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A discussion developed on nextdoor.com regarding Jefferson County dispensing needles in areas where residents experience problems associated with drug use and homeless. Zane Gordon responded with some of the most well-researched answers so we decided to go more in depth with an interview. Part 1 Part 2 Partial transcript and interview highlights: GORDON: Why are you providing needles? To continue it. Right? I mean, that’s a very important point. And, I take a look at it from an economic view. Economics is the study of incentives. That’s really what it is. Ultimately, What drives human behavior and decision?And so obviously, you don’t pay your taxes. Going to jail isn’t a very unfavorable aspect, right? That’s a negative consequence. There are something called nudges. This is behavioral. There’s a study out there regarding providing small cash incentive. And what they see is that even with a small cash incentive had a strong positive influence on getting employees off cigarette use. So the concept of nudging is like you’re just kind of nudging people to where you want to get them. Because you’re saying that there was a reason, they now they had a reason to perform in a certain way. An incentive has to spur more use otherwise you take all of economics and you throw out the window. This is this is revolutionary in the concept of economics: Hey, we can provide a nudge to people and they won’t respond to it. MORGAN: The argument is that we’re talking about mental health and addiction and they can’t help themselves. GORDON: So it will be happening no matter what. Absolutely. The idea is do you harm reduction? The problem is you are nudging people to using it. Right, you’re making it easier. You’re not disincentivizing. Marketing is a type of nudge. We banned a certain character from tobacco. Joe Camel? Because of this very concept. Joe Camel wasn’t handing out cigarettes to kids. To get them addicted to smoking. Cigarettes. All he was was a cool character. It’s cooler than Mickey Mouse is what they always would say and the the kids. And that was enough to get a whole segment of marketing banned. Well, now we’re physically doing something. I feel for people that are addicted. We need to help them. Not enable it. Well isn’t this helping them? You’re helping them stay safe. They will live longer because they have a safe. I am Narcan life saving drugs. And I don’t believe that necessarily the case. And there’s many multiple reasons why. Okay, so first of all, these people can’t help themselves. They’re looking for their next hit. They will forego anything. Kids, family. Food, right? They’re homeless, many of them, because they’re addicted and they’re spending all the resource, whatever they can find. Ok, I’m looking for my next tip. I don’t feel like walking 2 blocks. Where am I going to use that drug? Where I’m sitting. Now, you’re assuming that you know, simultaneously, The needles are going to incentivize more use, cause you’re your make needles more readily available. The other thing is you’re going to concentrate. The cops have to Stop. Enforcing certain laws around these consumption. The Alberta Study from March, twenty- indicates that. This facility, the only way it can be successful is if you don’t arrest the clients. The people that are addicted. If you arrest people, word gets out. They scatter. The facility is without clients. Okay, so you have to stop and forcing things like your possession. So the cops have to kind of back off in that regard. But here’s the thing is that they’re not mobile, not generally speaking, right? But if they’re hanging around the safe consumption site. They need somebody to bring their supplies. So the unlicensed pharmacists. The drug dealers have to come into that area. Right to supply. The addicts and the client, the facility clientele. So now possession and sale has to be unofficially not enforced. The Alberta study talks about people’s feelings and what they’re seeing. It also takes a look at police calls within 500 meters of each of the radius around the facility, the neighborhood and the city at large. Generally speaking, on overall prime goes up in that 500 meter versus the rest of the city. The New York Post reports that open air drug markets. Drug is that the cops can’t enforce the laws. So then it’s openly used. It’s openly traded and sold. It’s reported in the news and it’s reported in the study. And logically it has to be that way for the facility to even have clients. So you can’t you can’t refute it in any way that I can think. Can providing needles ever decrease drug use?How can it reduce drug? That would be that’s blowing up the entire history and the entire field of economics. You’re incentivizing people to consume more and you get less often. That would be revolutionary. In economics. That would that would be that would be the Nobel Prize in economics. On Harm Reduction GORDON: Now, the desire to reduce harm. There’s a noble one. It’s rooted in compassion. You’re trying to help people. There’s nothing more dangerous than someone who is absolutely set on their righteousness of their activity and wants to help. That’s what the Crusades were. What the Spanish Inquisition was. People who believe they’re righteous and want to help do some really bad things. Not because they don’t want to help, but because they’re blinded to the harm that they’re causing. That’s what would be happening here. Providing a needle to somebody isn’t solving the problem. It’s trying to cover up a symptom of the call. Let’s focus on solving the problem Enabling isn’t compassion. It’s hate. The discussion continues by examining programs that work, such as the Denver Rescue Mission, how the programs start with grants and discussing if grants are really “free” money.

Lakewood Informer will be hosting a candidate forum for Lakewood’s Mayoral Candidates. It will be a recorded conversation posted by 10 am on October 4th. Cathy Kentner and Don Burkhart have both agreed to participate. Wendi Strom is unable to join us. If you have questions, please submit them to thedesk@lakewoodinformer.com for consideration. Thank you, candidates, for your participation in this new setting that will be available to all Lakewood residents.

Lakewood Informer will be hosting a candidate forum for Lakewood’s Mayoral Candidates. It will be a recorded conversation posted by 10 am on October 4th. Cathy Kentner and Don Burkhart have both agreed to participate. Wendi Strom is unable to join us. If you have questions, please submit them to thedesk@lakewoodinformer.com for consideration. Thank you, candidates, for your participation in this new setting that will be available to all Lakewood residents.

from Guest Commentator Tom Dearth Belmar Commons is a small 45-unit patio home development on Yarrow Street near Alameda and Wadsworth. It is across from the Belmar Library and the Beautiful Belmar Park/Bird Sanctuary.  There are plans to begin construction on a 5-story, 412 unit apartment building on Yarrow, a narrow curved street with only 2 emergency exit routes to Wadsworth. The emergency evacuation issues have been ignored and the people currently living in the area had no idea this was going to be built until it was “a done deal!” Issues: • If there were ever a Marshal-type fire or Lahaina, Hawaii fire from the overgrowth in the park west of Yarrow street, we would not be able to evacuate the area and the first responders would not be able to get in. With 500 or more additional cars on that 3-block curved street, we would not stand a chance of evacuating. When this concern was brought up at a city planners meeting, the response was that the new building would have sprinkler systems, an answer that seems to suggest there will never be an emergency. • The REAL concern is that if there were hundreds of cars on Yarrow Street during an evacuation, there would be no way for any emergency vehicles to get in or out of the area. The residents of Belmar Commons would not be able to use their only exit onto Yarrow Street. That scene would resemble the after effect of burned-out cars in Lahaina, HI. We were told by the fire department that fire trucks need 28 feet to move freely. With our parking situation and the new overflow of cars from the apartment, emergency vehicles would not be able to get through to us. • The narrow street cannot currently accommodate an 18-wheeler truck and simultaneous oncoming traffic. • Traffic on Yarrow Street is already heavily used daily by fast moving delivery trucks and trash collectors serving a small two-story office building. That building is slated for demolition and that site is where the apartment building is scheduled to be built. The number of new trucks on Yarrow would increase by a large factor. After a winter snowstorm or when there are special events at the Heritage Center just south of the building site, Yarrow Street is already tightly congested.   • The street department said they did a traffic study on Yarrow Street, but it was done during the Covid19 shutdown when the library was more than likely closed. The need for a traffic study is itself unlikely when the impact can be readily deduced. The streets were only developed for the minor traffic of a small business, not a huge residential use. • In the community there is a blind person and another who is confined to a wheelchair. Their safety and wellbeing are a major concern for the community. Their access to the park would cause them great danger if the traffic were increased by a large factor. The majority of other residents are senior citizens. • The community was told by the police officers who attended our Neighborhood Night Out meeting, that crime rates do go up when the density of people and cars goes up. This building would change the number of people living on Yarrow Street from approximately 70 to close to 600. (These are guesses – not facts) • The Park/Bird Sanctuary site for which the new building is slated, is a pristine natural habitat for numerous species of birds. If you have never been to Belmar Park, it would be a wonderful experience for you to visit. The city has not responded to requests for more information at the time of this posting.

from Guest Commentator Tom Dearth Belmar Commons is a small 45-unit patio home development on Yarrow Street near Alameda and Wadsworth. It is across from the Belmar Library and the Beautiful Belmar Park/Bird Sanctuary.  There are plans to begin construction on a 5-story, 412 unit apartment building on Yarrow, a narrow curved street with only 2 emergency exit routes to Wadsworth. The emergency evacuation issues have been ignored and the people currently living in the area had no idea this was going to be built until it was “a done deal!” Issues: • If there were ever a Marshal-type fire or Lahaina, Hawaii fire from the overgrowth in the park west of Yarrow street, we would not be able to evacuate the area and the first responders would not be able to get in. With 500 or more additional cars on that 3-block curved street, we would not stand a chance of evacuating. When this concern was brought up at a city planners meeting, the response was that the new building would have sprinkler systems, an answer that seems to suggest there will never be an emergency. • The REAL concern is that if there were hundreds of cars on Yarrow Street during an evacuation, there would be no way for any emergency vehicles to get in or out of the area. The residents of Belmar Commons would not be able to use their only exit onto Yarrow Street. That scene would resemble the after effect of burned-out cars in Lahaina, HI. We were told by the fire department that fire trucks need 28 feet to move freely. With our parking situation and the new overflow of cars from the apartment, emergency vehicles would not be able to get through to us. • The narrow street cannot currently accommodate an 18-wheeler truck and simultaneous oncoming traffic. • Traffic on Yarrow Street is already heavily used daily by fast moving delivery trucks and trash collectors serving a small two-story office building. That building is slated for demolition and that site is where the apartment building is scheduled to be built. The number of new trucks on Yarrow would increase by a large factor. After a winter snowstorm or when there are special events at the Heritage Center just south of the building site, Yarrow Street is already tightly congested.   • The street department said they did a traffic study on Yarrow Street, but it was done during the Covid19 shutdown when the library was more than likely closed. The need for a traffic study is itself unlikely when the impact can be readily deduced. The streets were only developed for the minor traffic of a small business, not a huge residential use. • In the community there is a blind person and another who is confined to a wheelchair. Their safety and wellbeing are a major concern for the community. Their access to the park would cause them great danger if the traffic were increased by a large factor. The majority of other residents are senior citizens. • The community was told by the police officers who attended our Neighborhood Night Out meeting, that crime rates do go up when the density of people and cars goes up. This building would change the number of people living on Yarrow Street from approximately 70 to close to 600. (These are guesses – not facts) • The Park/Bird Sanctuary site for which the new building is slated, is a pristine natural habitat for numerous species of birds. If you have never been to Belmar Park, it would be a wonderful experience for you to visit. The city has not responded to requests for more information at the time of this posting.

from Complete Colorado Whether the hideous hoax Proposition HH passes or fails at Colorado’s November ballot, local governments including towns, cities, special districts, and schools must lower their 2023 mill levy this fall to avoid taxpayer suffering in January 2024 when tax bills are sent out. In each Colorado local government, there are elected members. Those local elected representatives set and vote on the mill levy for their respective districts in October or November each year. When the elected bodies meet to set the mill rate, they take public comment. I would suggest reaching out to your elected representatives before the meeting. After the body votes, they notify the county assessor of the tax rate by December 15, 2023 and that’s what gets charged on the January 2024 property tax bill. Read more…

Lakewood City Council Member Mary Janssen announced she will be proposing a mill levy decrease in an upcoming meeting. As seen in the video, her proposal is based on getting tax relief for Lakewood residents. Lakewood’s current mill levy is 7.411 and she is considering proposals to reduce the rate to between 2.5 and 3.6. According to Janssen, Lakewood has added a variety of different taxes in the recent past, such as internet taxes, delivery taxes and taxes on some food products, as well as currently retaining all TABOR refunds. City Council can lower the mill levy without a vote of the people so it is within Council’s power to provide this relief. Council Member Olver signaled his support for such a measure. “If we sit back and do nothing, we’re letting a double-digit tax hike sucker punch Lakewood citizens when they’re already winded.” Councilor Mary Janssen

When you run out of money for your expensive spending habits, you might self-evaluate. Responsible people, find ways to cut costs or perhaps hire a financial advisor. Lakewood and Jefferson County have both opted for a different path – spend money on a consultant to research potentially successful ballot arguments to let the government keep taxpayer TABOR refunds. The government cannot legally spend money campaigning on ballot initiatives. However, by starting before they put the measure on the ballot, Lakewood and Jeffco have months to figure out how to shape the narrative – and use your tax dollars to do it. As long as they don’t know it will be on the ballot, use of funds in what could be a “pre-campaign” or “fact-finding” effort is legal. Once the measure is on the ballot, use of funds must be stopped immediately. “no public funds, including County staff time working with the Consultant under the contract, will be expended as of the moment in which the Board of County Commissioners makes a decision to move forward with any ballot initiative. no public funds may be spent advocating for a ballot issue once a decision has been made. Therefore, all terms of this contract must be completed before the Board of County Commissioners decides whether or not to move forward with any ballot recommendations made by the Consultant.” – excerpt from Jeffco draft contract excerpt from the Jefferson County draft contract Lakewood’s Budget and Audit Committee has already agreed the City needs to keep future TABOR refunds. They recommend hiring a specialist to find out what voters would be willing to sacrifice their refunds for. The Budget Board did not recommend a specialist to find ways to cut spending or to find out if voters would be interested in keeping their refunds if they made cuts. Jefferson County is following the same play book. They propose a “fact-finding” mission, during which they will inform residents of all the challenges they see and the only solution they can determine at this point.  Jeffco calls this implementation of “an educational outreach plan”. The outreach plan, as currently discussed, does not educate residents on any merits of TABOR restrictions, refunds, or ways to operate within current budget levels. No ballot language is needed to make internal spending prioritization. Ballot language is only necessary for retaining TABOR funds. However, one of the county deliverables is for different versions of ballot language and survey results to show what the public would be interested in voting for. In any other situation, that would be termed a campaign strategy analysis.   An alternative strategy is to ask residents to vote… Do you approve the government retaining your TABOR refund? Neither government can answer what the money is NEEDED for specifically. The consultant is being hired to find out what you WANT to spend on money on. Winning the vote means framing the argument. Research shows how much the right words matter, making hiring these government consultants critical if they want a ballot measure to pass. For instance, Jefferson County found out that jails are critical so that’s what they used as a ballot issue last time. Lakewood found that residents wanted to spend money on parks. No research was done on controversial programs that would be easier to cut or spending prioritization. Both Lakewood and Jefferson County will be voting to approve these expenditures at a future meeting, date not yet set.

As residents and business owners cry for help in controlling the effects of drug use and crime surrounding our homeless populations, Jefferson County is supporting safe drug use in our most affected communities. Serving all of Jefferson County, Points West operates out of Lakewood to provide harm reduction materials and service referrals to those who want them. Lakewood business owners are now coming to City Council, pointing out that the need for a safe society for business operations conflict with providing materials for continued drug use. Points West has an outreach program that was started in 2020. Their website reads, “Initially intended as COVID-19 mitigation… within a few months the program evolved into a Points West project centered on harm reduction.” Points West now conducts street outreach efforts throughout Jeffco on Tuesdays and Fridays by actively driving around to search for people who appear to be living outside. They specifically serve the Lakewood area every other week. Their schedule is posted at https://www.instagram.com/pointswestssp/ Harm reduction drug use materials have helped many individuals avoid diseases that can be communicated through shared needle use.  These supplies are intended to help the entire drug use population and are not linked to any recovery effort or incentive program. Some residents and business owners experience the negative effects of growing drug use among a swelling homeless population. According to one Council Member, residents are finding drug paraphernalia near their houses and sidewalks where it is was not found before. At one City Council meeting in August, two business were heard regarding regional homeless, drug and crime increases that have negatively affected their business. In both these cases, the city has been unable or unwilling to effectively help. These businesses have asked the city for help multiple times, requesting actions such as increased patrols and posted signs for deterrents. For them, supporting drug use does not make sense. One owner expressed his frustration with finding Points West onsite supporting the population he believes is causing him to lose tenants. “I believe the ability to be safe is important, but to come to the area that we’ve identified multiple times as a problem — I don’t believe that’s ok.”  Another business owner said she may lose her license due in part to regional problems along Colfax Ave.  Points West provides outreach to all areas including urban corridors and suburban neighborhoods. They visit homeless encampments they’ve seen or areas they’ve been to before, such as Colfax or the area surrounding the RTD station on Wadsworth that was discussed in City Council. For this reason, author Michael Shellenberger points out that what America calls a “homeless encampment”, Europe calls an “open drug scene”. Jefferson County Public Health estimates that Points West serves an estimated 150-250 people per month, including those served for sexual health tools and referrals to other services. Why are safe drug use programs increasing while residents continue to experience negative effects of a population with high drug use rates in their neighborhoods? To quote an old saying: “Follow the money!“   According to Points West, their street outreach program was initiated through COVID-19. Unfortunately, there has been no increase in comparable grant funding for police and court action needed to prevent and prosecute low-level criminal drug use. Points West currently has a temporary office at Recovery Works on Colfax. Lakewood has applied for a Department of Local Affairs 0grant that will be used to fund the expansion of Recovery Works . Reader Recommended Business: JD Services: 346-217-8958. “We do fences, patios, ponds and so much more.”

via Fox 31 KDVR by: DAVID A. LIEB and KAVISH HARJAI, Associated Press Joplin officials say they have big plans for $13.8 million of pandemic relief funds the tornado-ravaged southwestern Missouri city received under a two-year-old federal law. Yet the latest federal records show none of the money has been spent — or even budgeted. In fact, about 6,300 cities and counties — nearly 1 in 4 nationwide — reported no expenditures as of this spring, according to an Associated Press analysis of data released by the U.S. Treasury Department. About 5,100 of those listed no projects — either planned or underway. Read more…