Lakewood News from Karen, Author at Lakewood Informer

Council to Make Resident Petitions More Difficult

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on June 22, 2026Posted in Elections, Entrenched Bureaucracy, TransparencyTagged bureaucrats, direct democracy, initiative, lawfare, petition, referendum, signature gathering, signature verificationNo Comments

City Council is changing petition law, making it harder for residents to take direct democratic action. These changes come after successful citizen petition measures against unpopular City Council laws, such as zoning. The proposal involves many substantive changes, despite city officials saying several times that this was not the case. The overall effect is to make it harder for residents to raise their voice.

City Attorney Alison McKenny Brown says these changes are codifying “current standard practice”. This is somewhat deceptive because “current” practice is different from past practices. Current staff, including the attorney, made new interpretations of law. Therefore, staff have arguably changed the law, leading to the necessity for codifying current standard practice.

Serenity Mental Health Centers Welcomes New Provider to Lakewood Clinic

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on June 22, 2026Posted in CommunityTagged clinic, Colorado, doctors, Lakewood, local practitioner, mental health, serenity mental health centerNo Comments

From Serenity Mental Health Centers

Serenity Mental Health Centers, a leader in innovative psychiatric care and one of the fastest-growing mental health providers in the nation, today welcomed a new provider to its Lakewood clinic and is now accepting new patients.

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Duandelyn Wilson, DNP, PMHNP-C,FNP-C, NNP-BC, earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of New Mexico before completing a Master of Science in Nursing with honors at Regis University in Denver, where she trained as a neonatal nurse practitioner. She later earned a post-master’s Family Nurse Practitioner certificate from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice at Washburn University, and added a post-master Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certification. Her unique clinical journey, spanning neonatal, family, and psychiatric care, has given her a rare perspective on health and wellbeing across the lifespan.

Lakewood Changes Rules After Successful Yard Signs

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on June 20, 2026Posted in ElectionsTagged ballot, campaign finance, council decision, justice for jax, municipal code, referendum election, save belmar park, yard signsNo Comments

Lakewood is expanding the definition of campaigns to apply to any City Council decision, not just elections. The move comes in response to a successful citizen-initiated referendum to roll back a Council decision. The change is purported to increase transparency but will also make things significantly harder for grassroots efforts.

Zoning Charter Amendment Pulled

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on June 17, 2026Posted in Development, ElectionsTagged amendment, charter, Lakewood Citizen Alliance, petition, zoningNo Comments

From Lakewood Citizens Alliance

Hi Neighbors,

We have an important update regarding the citizen initiated charter amendment petition.

Effective immediately, we are stopping signature collection and suspending circulation of the petition following new information provided by the City regarding the election process and legal requirements for charter amendments.

Money Down The Drain

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on June 10, 2026Posted in BudgetTagged Alex, CORA, ditch, drainage, somebody should do something, stormwater fee, taxesNo Comments

From Somebody Should Do Something

You may have noticed the 50% increase in the storm water fee being accessed this year. Such drastic increases usually indicate mismanagement and the failure to perform routine maintenance of a system in the years and decades prior. A properly financed maintenance program that is well run with periodic, but reasonable, rate increases does not need drastic assessments. Then again, this is Lakewood, Colorado. A city in a state that… Well, just look around.

City Approves Initiative for Charter Amendment

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on June 7, 2026Posted in Development, Elections, TransparencyTagged charter amendment, Lakewood Citizen Alliance, transparency, zoning, zoning election

The Lakewood Citizens Alliance (LCA) announced that the City Clerk has officially approved an initiative for a Charter Amendment aimed at improving public communication, transparency, and community engagement surrounding future large-scale rezoning and legislative land use changes.

Centered around the principle of “Transparency Before Transformation,” the proposed amendment is designed to establish clear procedural guardrails for future citywide zoning actions while protecting the character and stability of existing single-family neighborhoods.

Lakewood Shifts Blame to RecoveryWorks

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on June 7, 2026Posted in Entrenched Bureaucracy, Homeless, TransparencyTagged Homeless, navigation center, permit hearing, Planning Commission, REcoveryWorks, unhoused, volunteers of america

Lakewood blamed RecoveryWorks for previous problems at the city homeless shelter. Shifting the blame made it easier to get a Special Use Permit for the shelter on June 3, 2026. Instead of taking responsibility for the problems they created, city staff said crime and people overflow were caused by RecoveryWorks. RecoveryWorks was managing the property as Lakewood’s handpicked, sole-sourced contractor.

The special use permit was approved, which allows Lakewood to continue shelter use with a new operator. Most of the online comments were in favor of granting the permit. However, Lakewood had three misinformation narratives throughout the permit hearing that show they are not acting in good faith:

Shifting the blame
Dismissing crime rates
Claiming no permit was needed

911 Calls Show Deteriorating Conditions Around Navigation Center

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on June 3, 2026Posted in Business, Homeless, TransparencyTagged 911, business support, Homeless, navigation center, permit, safety

Why hasn’t Lakewood done a safety analysis to show there is no substantial harm in giving the Navigation Center a special use permit? Lakewood is not protecting the current residents and business interests, which is just as important as serving regional homeless. The desire to do good is only half the equation. Demonstrating this use will not substantially impair nearby properties is the other half.

The map above shows the number of 911 calls made to the highlighted address since September 2023. This map is incomplete where property addresses did not match Lakewood database. You can see the high number of calls made to the Navigation Center property compared to other properties in the half-mile radius.

Jeffco Schools Presents Mill Levy Increase to City Council

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on May 29, 2026Posted in Budget, Jeffco, schoolTagged budget, campaigning, Jeffco Schools, mill levy, Superintendent, taxes

Lakewood and the Jefferson County School District are once again demonstrating how to exploit loopholes to unofficially campaign for a ballot issue.

The Jeffco School District Superintendent received time on the Lakewood City Council agenda to give a presentation that included why Jeffco Schools may need to ask for a mill levy override. The school district currently has a $60 million deficit. There were no other points of view presented, just the school district saying they’d need more money.

Lakewood Student Wins Credit Union of Colorado Foundation Scholarship

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on May 29, 2026Posted in CommunityTagged colorado mesa, credit union of colorado, Gemma McIntyre, scholarship

Credit Union of Colorado Foundation is proud to announce the 2026 winners of its annual college scholarship program. The Foundation awarded 15 students with annual scholarships totaling $110,000 in tuition assistance for the 2026/2027 school year. Lakewood winner, Gemma McIntyre, will use the scholarship to help pay for her education at Colorado Mesa University.

Author : Lakewood News from Karen

Council to Make Resident Petitions More Difficult

Serenity Mental Health Centers Welcomes New Provider to Lakewood Clinic

Lakewood Changes Rules After Successful Yard Signs

Zoning Charter Amendment Pulled

Money Down The Drain

City Approves Initiative for Charter Amendment

Lakewood Shifts Blame to RecoveryWorks

911 Calls Show Deteriorating Conditions Around Navigation Center

Jeffco Schools Presents Mill Levy Increase to City Council

Lakewood Student Wins Credit Union of Colorado Foundation Scholarship

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