Another Lakewood misinformation campaign bites the dust. For years Lakewood has been pushing high-density growth in the name of “affordable housing”. They market this narrative to schoolteachers and civil servants. See Lakewood’s recent resolution using these exact words. However, a development presentation to the Lakewood Planning Commission introduced a new term that exposes the lie: Workforce housing Workforce Housing The consultant Lakewood hired to evaluate blight and Lakewood’s Comprehensive Plan pointed out that there was NO PLAN for increasing workforce housing in Lakewood. The emphasis on “affordable housing”, despite what Lakewood says, is different from workforce housing. No matter how poorly teachers and civil servants get paid, they get paid more than anyone living on the streets. Affordable housing in Lakewood will mean a government-run program, similar to what used to be called Section 8. That is not the same as an answer to inflated housing prices for low- to median-income levels. Think about government-run affordable housing like a scholarship system for school. A person may need the financial assistance, and may not be able to go to college without it, but there are others who need it more and not enough to go around. For decades, the people most in need are those with extremely low income. Not low. Not middle-low. Not teachers and civil servants. Extremely low income. Ann Ricker, of Ricker Cunningham, is Lakewood’s blight consultant. She pointed out there was a gap in the Comprehensive Plan. She said the plan talked about affordable housing, and it...
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Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
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Lakewood requires such high sustainability standards that they are almost impossible for large developments to meet. The standards are meant to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. For those developments, Lakewood accepts a fee in lieu of sustainability amenities. Lakewood is currently arguing that parkland dedication is illegal or amoral because it asks too much from developers. But Lakewood makes the same sort of demands to further its sustainability agenda. In both cases, the desire is to have development offset the environmental cost of development. The question is at what point is there so much development that the city says money is an acceptable substitute for direct environmental offsets. Note that these city mandates will continue despite any possible changes to federal funding for climate change initiatives. Achievable Goals or Ideology Lowering emissions is expensive so most people have not done it or have only done it by using rebates and subsidies. Achieving net zero emissions is even more expensive and is sometimes not achievable. For example, the city of Lakewood admits its new maintenance facility will not meet LEED standards let alone be net zero. Lakewood has set its own standards and requires that new buildings meet those standards by earning sustainability points. “net zero standards require reducing emissions to more than 90% and then only offsetting [with purchased carbon credits] the remaining 10% or less to fall in line with 1.5 °C targets.” –Wikipedia For large developments, the city admits it is almost impossible to achieve enough points. Therefore, developers...
City Council Members Jacob Labure and Paula Nystrom asked for equal representation on the Budget and Audit Board, January 27, 2025. They were denied. Only three wards will be represented on the Board. The Budget and Audit Board is vitally important for accountability. Many policies and programs that staff originate are never disclosed to the public. They only show up in funding requests. And as evidenced by the 2024 vote to de-TABOR, city staff is not often turned down. Councilor LaBure was involved in the last rewrite of the Budget Board. LaBure fought hard to get each ward representation on the Board, saying it was common practice to not only have five Councilors on the Board but to allow any Council Member to come and make comments. Now the current Board doesn’t even allow comments. Councilors Shahrezaei and Mayott-Guerrero both said that allowing that many Councilors, as worked for years, would now be unmanageable. Shahrezaei pointed out that at one point, a single councilor made 37 questions to staff and that amount of work was too hard. There is no general rule for how many questions the paid city staff should answer as part of being publicly accountable for a multi-million-dollar budget. In 2024, when Mayor Strom downsized committee sizes, then-Councilor Rich Olver was upset to be removed. Strom explained that she thought she was doing him a favor because he often didn’t have time. Olver was not present at the meeting for the initial appointments to protest. But his...
As reported by CBS News, a fire in an abandoned gas station on February 3 endangered 20-30 homeless people who were using the building as a shelter. The situation underscores the need to re-examine several ongoing strategies, such as: Which of these policies were effective in de-escalating the ongoing safety situation? From CBS News, by Karen Morfitt Fire in vacant Colorado gas station doubling as shelter for unhoused highlights concerns of neighbors At around 10 p.m. on Monday night a fire tore through a vacant Colorado building that was once used as a gas station. The building at the corner of Alameda Avenue and Harlan Street in Lakewood was being used as a shelter. A resident of the apartment building next door captured video of flames shooting out of the building’s windows. “Thank God the response was quick,” Victor Garibay said. Garibay didn’t take the video, but he lives in the same apartment building. He and his neighbors raised concerns about people coming and going from the building several times. “A lot of people have gone to the police have gone to the fire department and told them about the issues here — people coming in and out. The drug use, of course. The police have come, the fire department has come but they never seem to really be able to do anything about it,” he said. Read article from CBS…
A special election to fill vacancies left by Rebekah Stewart (Ward 3) and Rich Olver (Ward 4) will be held March 25. This election has generated more candidates than recent elections, giving residents the benefit of choice. Below is the list of candidates and their respective websites. It will be updated as new information becomes available. Ward 3 Ken Cruz: https://www.cruzforlakewood.com Patrick Flaherty: https://votepatflaherty.com/ Pete Roybal: https://www.peteroybal2025.com/ Ward 4 Bill Furman: https://www.billfurman4lakewood.com Desiree Gonzales: Facebook Page: Councilwoman At-large Desirée González Nicholas Munden: https://www.progress4all.com/ Diane Rhodes: https://rhodes4lakewood.com Thank you to everyone stepping up to serve! Even campaigning is hard work! This is not an endorsement of any candidate. Paid for by the Lakewood Informer although this communication did not cost anything but someone will ask. Not authorized by any candidate or committee.
From the Jeffco Transcript, by Suzie Glassman, February 5, 2025 The fight over a controversial proposed apartment complex near Belmar Park is escalating as frustrated residents have reached out to the city council, and parkland advocate Cathy Kentner has moved to formally intervene in a lawsuit filed by developers against the city last December. Members of Save Belmar Park, a citizen-led group advocating for the preservation of open space, argue the City of Lakewood has failed to defend a citizen-led ordinance the council adopted after the group submitted the required number of signatures, leaving residents in opposition to the move no choice but to step in. The lawsuit began when Kairoi Residential, developers of a planned 412-unit luxury apartment building at Belmar Park, sued the city, claiming the 2024 ordinance, which prevents developers from paying fees instead of dedicating land for parks, violates state law. On Jan. 14, a Jefferson County judge granted Kairoi a preliminary injunction, allowing the apartment project to proceed while the case progresses. Lakewood didn’t oppose Kairoi’s request for the injunction, leading some residents to believe this inaction signaled to the court that the ordinance had little legal standing. Read more including the backlash over Lakewood’s legal strategy
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