Steve Croft Takes Over Mayor’s Gavel From Dianne DuBois in Lakewood At Emotional Transition

Dianne DuBois was lauded for her past year of service as Mayor of Lakewood on Wednesday before hundreds of local residents. Randy Economy Photo

By Brian Hews

It was the “Changing of the Guard” on the Lakewood City Council this past Tuesday night.

The Lakewood City Council completed its annual reorganization by selecting Steve Croft to serve as mayor for the next 12 months, and also named Todd Rogers to the post of vice mayor.

Before Croft took the gavel, he and Rogers and Mayor Diane DuBois were sworn into office for another four-year council.

The three were declared winners after no other resident ran against them in what would have been an election held on March 5th.

DuBois was thanked for her past year of service throughout the night’s festivities that included a community reception that featured appetizers and refreshments.

Croft was first elected to the city council in 2005 after having served the four previous years on the city’s Planning and Environment Commission. He served as vice mayor in 2007-2008 and as mayor in 2008-2009. He is currently serving his third term on the council.

Vice Mayor Rogers was first was elected to the city council in 2001. He served terms as mayor in 2004-2005 and 2009-2010, and served as vice mayor in 2003-2004 and 2008-2009.

“I want to thank my city council colleagues for this opportunity to once again serve them and serve the residents of Lakewood as mayor. I’m very honored by the trust you’ve placed in me,” Croft said after being named Mayor.

Croft also talked openly about how city officials dealt with the passing of former city councilman Larry Van Nostran as well as Bruce DuBois, the husband of Councilmember Diane DuBois.

“Diane had a challenging year to be mayor, personally and professionally, with the loss of her husband Bruce and with the loss of our council colleague Larry Van Nostran,” Croft said.

“Through all those difficult times, Diane carried on with great poise and dignity, and continued to be a great representative and leader for Lakewood and someone we could all be proud of as our mayor. Diane, on behalf of the people of Lakewood, thank you for your tremendous service this past year,” Croft continued.

“We had a big loss on the council last year with the passing of Larry Van Nostran. Larry was a historic figure for Lakewood in so many ways, having helped our city through some very challenging times over the years and being a valuable source of institutional knowledge and wisdom on the council. We are honored to have Larry’s wife Charlene here in the audience with us this evening, and I know that Larry is with us in spirit, making sure we are all doing our best for the city he loved,”” Croft remarked.

“We went through the difficult but necessary task of deciding how to fill Larry’s vacant seat, and we were fortunate to have many very qualified Lakewood residents to choose from for an appointment. I think we made an excellent choice, and I’m very pleased that we now have Ron Piazza with us. Ron, I look forward to starting our first full year of a council term together,” Croft continued.

Piazza is an iconic businessman in the region who is the owner of a chain of successful McDonalds Restuarants.

“Clearly, Lakewood is a good place to do business, and a good, safe place to live and raise our families,” Croft said.

“And we want to keep it that way.”

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