Letter from Celia Greenman regarding The All-America City Award – National Civic League I am writing because I have heard that Lakewood is being considered for the All American City award.  According to your website, some of the areas of focus for this year’s theme are: Removing barriers to participation in civic life Improving public meetings through innovative practices Undertaking reforms that give people a meaningful say in public decision-making Creating a stronger sense of belonging and community Promoting deliberative forms of public decision-making Advancing equity and inclusion I ..read more

The Lakewood Informer is growing! We know that many of you are too busy to watch meetings and write articles and this is another way you can support local efforts. We still plan on keeping the content free but if you’d like to contribute towards costs, please use the link or QR code below. Thank you! https://app.autobooks.co/pay/lakewood-informer ..read more

Lakewood City Council agreed to lower residential speed limits on April 1, 2024, however what to lower them to is still in question. Council is reacting to a rash of complaints about speeding, however, Lakewood Police cited a lack of safety incidents. Police also pointed out that lowering speed limits does not lower actual speeds and sometimes increases speeds due to public backlash. Council relies on a report from the Lakewood Advisory Commission (LAC) to show the good intentions of speed reduction. Other programs that were discussed include automatic ticketing cameras and red-light cameras ..read more

For years, the City of Lakewood has been asking water districts to lower their fees on new development. Water districts have understandably said no to this request. The water board sets tap fees, not the city.  Well, Lakewood had enough of asking. New state legislation was introduced by Representative Chris deGruy Kennedy, forcing water districts to be “reasonable”.  His jurisdiction covers Lakewood. His wife is now running for his house seat. He worked with at least one member of the Lakewood Planning Commission and City Council to write this bill on behalf of special interests that ..read more

Guest Post from Save Open Space Lakewood Lakewood residents petition to save their parks and open space which the City likes to give away to developers. On April 27th they were at Lakewood’s Belmar Park with petitions. Background Local environment advocates will circulate a petition at Lakewood’s Earth Day, on Saturday, April 27, that would force the City from its arrogant behind-the-scenes approval of out-of-control developments to provide significant environmental stewardship for Lakewood. Once certified with 6,000 required signatures, the petition becomes an initiative which Lakewood is re ..read more

Guest Post by Mary Janssen Here we are again! The city of Lakewood is sending out a $73k survey to test the waters if the public is ready to De Tabor again and give up your over paid tax refunds so the city can spend it on their pet projects that they deem important. After asking how things are going… snow plowing, police response, pot holes, the money spent on new parks (a new majority in Ward 5). They ask you if you would reject them taking more of your money. One of the questions made me laugh. The one about the Mill levy. If you didn’t know I made a motion last October to decrease the mill ..read more

Guest Post by Alex Plotkin A city that for over a decade has not only refused to do economic development (in a true sense), but has lost jobs and is now planning to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize developers, under the guise of “economic development.” From LookingAtLakewood A city that, for over a decade, has done nothing to improve the path conditions along Alameda Avenue, in Ward 4.  Nor have any improvements have been made to alleviate the traffic increases at Union and Alameda. To be fair, the city did spend an untold amount of money to add “roundabouts” on Green Mountain Drive.&nb ..read more

Cross-post by Karen Morfitt, CBS News Room 110 at the Mountain View Inn has everything Joyce Gonzales needs. “It’s small, but it serves the purpose, you know, for me,” she said. Over the last three years, she has worked at a nearby gas station to pay $425 a week needed to live here. From the pots and pans on the wall of her kitchen to the small couch and TV in her living space, she has made it a home. “Don’t have much but it’s all I have. I don’t want to lose it,” Gonzales said. The reality is she will likely have to leave. The motel was sold to Recovery Works earlier this year, whic ..read more

Tip from Robert Greenawalt, https://improvejeffcoschools.org/ Here is an example of how much Jeffco schools’ staff wanted to keep quiet the talks about Emory and the City of Lakewood/Action Center. The conversation in this clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWRI8v0vpl8 occurred at the very end of the November 1, 2023 Board of Ed study session. Staff was directly asked why they wanted the property declared surplus and their answer was that it was big and potentially costly to maintain. There was no mention that they had most likely been approached by, and had discussions with ..read more

Guest Post by Chuck Bedard Lakewood citizens are becoming increasingly frustrated over the amount of shoplifting, vandalism, and “less important” crimes that are not being pursued by the police.  And rightfully so! Not long ago, my wife and I watched a man, pushing a shopping cart full of items at Home Depot, breeze through the self-checkout area – bypassing the opportunity to pay for the items – and head to the parking lot.  We looked at the cashier/attendant with stunned expressions on our faces, as we watched the Home Depot personnel do nothing.  Her response was, “The police ..read more