Lakewood Informer

The battle over guns comes to Lakewood. At the Nov 28, 2022 Lakewood City Council meeting, proponents for and against new gun control measures made their arguments in public comment. This is now an issue for all local governments due to a new law in Colorado, https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb21-256. This law makes it possible for cities to...

The November 7th City council meeting included a presentation on the 2022 State of the Municipal Court. Presiding Judge Nicole Bozarth presented statistics on cases, hearings and more. She also updated the council on the progress of treatment and outreach programs. Presiding Judge Bozarth reported that Lakewood is a leader in court innovation. Regarding case...

Guest post by Alex... Lakewood government, for over a decade, has been leading the city down the path of economic and environmental peril due to a seemingly intentional disregard for true economic development. This became painfully obvious at the city council meeting on the 7th of November, 2022.  An in-depth presentation by Elizabeth Garner from...

The November issue of Looking@Lakewood included a column reflecting on Lakewood’s style of government. Lakewood’s city charter set up a council-manager form of government. Per the article, this form involves hiring “a professional city manager who puts those [city council] policies into action by directing and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the city’s departments and...

At the Jeffco School Board meeting on November 11, 2020, people for and against the school closures made their final statements. At the end, the Board voted unanimously to close 16 schools for the good of the District. Every member of the public speaking about the closures spoke against it, often passionately, always prepared, and...

This touching letter was hand-delivered around my neighborhood. Even in tragedy, Lisa Vakoff has the same problem as many of us - being heard. We hear you and are sorry for your loss... (reprinted without revision) Dear Neighbor, Please indulge me and read this email string and letter.  It is a tough one.  My dear...

Guest contribution from Joan from Lakewood... From: "Joan from Lakewood"Date: November 9, 2022 at 11:02:52 PM MSTTo: <XXX@state.co.us>Subject: Re: Injustice with land development in Lakewood at 4th and Union Dear XXX, Thank you for reaching out to me today. It was kind of timely. You see I have not received any resolution to the FOIA...

At a crime forum held by Lakewood City Councilor Mary Janssen, September, 2022,  residents asked whether or not Lakewood had an adequate police force to handle the high levels of crime. Lakewood PD reports nearly 400 employees and over 100 volunteers. They are reportedly fully staffed to within a few positions. Recruiting is always ongoing....

On October 1 there was a Lakewood townhall meeting on affordable housing. Ward 5 Councilors Janssen and Strom hosted the meeting but representatives of all wards were present. Speakers at the meeting were representatives from Metro West Housing Solutions (MWHS). MWHS is a developer active in Lakewood since 2008, before that they were active in...

At one time, our schools were so full that many had “temporary” buildings to house all the students. At one time, we the taxpayers voted for money to remodel buildings through 2022, assuming the schools would be used. At one time, school land was permanently lost after being sold to developers. Jefferson County is still...