LAKEWOOD INFORMER

While Saying They Won’t Remove the Consequences to Crime Disclosure: The author, Karen Morgan, is a member of the Lakewood Advisory Commission. All views and research are her own and do not represent Lakewood nor the Commission. Have you wondered why people are allowed to come wash your windshield and solicit money in the middle of the street? Have you heard there is a law against that? Yes, there is a law against that. Lakewood does not enforce it. Have you seen evidence of lax enforcement, like the comments below from nextdoor.com? All of the situations quoted above have complicating factors and reasons for the law not being enforced. Some of the most popular reasons are: For these reasons, there are a number of crimes that Lakewood routinely forgives through various programs. Following this thought process, a person might think: What’s the point of having a law that is not enforced? A recent proposal from the Lakewood Advisory Commission aimed to research unenforced or partially enforced laws to see if it would make sense to remove them. City Council came out strongly against the proposal. Listening to some Council comments, a person may think Lakewood supported enforcing and penalizing all crimes. Mayor Strom: “I can’t imagine telling a voter that we said we’re going to get rid of the consequences to crime. “ But that is NOT WHAT HAPPENED. In fact, nine Councilors, the Mayor and the City Manager defended the current practice of removing the consequences to crime for...

In the last week, Lakewood citizens launched a petition, started gathering signatures, and had the petition stalled by the city. From Save Open Space Lakewood Today Lakewood citizens start to take back their parks and open spaces from developers Thursday, March 21, 2024—Today Save Open Space Lakewood launches a petition requiring the City of Lakewood to strengthen and adhere to its ordinances to preserve land and open space.   Once the petition reaches a requisite 6,000 Lakewood citizen signatures, it qualifies to become a ballot issue. Initiative Summary as Set by Lakewood City Clerk: Shall the City of Lakewood Municipal Code Chapter 14.16. PARK AND OPEN SPACE DEDICATION be repealed and replaced to eliminate the option for developers to pay a fee in lieu of parkland dedication and to require the City to accept open space and land dedications for current and future developments. For the full initiative text and to learn where Lakewood registered voters can sign the petition, go to SOSLakewood.org or contact Cathy Kentner at (303) 349-2434. Gross ineptitude or sabotage? City of Lakewood’s actions last week and in the past show loyalty to developers over citizens Citizens’ petition to save Lakewood’s parks from developers deemed invalid due to City error, robbing petitioners of time to secure enough signatures for citywide vote  Is this gross ineptitude or sabotage by Lakewood, which has thwarted dozens of citizen-led efforts, many to combat large developments next to parks and open space Read the full story at Save Open Space Lakewood

Terumo BCT is one of four commercial medical sterilization facilities in Colorado subject to a new regulation meant to decrease emissions and reduce cancer risk associated with ethylene oxide. Terumo BCT Sterilization Services Inc., Lakewood’s 10th largest employer, has been the subject of lawsuits regarding concentrations of this compound that may cause cancer (see Westword article for more information). Residents have been submitting Lakewood news and public comment on the issue and it came to the attention of Lakewood City Councilor Rich Olver. Olver made a request on May 4, 2023 to hold a study session on the topic, inviting the EPA and Terumo to discuss. The motion was approved on May 22, 2023, but no study session ever occurred. Council Member Olver reports that he has renewed his request for a study session. The EPA press release does not provide any outside scientific references for how or why this the new rule is necessary but does predict a 90% reduction in emissions. Promoted Post:

The Community Meeting held on March 12 got mixed reviews, with some residents giving the speakers rave reviews while others left early. Although one resident cited a lack of Lakewood specific information as the reason for dissatisfaction, others were glad for regional information that is now pertinent, given the local ramifications. The main speaker was John Fabbricatore, a subject matter expert, talking about statewide immigration policy. He explained how federal immigration laws would work if they were equally enforced. Kim Monson, of the Kim Monson Show, spoke about holding elected representatives accountable. Local resident and X star Marge Collum spoke about her experience with a video going viral and why people were grateful that she spoke out. Videos of some of the speeches are available below. Marge Collum started the evening, giving an inspirational speech about how her speech at City Council went viral and how many people appreciated hearing from her. She ends with, “Why do I speak? Because I am more afraid of what will happen if I don’t.” She speaks about becoming a citizen journalist and standing together as Americans. See her whole speech here on Rumble, or see the highlights here on YouTube. Fabbricatore is a subject matter expert on border issues. He discussed the history of ICE and how our laws would work if they would just be enforced. He says, “You will hear this argument that everyone who is here was let in and they are legal. That is not true. … They are...

Lakewood City Council has set new penalty fees for vacant property owners in Lakewood. Some vacant land has been elevated to the level of a public nuisance because of the homeless encampments on them. However, camps on private property are a relatively new and lesser phenomenon than camps on public property. Public homeless camps have been increasing in Lakewood news for years, as Denver homeless have been expanding into Lakewood. Public encampments are so prevalent that they are increasingly being found on private property. The increased crime and poor economy has led to a downward spiral of vacant properties. So Lakewood has instituted fines on a property owner for having vacant land. Did Lakewood focus on the lesser private problem instead of addressing the larger public problem and is this an adequate alternative to hiring more police officers? Public Homeless Camps 2013-Oct, 2020 In 2020, Lakewood first started posting notices for private property. As shown below, they made a significant number of private property notices over two months, but it was still not as common as public camps. The temptation for Lakewood will now be to pursue these private properties to bring in revenue from fines at the expense of cleaning up the larger public property problem. Many properties in Lakewood have been vacant for years, with no crime problem, but since economic development has stagnated, these owners are left with property the owners would like to have in productive use but that option isn’t available at this time. So...