It isn’t exactly politics per se, but the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless‘s ongoing joust with the federal government – over a parcel of surplus land in the Federal Center in Lakewood – raises questions about responsive government. Or, the lack thereof.

The news this week is that the U.S. General Services Administration is going to delay taking bids in an auction of the land in the face of a lawsuit by the coalition that alleges the sale would break the law. The coalition had sought an injunction against the sale earlier this week, contending a 1987 law “requires federal agencies to identify and make available surplus federal property, such as buildings and land, for use by states, local governments, and nonprofit agencies to assist homeless people.”

A follow-up press statement by the coalition Thursday, announcing the land sale’s delay, suggests the sale has been riven by confusion, unanswered questions and possibly conflicting decisions by federal agencies (like that would be a first):

“This is a great first step in stopping the sale of the property to commercial interests,” said John Parvensky, President and CEO of CCH.  “It continues to confound us that HUD could have determined that the Federal Center Station property, located adjacent to the RTD station and St. Anthony’s Hospital, was ‘unsuitable for use to assist the homeless’, while GSA determined that it was more than suitable for high end residential and commercial development.  We hope that this pause will give all parties the time to correct this potential injustice, and make this property available for development of supportive housing and services needed by a growing homeless population in Lakewood and throughout the Metro Denver Area”.

The Denver Business Journal’s Molly Armbrister meanwhile reports:

The GSA did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, but on Wednesday declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

In other words, they have to figure out what’s going on before they can tell the rest of us.