Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Pictured below is a call to support migrant and homeless assistance. Homeless is homeless. Lakewood will vote on spending $9.3 million for homeless services on Monday, Feb 12, 2024. Agenda item 13 already has public comments. Possible migrant actions will be discussed during the executive report, which has been moved up to agenda item 8 and is not accepting public comment.
Recent park land dedication discussions show that the policy is used for more than just adding parks for new residents. The policy could be used to extract fees from developers for other park services. The policy could also be used as a tool for preferential development. Or the policy can determine whether the city increases the number of parks or level of services. The review for this policy is overdue, but thanks to a motion from Council Member David Rein, it may be discussed soon. The new development at 777 S Yarrow St did not require any land dedicated for parks for the new residents. The land dedication would have been of particular public interest since it is near Belmar Park. Instead of land, the city accepted a fee that will be used for undisclosed park services. The fee was set in 2018 so it may seem low in todays market. This so-called “fee-in-lieu” of park land dedication is the policy under discussion. See more at savebelmarpark.com, including how this property does not pay taxes on full acreage Paying a fee in lieu of dedicating land was made possible in a time of slow growth for Lakewood, when Lakewood officials decided there was enough park land. That is no longer the case but developers are accustomed to being able to pay a fee in order to maximize their land development. This pushes new residents into existing parks, putting strain on those resources. Ironically, fees collected today are supposedly going to...
Correction: The Denver7 article said that migrants were causing enrollment to go up and enrollment at Slater went up by 50 students. The two statements were apparently unrelated to migrant enrollment. 12 February, 2024 Several new migrant families have started attending Foothills Elementary school in Lakewood. This information comes after the Denver7 report that 50 migrant students were attending Slater Elementary in Lakewood, indicating that the migrant influx continues. Jefferson County Schools have not yet replied to official requests for information (made only late on 2/9/24). An accurate head count may not be possible as the number of migrants attending school continues to change. A large, sudden influx of students this late in the year will present challenges for the entire school community. Denver is currently dealing with the issues inherent with a large influx of non-english speaking students this late in the year. According to the Denver Post: “DPS, which has a $1.3 billion budget, also has drawn from reserves to help make up the difference, district spokesman Bill Good said. The district is now working to hire more Spanish-speaking teachers and other support staff.” “Our system was never built to handle this kind of challenge,” said Rob Gould, President of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. “You’re taking an already stressed system and applying more stress to it.” From Migrant influx leaves Denver Public Schools short $17.5 million in funding as students keep enrolling According to the article, Denver has needed more bus routes, more furniture, more teachers, and more...
Guest Post by Joan Poston So this morning 2/8/24, I went to the Lakewood City Council Building to attend the Lakewood City Council legislative meeting. I made an error as to the time so I showed up at 8:30 and the meeting had started at 8:00 am. I am not my best at early hours. The legislative committee is made up of one member of each ward and they look at bills from the 2024 legislature that is considering issues/consequences that would impact the city of Lakewood. 2024 Committee MembersCouncil member Glenda Sinks – Ward 1Council member Isabel Cruz – Ward 2Council member Rebekah Stewart – Ward 3Council member David Rein – Ward 4 Council member Jacob LaBure – Ward 5 Rebekah Stewart (Ward 3) is the chair of the legislative committee. When I walked in there was a discussion about a bill about occupancy. I believe it was HB24-1007. But could not confirm that was the bill they were discussing. They decided not to put it on the list because the target city was Ft. Collins and college towns and did not apply to Lakewood so they would just watch it and add it to the list later. There was a little discussion lead by Councilman LaBure as to the need to define the role of the legislative committee. And then Councilwoman Stewart asked if there was any other business and Adjourned the meeting. I arrived at 8:30 and the meeting was adjourned at 8:36. I went to speak to the Deputy City Manager...
Two weeks ago, Lakewood Informer opened a survey to find out what residents were thinking about supporting the homeless and migrants. Lakewood doesn’t ask IF or HOW you want to support these communities. Residents are generally presented with fully implementable plans. See the Navigation Center for an example. This survey was an attempt to bridge the gap in asking the residents what they thought. It had as much turnout as many city surveys (100-200 respondents). Thank you for your feedback! Key Findings Perhaps the most interesting finding was the strong correlation between free-money advocates and their personal spending. In simple terms, a person who would use free money, would also pay the most themselves (over $500). And exactly the opposite was also true, a person who wouldn’t use free money also wouldn’t pay it for themselves (0-$100). So some people would take any amount of money or pay any price for homeless or migrant assistance. Does this indicate that there are big spenders out there who could finance this project through their own philanthropy? Or does it suggest that the people who support the use of free money think it’s WORTH that much but really don’t expect to pay for it? Does it suggest that one group understands that free money isn’t free while the other does? There is an apparent disconnect between the need for free money and the availability of funds. Results: Note: This survey was closed before the emergency citizens’ meeting which includes about 100 respondents. Reader...
Cross post from SaveBelmarPark.com Westword pushed the DO-OVER button regarding their reporting of former Lakewood Mayor Adam Paul’s involvement in the non-purchase of 777 S Yarrow St. by the City of Lakewood. Attorney and former City Councilor Anita Springsteen has provided updated comments on the revised Westword article. See the Updated Article
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