Lakewood Informer

Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado

Lakewood Informer

Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado

Transparency

Special Election Set for April 7

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Elections, TransparencyTagged , , , , , , , ,

Lakewood City Council unanimously decided to put the zoning code up for a vote on a special election on April 7, 2026. Both pro-zoning and anti-zoning advocates requested the special election. Both sides believe they have the support of the people.

The decision to put the zoning code on the ballot was not about the zoning code. The issue was whether City Council would listen to the people. City Council rushed to approve a new zoning code without a public discussion of the underlying densification decision. The actual changes were a different discussion than the broader Comprehensive Plan or “affordable housing” discussion. Once people started to understand zoning densification impacts, there was a rising number of complaints. City Council Members discounted these voices as a “small minority.”

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Lakewood Still Dodging Hearing on Shelter Permit

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Homeless, TransparencyTagged , , , , , , ,

In another example of Lakewood manipulating the rules, there appears to be no intention to get a special use permit to operate the newly renovated Navigation Center.

Under 2025 zoning rules, a homeless shelter requires a special use permit. Such permit requires a public hearing. The Navigation Center “extreme weather” shelter bypassed this requirement through the “emergency” ordinance, even though there was plenty of time to anticipate winter.

Winter comes every year after all.

In the 2026 zoning ordinance, Lakewood removed the requirement for a special use permit.

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Aguilar: City reckons with ruling, faces $42M fiscal hole

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Budget, Entrenched Bureaucracy, TransparencyTagged , , , , ,

Repost from John Aguilar, Denver Post
Lakewood is about face a costly reckoning with the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — to the tune of more than $42 million.

That’s the amount the state’s fifth-largest city has calculated it owes to dozens of cell phone carriers and telecommunications companies it wrongfully taxed for years. The bill is now coming due after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last year that the city had violated TABOR, a state constitutional amendment, by levying a business and occupation tax without first obtaining voter approval.

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2026 Resolution – Get Involved

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in TransparencyTagged , , , ,

“Many hands make light work” is true for holding government accountability. And it’s easier to get involved than you might think – there are a lot of new people getting involved in Lakewood politics now. In 2026, don’t pound your fists in frustration; do one little thing to contribute to the solution.

Make a friend – you would be surprised at how fast you can be plugged into a whole new community and will have friends to talk to about issues that matter

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Navigation Center Emergency Deal Closes

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Homeless, TransparencyTagged , , , , , ,

Lakewood passed another “emergency” ordinance, December 8, 2025, once again showing an inability – or purposeful unwillingness – to properly plan for the Navigation Center. The latest “emergency” was a lease that was months in the making. Lakewood used “emergency” and non-profit non-city meetings to skirt public input.  The new lease and the property sale both rely on new zoning to keep the public in the dark and do spot zoning for favored projects. No one has addressed how the Center will be affected by the potential repeal of the new zoning nor has the declining neighborhood been addressed. During the January 8 meeting, a resident publicly complained about how the Navigation Center was negatively impacting his business.

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Petitioners Win in Zoning Referendum Hearing

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Development, TransparencyTagged , , , , , , , , , ,

LLakewood has ruled AGAINST PROTESTS challenging zoning referendum petitions – meaning Lakewood ruled IN FAVOR OF THE REFERENDUM. The protesters said they represented the “rule of law” and stood for democracy.  Then they argued against the democratic right to referendum.  Lakewood and the petitioners cited Colorado Supreme Court case law to uphold the Constitutional right to referendum. Lakewood’s decision means the petitions are sufficient, and City Council must now respond. The first reading of a repeal ordinance is scheduled for 12 January, 2026 Council meeting.

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Legal Support and Views of a Petitioner

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Development, TransparencyTagged , , , , ,

Defending the referendum requires legal counsel.  Regular residents cannot navigate full legal proceedings alone. Although there can be no issue committee at this time, and therefore no campaign donations, an attorney is stepping forward to assist. 

If you wish to support the effort, donations can be sent directly to:

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City Writes New Procedures for Referendum Hearing

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Development, TransparencyTagged , , , ,

Former Lakewood resident Kip Kolkmeier has filed complaints about the referendum signatures on behalf of Joshua Comden and Reverend Ben Hensley. The complaint alleges very technical violations about the referendum petitions while also complaining about the hearing itself. Without documented procedures, the hearing officer is free to use their experience to guide a successful, neutral process. Kolkmeier disagrees and dictated how the complaint process should be handled, including the hearing and even who is allowed to talk to the City Clerk.

The eight bullet points listed in Kolkmeier’s hearing complaint are not suggestions for future hearings. They are demands to be implemented immediately. He uses words such as “shall”, “is” and “must.” This is a complete departure from suggested advice and does not acknowledge various alternatives of holding public hearings.

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Decision on Campaign Finance Violation

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Development, Elections, TransparencyTagged , , , , ,

The independent hearing officer made a determination absolving Lakewood and the referendum petitioners in the campaign finance complaint. The complaint was registered by Kip Kolkmeier against the zoning referendum petitioners. The findings say that there is room for interpretation how to safeguard a democratic government.

All the information on this is included at this link to the independent hearing officer’s decision. The document is 197 pages in length but includes the original complaint, the City Clerk’s response to the Complaint, the 8 page hearing officer decision and the full transcript of the hearing.

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NextDoor Banned These 13 Posts!

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on Posted in Development, TransparencyTagged , , , , , , ,

Struggling social media site Nextdoor published and raved about these 13 recent posts on their site. They described the author as a ‘trusted neighbor’ who was ‘making a difference in the neighborhood’! They also repeatedly encouraged the author to keep posting and asked ‘What will you share next?’ and displayed a large button to create a new post.

Then suddenly, the exact same posts that neighbors were ‘really interested in’ were banned with no notice and no warning as being SPAM even though Nextdoor had repeatedly encouraged the author to post such content on their site.

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