Lamar Ward I City Council Member Brent Bates resigns at August 24, 2026 City Council meeting

Brent Bates officiating at a friend’s wedding in Lamar

To My Hometown:

Last night, I made the incredibly difficult decision to resign from the Lamar City Council and from
my position as Mayor Pro Tem.

This wasn’t a decision I made quickly, and it certainly isn’t one I ever expected to make.
I was born and raised in Lamar. This isn’t simply the community I represent—it is my home. I
was raised by parents who dedicated their lives to the public service of this community in more
ways than one, and who instilled that same sense of responsibility in me from the moment I took
my first breath. They taught me that serving your community isn’t about recognition or a title. It’s
about showing up, doing the work, and leaving your little corner of the world better than you
found it.

When I ran for City Council, part of my motivation was pretty simple: I no longer wanted to be
another person sitting behind a keyboard complaining about how things should be done while
doing nothing to help change them. And as most of you know, I did my fair share of Facebook
complaining. I just figured that eventually I should probably put my money where my mouth
was… or fingers.

I believed then, and I still believe today, that being an active member of your community
requires more than a Wi-Fi connection and a comment section. It means showing up. It means
asking hard questions, listening to people you don’t always agree with, respecting the roles
we’ve each been entrusted with, and working together to make decisions in the best interest of
the people we serve.

Along with that, I believe good government requires transparency and accountability. It requires
honest communication, respect for process and institutional roles, and a willingness to
collaborate even when things get difficult.

Over time, I have become increasingly concerned about the way information is shared, how
decisions are developed, and whether every member of the Council is consistently given the
opportunity to meaningfully participate in the work we were elected to do. I believe the collective
role of the Council matters. Transparency, collaboration, and respect for that role shouldn’t
depend upon whether an issue is easy or difficult, routine or consequential. In fact, I believe
those principles matter most when the decisions in front of us are difficult.

I’ve wrestled considerably with whether remaining in my seat gave me the best opportunity to
help strengthen those things. Ultimately, I reached the difficult conclusion that I can no longer
effectively serve within the current governing environment while remaining true to those
principles and to my own expectations of what public service should be.

I’m not sharing this to point fingers or assign blame. I’m not interested in tearing anyone down
on my way out the door, nor will I use my resignation to publicly air grievances or make accusations against individuals. There is enough division in the world around us without me
adding more of it here at home.

Sometimes leadership means stepping forward. Sometimes it means standing your ground. And
sometimes it means recognizing when stepping away is the most honest thing you can do.
There is one group of people I especially want to recognize before I leave: the employees of
the City of Lamar.

I cannot overstate the respect and appreciation I have for the people who keep this City running
every single day. Lamar doesn’t function without them. They maintain our streets, parks and
infrastructure. They keep our water flowing and our community safe. They answer the phones,
balance the books, solve problems most of us never knew existed, and do countless other jobs
that rarely receive the recognition they deserve.

Many give far more than 40 hours a week to this community—missing dinners, giving up
weekends, answering calls after hours, working in miserable weather, and quietly doing
whatever needs to be done because Lamar depends on them.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing that work from the other side of the Council dais, and I hope our
community recognizes it too. Please respect them. Please appreciate them. And every once in a
while, please thank them. They deserve it.

To the residents of Ward I who placed their trust in me: thank you. When you elected me as the
youngest City Councilmember in Lamar’s history, you took a chance on a guy who loved his
hometown, had a lot of ideas, probably talked a little too much, and genuinely believed he could
make a difference. You trusted me not only with your voice, but with the responsibility of
representing you. I hope you know just how seriously I have carried that responsibility every
single day since.

Thank you for the phone calls, the conversations in grocery store aisles, the questions, the
disagreements, the encouragement, and every opportunity you gave me to listen and advocate
on your behalf. Most of all, thank you for believing I was worthy of the seat in the first place. I
will always be grateful for that trust, and I hope I represented Ward I in a way that made you
proud.

And to my fellow councilmembers, past and present, thank you for the time we’ve served
together and for placing your own trust in me when you selected me to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.
Holding both positions has been one of the greatest honors of my life.

I leave City Council with gratitude for the opportunity, pride in the work we accomplished
together, and the same belief in Lamar’s future that brought me to the Council table in the first
place.Because while I’m resigning from a position, I’m not resigning from Lamar.

This is still my home. You are still my people. And the lessons my parents taught me about
service didn’t come with an expiration date or depend upon having a title beside my name. I’ll
continue working to make Lamar and Southeast Colorado stronger in every way I can and
through the numerous other hats I wear… IYKYK.

Public service has never been and will never be about a title. It is about the work. And I’m not
done working.

With love and gratitude,
Brent Bates

Brent as a LHS freshman at golf practice