Cross Post from The Gazette, Jimmy Sengenberger In the face of Denver’s daunting $45 million migrant crisis, Lakewood’s city council recently embraced the role of a “good neighbor,” pledging support for a regional response to Denver’s migrant overflow at their Jan. 8 meeting. Speculation has swirled that Lakewood hopes to exploit Jefferson County’s status as a “sanctuary” jurisdiction for illegal immigrants and acquire closed JeffCo schools to shelter migrants and homeless Coloradans. … … … Yet, as the city distances itself from these reports, questions linger. If there’s nothing to them, why does Jefferson County Schools appear poised to offload its shuttered schools to local municipalities at a discount — especially after renovating the buildings at a cost of millions of dollars just before closures due to declining enrollment? Read the full story here. It’s worth it….
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
Resident generated news about Lakewood, Colorado
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When Lakewood voted to take the first step in helping with Denver’s migrant crisis, residents interpreted that as Lakewood becoming a sanctuary city. Lakewood immediately cried misinformation. At the emergency citizens’ townhall of February 6, 2024, several speakers addressed concerns over Lakewood’s sanctuary status, saying that Lakewood is not using the word “sanctuary” and is not discussing that issue. However, by a show of hands at the meeting, attendees thought the current role of Lakewood Police and Lakewood’s offer to support migrants would match both the proposed support and the definition of a sanctuary city. Both set of words applied to the same actions. Yet Lakewood still spent tax dollars and energy on a campaign to cry “misinformation.” Resident comments show that the meeting was useful to talk to each other, as much as it was useful for gathering information. Lakewood has a taxpayer funded PR department that can respond instantly to crises. In this case, the crisis was the residents’ concern over the possible “sanctuary” status of our city. Within a couple days, Lakewood had a new website that included a public statement which was also widely circulated (see below). (above) Lakewood also had a flyer circulating on social media sites that most residents would not even know existed so would have a hard time advertising on. At the same time, residents had difficulty on Nextdoor.com, which kept stripping posts of the meeting and discussion on the matter. Despite the problems, residents came by the hundreds to learn about...
Note: this page has updated media coverage links at the bottom An accurate estimate of attendance was impossible. No more people could fit into the room. There were people lining the landings, the lobby and the parking lot. The number 500 was tossed around but who knows. People really wanted to talk about the possibility of Lakewood supporting migrants. Most participants did not seem to want to provide any support, but most everyone was respectful and everyone wanted more information on what Lakewood was doing. For the many people asking what to do next, former Council Member Mary Janssen recommends coming to the Feb 12 City Council meeting and letting your voice be heard. On the 12th, Council will vote on appropriating $9.3 million dollars for the Navigation Center, those funds will be used for buying and remodeling the building for a shelter. They will also hear from the City Manager about options with Denver and they decide whether there are any actions they can take immediately or what may be worth pursuing at a slower pace. There were two flyers being circulated for what residents can do next. Media Coverage: Hundreds gather over migrant housing concerns in Lakewood, FOX31 by Nicole Fierro Lakewood accuses citizen group of misinformation, CBS News, Karen Morfitt reporting Jefferson County Republican Party holds anti-migrant town hall in Lakewood, 9news.com Comunidad de Lakewood aborda crisis migratoria en la región, Telemundo Why Colorado isn’t a ‘sanctuary’ state despite its strong immigrant protection laws, CPR News, Paolo...
UPDATE: Venue changed to 1626 Cole Blvd., Bldg 7, 4th Floor, Lakewood, CO 80401, 6:30-8:30 pm Guest post from The Concerned Citizens in Lakewood Date: Fri, Feb 2, 2024 at 3:57 PMSubject: Citizen Town HallTo: <CityCouncilMembers@lakewood.org>Cc: <wstrom@lakewood.org>, <jshahrezaei@lakewood.org>, <gsinks@lakewood.org>, <sguerrero@lakewood.org>, <icruz@lakewood.org>, <rstewart@lakewood.org>, <rlow@lakewood.org>, <rolver@lakewood.org>, <drein@lakewood.org>, <jlabure@lakewood.org> Mayor Strom, Chief Smith, and Lakewood City Councilors, We understand that the City of Lakewood is in discussion with the City of Denver and considering a vote to make Lakewood a Sanctuary City to allow migrants to be bused into our beautiful city. We also understand that the intent is for them to occupy the now vacant Jeffco Schools buildings at the expense of Lakewood taxpayers. Lakewood has hundreds of citizens that are very concerned with this. We invite you to come and listen to concerns, share what you know about these plans, and how you see this playing out in our city. In addition to the serious concern of Denver making their problems ours, there are significant concerns about the ramifications and impacts this will create in our neighborhoods and greater community – crime and safety, infrastructure, local business, and much more. We realize it is short notice, but please let us know if you can attend on Tuesday evening, so we can both acknowledge you and plan for you on the agenda. Informational flyer is attached with details on the event. Sincerely, The Concerned Citizens in Lakewood concernedcitizensinlakewood@gmail.com
In June 2023, the Lakewood Budget and Audit Board voted to recommend keeping future TABOR funds. To do that, they recommended finding a specialist to help find out what would make residents agree to this proposal. That decision seems to be proceeding, although requests for status have not yet been answered. As this CBS News article points out, governments cannot spend money on political campaigns. Although keeping TABOR refunds will be a ballot issue, it is not now. Therefore, there is a loophole to be taken advantage of in order to craft a political message before announcing the ballot measure. Jefferson County is doing the same so-called pre-campaigning for tax refunds. However, in the case of the county, they were very careful not to say that a decision had been made to keep the funds. Jeffco said they were just researching, which will include ways to craft ballot language. Lakewood has already made the decision to keep the TABOR funds by a vote of the Budget and Audit Board. So a ballot issue is pending but is not yet announced. The Board discussed using the specialist to find out what residents would be willing to pay for so that they could use that language. Former Mayor Paul pointed out how successful that strategy was the last time. Jefferson County was in the news for hiring a personal connection of Rep. Brittany Pettersen to research this TABOR issue. Lakewood did not have to suffer this scrutiny because they reached out for...
Check out the new great content at SaveBelmarPark.com Mayor Adam Paul Quashed Purchase of 777 S Yarrow St The Looming Lakewood Parking Crisis -Over 800 Parking Spaces Short A fabulous local site with more stories available!
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