Lakewood Informer

Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado

Lakewood Informer

Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado

The City is a Colorado home-rule municipality located in Jefferson County, with a population of approximately 157,000. The City operates under a Council-Manager form of government, in which policy is established by the City Council and operations are managed by the City Manager. The City provides a full range of municipal services, supported by a diverse workforce and leadership team committed to delivering high-quality services to the community. The City is initiating a recruitment process for City Manager due to an anticipated transition. The current City Manager is departing in good standing, and the City seeks to ensure a smooth transition that maintains organizational stability and continuity of operations. The City anticipates completing the recruitment process and extending an offer by August 2026, with flexibility based on candidate and City Council availability for the interview process

Lakewood City Manager Retiring

Lakewood City Manager Kathy Hodgson has announced her retirement. The position will be filled by an Executive Search firm. The Request For Proposals for the search firm appeared Thursday and will close April 27, 2026.

Kathy Hodgson has served as City Manager for almost 18 years and has been with the city for 46 years. Her length of service was often touted as her greatest strength.

All the day to day decisions, and all the policy implementation is the City Manager’s responsibility. Most of the time when residents praise or complain to the Mayor or City Council, the real responsibility lies with the City Manager.

Mayor Strom refers to the City Manager for a wide range of topics, as seen in her auto-emailed response below.

Did you know that by law, the Lakewood Mayor does not run the day-to-day operations of the city? Among other things, the Mayor and the City Council are in charge of making laws and setting the goals and direction for Lakewood. The City of Lakewood has a professional City Manager who leads the staff that are in charge of the day-to-operations. If your email is about the operations of the city (like code enforcement, permits or services), then your professional city staff will be brought in to best address your request. If your e-mail is regarding an operational request for assistance, that will be forwarded to the to the appropriate city staff member, and you should receive a response from them separately. You can also enter your request directly into that system by going here: · Request Lakewood is a one-stop shop for questions or concerns about city services. Please visit www,RequestLakewood.org enter your need or concern under the relevant topic; then, the appropriate department or staff member will respond, usually within 2-3 business days. Some frequent topics include: · Streets maintenance · Traffic · Graffiti · Code Enforcement · Issues surrounding homelessness · Parks and recreation centers · Business questions · Speeding and other police issues not requiring an immediate response
Mayor Strom automatic email response

Hodgson’s retirement announcement lists several of the things she’s most proud of.

City Council agrees that she should be proud and gives her frequent raises, bringing her salary up to one of the highest in the country.

Residents rate her performance as poor. Resident satisfaction has declined steadily during Hodgson’s tenure.

The disparity between how council rates the manager and what the residents think indicates that residents may want to pay attention to the hiring process.  The current City Council may hire someone who aligns with their beliefs, which may not align with many residents. Residents may want to tell Council what is important to them as the city fills the most important position in the city. 

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