Steven Conklin sat between two customers at an Edgewater establishment, both claiming they lived in the City. He later learned one resided in Lakewood and the other Wheat Ridge.
“I love the fact that these two people from two different communities both took Edgewater as their home,” Conklin, Edgewater’s mayor said.
Conklin, who became mayor in November 2023, takes pride in the city’s reputation of being the “small town next to the big city,” he said.
“This is a fantastic seven-tenths of a square mile—in terms of a place to live, work, and play,” Conklin said. “It has the small town feeling, yet we have all the advantages of being in the Metro area.”
Conklin grew up in Jefferson County, and returned as an adult, thinking he would only live in Edgewater for three years. Now 20-plus years later, Conklin served on City Council for almost ten years, worked as the Mayor Pro Tem for Mayor Laura Keegan, worked in the planning and zoning department and represented Edgewater on the Denver Regional Council of Governments, where he was chair.
Being mayor wasn’t always the plan, but it eventually just made sense, he said. Conklin is especially aware of the decisions the State legislature makes that might not take into account the size and impact it will have on Edgewater.
“The State legislature, over the past couple years, has made a number of preemptive decisions basically saying that they know better than the local cities in terms of how to operate,” Conklin said. “That’s why I just try to be very open and articulate what makes Edgewater special and the challenges we may have that another city may not have.”
As Conklin’s involvement in city politics spans beyond his mayoral term, he’s seen projects come to fruition that he’s been working on since 2019, including calming traffic and installing traffic circles. Conklin continues to focus on sustainability, livability, walkability and creating a positive atmosphere for businesses, he said.
Conklin recognizes the multi-generational community living in Edgewater, with many people living in the same home their grandparents owned, alongside people who are new to the area, creating a “patchwork of people,” Conklin said.
Conklin is happy to see City development over the years, including the Edgewater Public Market reclaiming the old King Soopers building and the Edgewater Beer Garden and Suzette Coffee reclaiming the old fire and police stations. For the first time the City has a recreation center, located in the Edgewater Civic Center, which now houses City services as well.
When Conklin first took office he heard about members of the public in other municipalities saying antisemitic comments and Edgewater felt “small bits of what some of the communities around us felt,” Conklin said. He decided to attend an antisemitism conference, which included speakers who survived the Holocaust.
“It was an opportunity to sit down, be quiet, and listen,” Conklin said. “I did a lot of listening and soaked in a lot of information.”
Conklin views his job as balancing the right to free speech with making sure people feel safe, he said.
Jefferson County Public Schools is contemplating a change for Jefferson Junior Senior High School. Attending every meeting, Conklin is committed to being informed.
“There clearly is discomfort in the community about losing an attribute like that,” Conklin said. “The other side is the reality of declining enrollment and demographics. My hope is that the Jefferson County Public Schools are listening and working with our community, in terms of what makes sense.”
If the school closes, students will attend Wheat Ridge Middle and High Schools. Conklin expects the District to help with the transition.
“At some of the community meetings there’s absolutely been tension with people believing that Jeffco had already made a decision and wanting to be sure they’re part of it,” Conklin said. “The county has said very clearly they have not made a decision, although some of the things they’ve done may not have quite made it feel that way.”
Although School District representatives brief City Council, public schools are not a function of the city but are a function of the county.
“We’ll do all we can to help the people that live here, that go to the schools, or want to go to the schools, or would hope to go to the schools, be able to have their voice,” Conklin said.
One of Conklin’s goals as mayor is to operate as civilly as possible and to support the senior population.
“I made it a point to spend some time with people that I may have very different beliefs and talk about how we can articulate that, and that’s gone well,” Conklin said.
With his career in city politics, Conklin knows how arduous city proceedings can get and aimed to make city council meetings more efficient through pre-planning and time conscientiousness during his time as Mayor, he said.
During the remainder of his term Conklin hopes to complete the transition plan, making the City more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and to clean up the City’s stretch of Sheridan Boulevard.
“It’s not the safest of roads,” Conklin said about the state highway. “Our residents love to cross the street and go over to Sloan’s Lake. We need Sheridan to be safer.”
The City worked with Denver, Wheat Ridge and CDOT to create a plan, with scheduled improvements starting in 2026.
“The challenge is with federal dollars being in question in many ways that it’s hard to know if that’s really going to be able to happen in 2026,” Conklin said.
Conklin plans to run for another term this November 2025.
