Candidate Profile: Patrick Metzger for Lakewood City Council

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: Patrick J. Metzger

Age: 42

Occupation: Economic Development Coordinator Lorain County Community Development Department

Education: MS Public Policy Urban Affairs; ABD PhD Public Administration and Urban Studies

Political Affiliation: Although Lakewood Ward races are nonpartisan, Democrat

Office Sought: , Ward 1

Previous Political Office Sought or Held: None

Candidate Statement:

My wife and I have lived in Lakewood since 1997. Our three school age children: Fitzpatrick, Lilly Ryann and Owen Todd (who's in preschool) have been in Lakewood Schools and benefitted from the many activities that make Lakewood special.

I’m running for City Council Ward 1 mainly because I’m concerned that years internal focus on cuts and funding realignments in the face of reduced funding and elimination of revenue sources at the City appear to have left our seasoned leadership spread pretty thin. I hope to sit with, bring my talents to the table and help Lakewood to make headway into the future by continuing the hard work of the last several years. Hopefully we can up the game from playing small ball to playing big ball.

I’ve been active in the Lakewood community at many levels participating in LECPTA, the Adventure Guides at the , as a Cub Scout and Weblos leader in Pack 115, and as a part of parish council at St. James Church - where my wife and I were married in 2000. I was involved with the council for 3 and a half years - just as the diocese was planning to reconfigure the foot print of parish life in the community.

I’ve had the privilege of being appointed by a city council member, and then reappointed by two Lakewood mayors to the Lakewood Citizen Advisory Committee. The CAC is responsible for review and recommendation to the Lakewood City Council for the expenditure of about $2 million dollars of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) monies that help to support important programs throughout Lakewood while supporting housing, safety, job creation and retention as well as parks and infrastructure services.