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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has extended their public comment period on two proposals that would further regulate ethylene oxide to protect people’s health and the environment. The agency is now accepting comments through June 27, 2023. https://www.epa.gov/hazardous-air-pollutants-ethylene-oxide/summary-how-engage-epa-actions-address-ethylene-oxide Ethylene oxide is an ongoing issue in Lakewood, originating from Terumo BCT. Read more from the Westword: https://www.westword.com/news/terumo-bct-ethylene-oxide-lakewood-cancer-lawsuit-epa-13820045 Terumo BCT public comment: https://www.terumobct.com/terumo-bct-and-ethylene-oxide Comment submitted to EPA from Lakewood resident: To Whom It May Concern, My comments will concern an aspect of cases of pollution, radiation and other hazards that are not typically looked at – the corruption and malfeasance by the elected official involved in making decisionswhich, while not obvious at first, have dire consequences upon thousands, and, at times, over generations, millions of people. I grew up a short distance away from Chernobyl, in Belarus. To this day I come across pieces of knowledge, whereby, government officials made horrendous decisions, be they driven by the desire to save face or to simply hide the truth (and at times, coupled with ego-driven foolishness). Worse still, I see corruption and ulterior motive decision making, mainly driven by greed and ego/narcissism in the U.S. at state and local levels now more than ever. Which brings us to Terumo BCT in Lakewood, CO. Yes, there should be far stricter regulations on how any given facility utilizing Ethylene Oxide is overseen. However, what is not been looked at are the decisions made by the local and state officials. Under the convenient guise of “EPA is a federal entity that’s looking at the levels of exposure and we are cooperating”, development adjacent to the potentially harmful effects of such a facility, which may notmanifest themselves for decades or even generations, continues. Hence, not only are thousands of current residents are exposed, but untold future thousands might be exposed due to the decisions ofthe local officials. There are numerous examples of the local officials making decisions driven by greed, corruption and shortsightedness. Arizona now has to limit the building of home around Phoenix due to well waterrunning low: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/02/phoenix-arizona-limits-future-home-building-drought WHILE, allowing the growing of alpha-alpha, slated for export to Saudi Arabia, rapidly depleting well water in Western Arizona:https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-company-fondomonte-arizona-ground-water-crop-alfalfa/ While there are larger environmental factors at play, the shortsightedness of the local officials, coupled with short term greed, is one of the key factors now driving the drastic decision related to Arizona’s water supply and Colorado is not far behind in such levels of buffoonery, again, driven by short term greed and corruption. Lakewood city council and some of the city staff have been pushing for poorly planned development, which is placing thousands of future residents in to rather precarious economic and, now, due to therecent findings by the EPA, environmental position. There are numerous rental units being built in proximity to the Terumo BCT facility, even after the recent findings by the EPA. (Oak Station Apartments – just a short way down from the zone estimated by the EPA to have exposure to the Ethylene Oxide. And there are hundreds more (perhaps, thousands) of units that are being built all along the Colfax Corridor adjacent to the same area.)Fundamentally, the government has “one job” and it is to ensure that businesses act in an ethical manner. Which, unfortunately, the government has been failing at, be it at a federal or local level. Therecent settlement with Dupont, Chemours and Corteva in regards to PFAS is the latest example of this: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/02/dupont-pfas-settlement-water-chemical-contamination For decades, millions of people (never mind the environment) have been absorbing these chemicals. The adverse effects may not be truly known for decades if not generations more. And those companies knew what the chemical might do. The government knew… Why did it take decades to truly act and when the action was taken, it is just a settlement which will never truly cover the real extent of thedamage caused? Just as might turn out to be the case with Ethylene Oxide (and other “surprises” which should be put in the proverbial sunlight in Colorado, but are not in the scope of this particular matter). Lakewood administration has shown little, if any, regard for (true) economic and environmental considerations in other parts of the city (other than the placating and dismissive statements in the city’spropaganda pieces and vacuous statements as a response to the inquiries by the citizens). Hence, it might be prudent to start exploring either criminal liability being mandated from the federal level for the local officials, whose decisions are driven by catering to those who donate the most and farstricter, federally-driven, framework must be established where any future development is a subject to review, public input and hearings, governed NOT by state and local officials, but by entities who won’t be easily swayed by the corruption at the local level. Thank you.

Cross-post from Alex Plotkin, YourHub And by the way, if you get hung up on words, then you’re going to let a lot of evil [individuals] slip through. Because evil people learn the correct terms very quickly. I don’t know if you’ve noticed that? They are the first ones to learn it so they can smuggle their evil [stuff] through. By saying everything ‘correctly’ even though they are hiding really bad [stuff] in it.” – Patton Oswalt Metro districts and high-density, high-priced rentals have spread, like cancer, across Colorado. Municipal and state legislators are enabling this plague, using the “right” words such as “affordable housing”, “equity”, “sustainability”, and “economic development”. And you are paying for it – hundreds of dollars, per month, on top of the mortgage, in metro district fees which were voted on by the developers, before the residents had any say, or between $1,600 and $2,400 or more for a one-bedroom rental in a corporate-owned apartment building. … Read more at YourHub

The May 16 West Metro Fire Protection District Regular Board Meeting highlighted the educational possibilities in Denmark. Fire Chief Lombardi shared the techniques developed at West Metro at the European Diversity Conference in April.  Deputy Chief Metz will attend the Officers Development Program in June. Both events were hosted by the Federation of European Fire Officers (FEU) and both events were opportunities available through the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association. Fire Chief Lombardi reported that he represented the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association when attending the Diversity Conference. Lombardi is the immediate past President of the Metro Fire Chiefs. His platform as President was one of education and he instituted the possibility of someone attending this conference. During his attendance, he was able to share techniques for increasing gender diversity from his time at West Metro. Lombardi also represented the United States at this conference by virtue of being the only US attendee. The FEU DEI Conference was open to all and saw attendees from 18 countries. Conference costs For Chief Lombardi were covered by the Metro Fire Chiefs Association, with the possible exception of his time. Diversity remains a priority for Chief Lombardi. Chief Lombardi was asked by the Board how West Metro’s demographics looked. Lombardi did not have hard answers ready but felt the district underrepresented Hispanics. Lombardi was a leader in redefining the physical ability evaluation model so that females are now tested on their ability to carry the fire hose and perform duties, rather than arbitrary tests such as the number of pushups possible. Dr. Jennifer Taylor, of Drexel University and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, also attended to present finding of her research. Dr. Taylor has a grant to develop a diversity toolkit. Several members of West Metro, including Chief Lombardi, will continue to work with Dr. Taylor on this project. Deputy Chief Metz will also be travelling to Copenhagen, this time to participate in an Officer Development Program. Metz said he was particularly excited about this program as a way to see how the European countries were implementing United Nations sustainability goals. One of Deputy Chief Metz’s goals in sustainability is moving to electric fire trucks when feasible. The FEU invited Metro Fire Chiefs to include a participant in the Development program. During the meeting, Chief Lombardi said that Metz has a unique opportunity …’He’s going to be the US representative to the Officers Development Program.” Metz said that he applied for and was accepted as North America’s representative. After the meeting, Chief Lombardi clarified that no one else applied. The International Association of Fire Chiefs, the overarching organization of which the Metro Chiefs are a subsection, could not locate any announcement of this program accepting applications. Lombardi believes participation will be good exposure to global financial and marketing practices, therefore West Metro will cover the costs for program participation. Participation in the Officer Development Program will also serve as part of Chief Lombardi’s successor management training. Reader Recommended Business: Jammin Films

Lakewood City Council Member Anita Springsteen announced that she had the “amazing honor” to be asked by the NAACP to start a chapter in Jefferson County. The NAACP is the “home of grassroots activism for civil rights and social justice.” Springsteen will continue to tackle inequality and abuses through her work with the organization. She asks for those interested in serving on the organizing committee or being a member to contact her at anita@springsteenlaw.com.

The City of Lakewood adopted the 2021 International Building Codes on May 8th. This move will increase the price of new and existing homes and increase the city’s authority to regulate maintenance on private property. Multiple City Council members stated that these changes were necessary for public safety. Safety The safety factor was directed toward the adoption of the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code. This new code will allow the building department to issue citations for public safety concerns on private property. Residents can now contact the city if they see broken concrete or inadequate railings on the property of their neighbors or landlords. Lakewood does not have enforcement capability to police all properties so this will be resident driven, with the city retaining the ability for flexible, i.e. selective, enforcement. There is no timeline for compliance per code. Lakewood city staff vow to work with residents in cases of hardship. As an example of why this code was necessary, the city cited the case of 940 S Ames St. By the city’s own admission, this property fell into disrepair through a series of unfortunate events leading to the city condemning the property. The city went through legal actions to require the building to be torn down within 90 days of property purchase. The Ames property was a unique case in which two successive, related owners had personal issues, died and left the property to a third relative who was dealing with loss and extreme property issues. The probability is low that maintenance code violations could have fixed the situation and in fact, the demolition was demanded of the new owners. The property maintenance code was approved unanimously although one Council Member cited concerns with intrusions onto personal property rights, and another Member cited concerns with the increased cost to lower-income homes. Sidenote: The Ames property owners were required to have the site demolished due to the building being unsafe, unlike the recent case of the Holiday Plaza Shopping Center wherein Lakewood provided the owners an interest-free loan to accelerate demolition by 6-9 months. Both the Ames and Holiday Plaza situations appear to be a war on abandoned buildings, rather than directing efforts directly towards the homeless themselves. Increased cost The city also adopted the 2021 Residential Code and the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, both of which raised flags for the higher-than-normal new costs they will impose. One 2021 study showed that new building codes have contributed to a 9.9% increase in home costs over the previous 10 years. That increased cost was demonstrated in the aftermath of the Marshall Fire. Victims had to build their new homes to the new codes. One resident reported hearing estimates as high as $98,000 to meet the new regulations, according to the Denver Post. The town of Superior and Louisville ended up suspending the 2021 codes because of the extreme costs. The residents of Boulder did not have that same relief. Detailed cost estimates obtained by Louisville residents show an estimated $75,000 additional cost for their new home. Due to the unique circumstances surrounding an emergency, there were many financial incentives available to those homeowners. Some of the residents voluntarily adopted the code after protesting it, according to the Denver Post, due to the availability of relief funds. Costs in Lakewood will be borne by homebuilders and new residents. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the residential code update, only one code out of several, has a $6.5-$12,000 increased cost. That cost includes increased insulations and sprinkler systems for residences. The same report found that it will take 32-67 years of energy savings under current prices to pay that cost back. The 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, which has also been adopted by Lakewood, is a little confusing. It appears that new requirements such as having an electric vehicle charging infrastructure, all electric appliances, and carbon offsetting credits were proposed but removed, according to the New Buildings Institute. These removed provisions may be the source of much of the costs in original estimates. All building code updates were adopted voluntarily by Lakewood. City staff provided options to remove the sprinkler provision but that option was not taken by Council, even though previous city surveys showed residents were not in favor of residential sprinklers. Lakewood is one of the only cities in the state to adopt that provision, which West Metro Fire has been working hard in favor of. All codes were modified before adoption per Lakewood’s local specifications (see ordinances). Except for the maintenance code, all updates were adopted with all in favor except for one dissenting vote by Councilor Janssen. “It’s important that NAHB members and HBAs emphasize that there is no need for a state to update its energy codes in most cases. Adopting new building codes is expensive… and can be confusing for both builders and building officials.” -National Association of Home Builders Reader Recommended Business: Foothills Mobile Dog Grooming

The May 8th Lakewood City Council meeting included an item to repeal and reenact Lakewood Municipal Code governing Parks and Recreation. The staff presentation delineates several updates. In the “other” items category, the voiceover includes “clarify the authority” of the Community Resources Director. In fact, the proposed language will transfer all authority from the City Manager to the Director of Community Resources. The City Charter gives the City Manager responsibility “to the City Council for the proper administration of all affairs of the City.” Under the proposed revision, the City Manager will no longer be responsible for Community Resources, per the Municipal Code. All decisions will be made by the Director of Community Resources. The Community Resources Director does not report to Lakewood City Council. Council can only talk to the City Manager, setting up a disconnect, now that the City Manager is no longer involved in Community Resources. The language used in the staff presentation, ie “clarify the authority”, seems to suggest that the City Manager has not been playing an authoritative role for some time.

On May 1, 2023, Lakewood City Council held a workshop on adding a censure policy to council procedures. The idea was prompted by using a specific word (“girls”) used in Council once, in an old-fashioned, politically incorrect way that was taken as a personal insult by some Council Members and residents. A public reprimand, which is the general definition of censure, was immediately and repeatedly tendered by individuals who felt personally offended. Those individuals do not appear satisfied. City Council is now studying procedures to publicly reprimand with the weight of Lakewood City Council in case a personal insult is taken in the future. Sitting City Council Members have explained in public meeting that censure was removed from City Council years ago because it was being used as a political tool. Council Members who believe themselves to be targets of censure also fear censure will be used politically because they have not aligned with the majority of Councilors on a variety of issues. Censure may also have been removed because it is not common. Lakewood Informer conducted a search of the municipal code of the 75 most populous home-rule cities and towns in Colorado. The data reveal approximately 25% of those had a provision for censure, (with 75% having no provision). Of that 25% with censure provisions, approximately 75% require a public hearing and/or investigation by a third party. Of those that do censure, only 2 would censure for defamation. None included censure for subjective actions such as personally offensive or critical speech. Censurable acts are commonly restricted to financial misconduct, conflicts of interests and breaches of confidentiality. One city included directions for personally offensive language to be dealt with at a personal level, i.e. without government support, which is the situation that sparked Lakewood’s controversy. Lakewood City staff provided several examples of censure provisions from other cities, including the most aggressive policies among the examples, showing options for defamation and removal from office. Discussion revealed that censure is not an effective way to change behavior. However, Council Members that were insulted from the dais feel it is important to have the tool ready, especially when residents ask Council to act on their behalf.  Removal from office was not a desired outcome, according to public statement by Council Members. Council will proceed with future study sessions before implementing a new procedure. Issues to be decided include a definition of censure, actions which may be censurable, and majority versus super-majority votes. Guardrails such as an independent hearing was not yet discussed but is common. Example guardrail: “integrity of the council member is undermined to the extent that the council member could not adequately perform as a representative of the city” Study sessions may be scheduled soon, judging from the rushed timing of the censure workshop. The timing of the workshop also demonstrates the power of the majority, who would not discuss priority project ideas from Councilors who are now accused of offensive behavior. These ongoing political battles are apparent in every Council meeting. Forgiveness does not seem to be an option.

There are several special districts in and around Lakewood, which are often overlooked but control a lot of money, policy, and services. To help keep them in mind, we provide the list below. Cancelled elections only have enough candidates to fill the seats, therefore no contested elections. Please contact us with any additions or corrections. Sites located through DOLA. Alameda Water & Sanitation District: Results not posted Applewood Sanitation District: Election cancelled Bancroft-Clover Water & San. District: Election cancelled Bear Creek Water & Sanitation District: Election cancelled Bennett Bear Cr. Farm Water & San. District: Election cancelled Bonvue Water & Sanitation District: Election cancelled Daniels Sanitation District: Election cancelled Denver West Metropolitan District: Election cancelled East Jefferson County San. District: Election cancelled East Lakewood Sanitation District: Election cancelled Foothills Park & Recreation District: Fossil Ridge Metropolitan District: Election cancelled Grant Water & Sanitation District: Election cancelled? Green Gables Metropolitan District No1: Election cancelled Green Gables Metropolitan District No2: Election cancelled Green Mountain Water & San. District: Green Tree Metropolitan District No. 2: Election cancelled High View Water District: Election cancelled Indiana Valley Metropolitan District: Election cancelled, vacant positions Indy Oak TOD Metropolitan District: Election cancelled Jefferson Conservation District: Election cancelled Lakehurst Water And Sanitation District: Election cancelled Leawood Metro. Recreation & Park District: No website Lena Gulch Metropolitan District: Election cancelled Mount Carbon Metropolitan District: Election cancelled Normandy Estates Metro. Rec. District: Election cancelled. All positions vacant Northwest Lakewood Sanitation District: Election cancelled Plaza Metropolitan District No1: Election cancelled Plaza Metropolitan District No2: Election cancelled Pleasant View Metropolitan District: Election cancelled Pleasant View Water & San. District: Election cancelled Prospect Recreation And Park District: No information posted Section 14 Metropolitan District: Election cancelled South Sheridan Water: Election cancelled South Suburban Park & Recreation District: Southwest Plaza Metropolitan District: Election cancelled Three Hills Metropolitan District: Vacant positions West Metro Fire Protection District: Election cancelled

The Lakewood Advisory Commission (LAC) was established to provide research on local issues to City Council. The questions of “how much research?” and “what for?” came up when City Council voted to update the LAC Ordinance. One resulting change was that the LAC can initiate their own research projects, for a grassroots, bottom-up approach instead of top-down. This change has also resulted in the rise of dual presentations to Council, one from LAC and one from city staff, which is a side effect of removing the top-down approach and a demonstration of who controls the flow of information. The top-down approach was driven by the need for Council, as elected representatives, to initiate projects, to limit projects to manageable levels, and not to duplicate work that city staff is already doing. There are not many projects the city staff is not already working on. Therefore, the LAC started initiating its own projects. During the April 24 meeting, Council Members stated the need to keep LAC Commissioners occupied because Council had heard of members leaving due to lack of purpose. So the bottom-up approach is driven by the need to satisfy LAC Commissioners. In fact, Commissioners are told when recruited that a perk of joining is that they can work on projects that interest them. The disparity between these two approaches was on display while discussing the proposed ordinance change and the ramifications may not be fully understood for some time. For example, Council Member Olver asked for the LAC to do more projects, without full Council approval. Mayor Paul replied that would lead to an unsupportable number of projects being done if everyone wanted their own project done. However, that is exactly what happened in the past when individual LAC Commissioners proposed projects. Several projects were done concurrently, driven by individual interests, which also led to Commissioners leaving the LAC due to the appearance of favoritism. The other result is that when Council approves a project, the LAC and the city staff will both work on a project (see dueling presentations on the use of single-use plastic bags). In fact, the LAC cannot do targeted research because pertinent information related to the city must go through city staff, which the LAC does not have direct access to. Therefore, many projects do not make sense for the LAC to do alone, if at all. City staff will always be in control of the flow of information and what the ultimate outcome of any project will be. City staff provides a memo on each activity of the LAC, the majority of times recommending that City Council take the recommendations “under consideration”. Action will be up to city staff. The dialogue between Olver and the other Council Members showed that the established procedures in place for the top-down approach are still valid. However, the process for the bottom-up approach is less regulated and often invalidates the previous top-down approach procedures. The change in ordinance has been in the works for some time, delayed due to turnover in the City Clerk and City Attorney office, the two departments with the most knowledge of the LAC. Prior to the grassroots, bottom-up approach, if a Lakewood resident wanted Lakewood to research a project, they petitioned City Council and City Council could do a Request for Action wherein Council would vote on lending City support to the project. These projects were rare. Now a resident can join the LAC and get easily approved since the driving factor is retaining Commissioners. There are no guidelines for turning down a project and a precedent for individuals to do individual research. Reader recommended business: Specialized Electric Company

Lakewood City Council Members have decided to oppose several state legislative efforts: Land Use bill, Right of First Refusal, and Regulating Local Housing Growth Restrictions have now all been officially opposed or strongly opposed by Lakewood. This is almost a reversal of where Lakewood started on these issues, with only two Councilors wanting to oppose and the others in support or monitor positions. One other notable change was the increasing number of people attending committee meetings. Regarding Local Housing Growth Restrictions, this bill would have overturned Lakewood’s Strategic Growth Initiative (SGI), which was voted on and passed by the people. Since that time, Lakewood has been accused of using blight to go around SGI and not listening to the people. Council Members Vincent and Stewart have identified problems and unintended consequences with the SGI. Vincent has heard from constituents for years and recognized they stood behind SGI. Both Members publicly wrestled with the decision to vote their own personal views (against SGI) or the views they believe a majority of their constituents hold (supporting SGI). Councilors Janssen and Olver had no such conflict; they supported the will of the voters from the beginning, in other words, supported the results of the SGI vote. The legislative sessions were closely watched this year, with few residents attending in the beginning and several showing at the April 24th meeting. At that meeting, all four Members voted as they believed constituents would want – to support SGI and strongly oppose HB23-1255, the bill regulating local housing growth restrictions. Public input also made a difference in the recently enacted Short-Term Rental ordinance, when a last minute amendment changed the proposal. Resident voices got that amendment repealed. In the case of legislative matters, Lakewood’s decisions may have come too late to make a difference. In the case of Right of First Refusal, the bill was through third reading before Lakewood took a position. The recent change to strongly oppose for housing growth restrictions came when there are only two weeks left in the session and opportunities to participate are limited. However, it is important to note the vital role the public played and the equally important fact that Council listened.