

WS: I think the other big one is public safety. at’s everywhere. And by public safety, that includes safety on our roads and streets for our cyclists, for our kids walking to school, for our cars, but it also includes crime.

I’ve been excited to see that a crime and public safety conversation has really escalated all the way to the governor this year because I do believe, especially in a metropolitan area, we can’t operate in a silo. In my ward especially, you will have people every single way, driving up and down Wadsworth (Boulevard) who have no idea what city they’re in.

Most people don’t know, and that’s

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