Zikr Dance Ensemble’s 2024 Fall Season is entitled “Secrets”. Highlighted on the program will be the world premiere of David Taylor’s “Liturgies” and a newly expanded version of the stunning “Ripples In The Sand”. Set to the electrifying Dune film score by Hans Zimmer, Ripples will feature new costumes and choreography and a breathtaking fabric canopy covering the entire stage. Also featured will be a reprise of audience favorite “Mobile”, the iconic miniature masterpiece by former Ballet West and San Francisco Ballet choreographer Tomm Ruud. Rounding out this mesmerizing evening of contemporary, multi-media dance will be Taylor’s “Altar”, and “Oracle”, a journey into the mysterious world of the ancient Greek Oracle of Delphi.
Sponsors: SCFD; Denver Ballet Guild; National Endowment for the Arts; Colorado Creative Industries; Community Foundation Boulder County; Colorado Gives Foundation; Denver Ballet Theatre Academy; Ouray County Performing Arts Guild; Highlands Ranch Community Association; Danah Fayman Performing Arts Fund; The Ute Events Center; Premier School of Dance
Zikr Dance Ensemble is a contemporary ballet company located on Colorado’s Front Range. Currently celebrating its 15thAnniversary Season under the direction of Artistic Director and principal choreographer David Taylor, Zikr offers a spectrum of works that pay homage to transcendent dance rituals and metaphysical concepts from many different ancient world cultures throughout history. The company’s original contemporary dance/theatre realizations are both dramatically engaging and educational and by exploring numerous ancient esoteric ideas through dance from all over the world, Zikr also promotes spiritual tolerance and multi-cultural understanding for the entire community. Zikr’s international roster is comprised of world class dancers from all over the globe selected through two highly competitive annual auditions. The dances in performance are supplemented by stunning slide projections and visual effects, completing a multi-media experience that audiences and presenters alike have found to be both visually and artistically stunning as well as intellectually captivating and spiritually uplifting.
Lakewood City Council Members used resident concerns about speeding to pursue their climate change goals. They did this by lowering speed limits to increase walkable neighborhoods. The plan is to cause people to be uncomfortable driving and therefore reduce driving or increase walking. Monday night’s vote started with a discussion of public safety, but the final discussion points highlighted the walkability agenda, perhaps because there has never been an analysis of how many accidents were caused by speeding as opposed to other causes. There were a lot of assumptions made that speeding was the cause of every accident. Several Council Members and residents referred to the need to reduce or eliminate driving in order to make the city more walkable. In other words, if only there were lower speed limits, residents would feel safe enough to bike or walk. All Lakewood residential streets will now be at school zone speeds. Council positions are below.
Walkable cities use planning, design, and density to maximize walking and minimize driving. Emissions decrease as pedestrians take the place of cars. – Climatedesigners.org
Despite multiple claims by Council Members that their vote was “data driven”, there was no data presented on key facts:
How many accidents were caused solely by speeding on affected streets?
Do lower speed limits influence how many people walk to work?
How many residential streets are already posted with 25 mph limits? (a significant number are)
How can Lakewood lower the number of fatalities below zero?
Council Members seemed to focus on an unsourced graph showing the likelihood of surviving an accident at different speeds. The injury data had no basis compared to other Lakewood statistics. For example, the statistic is that 25% of people will die when involved in an accident at 25 mph. However, the Lakewood data show 936 accidents on streets up to 40 mph with a total of 66 fatalities. If the statistics that most Councilors referenced was accurate, there should be more like 234 fatalities.
There is at least a 3.5x data exaggeration in the number of potential fatalities
The data exaggeration is proved by Lakewood data. But the reason the data may not really matter is because lowering the speed limit pushes the city along Council’s climate change goals, regardless of any safety motive.
Council Positions:
Shahrezaei: She says the issue is safety and less injuries (referring to the slide with exaggerated numbers). She says we want complete streets and less car-centric streets. Offers amendment to lower all the way to 20 mph. She encourages school zone signs to remain.
Olver: Demonstrates how lower speed limits will not change the number of people driving extremely fast. He says this isn’t data driven because there are no fatalities on residential streets so we can’t reduce the number of fatalities. There are no statistics on auto-pedestrian fatalities as to who is at fault or why. So there are no data-driven advantages to this.
Mayott-Guerrero: Is concerned about injuries caused by 25 mph. She says 20 mph is lifesaving. She “gently reminds” Olver that he is wrong about speeds. She says this lower speed limit is a community-building technique. She is interested in additional traffic calming measures.
LaBure: Says this is not just for the safety aspect but for the cultural aspect. “We want to be a walkable community that is safe and inviting.” Interested in more traffic calming measures.
Sinks: Asks about how long 25 mph would last before moving to 20 mph, if ever. (point became moot when Council voted for 20 mph but answer was 5-10 years)
Stewart: Says she likes 20 mph because most of the injuries are in ward 3. Says this will reduce injury and death. (Note: Councilor Stewart may be referring to a slide that showed only 7 out of the 67 accidents occurred on residential streets. Those occurred over a four year period, from Wadsworth to Sheridan. The point of this demonstration was to show that no stretch was really a hotspot and none of the residential streets had unexpected amounts of accidents. Most of the injuries occur along Colfax, not a residential street at all.)
Cruz: Ask about data specifics including potential detriments to walking, like high-speed limits. Says one of the goals of Lakewood is to reduce miles driven so increasing bicycle usage will help that. Asks about the speed cushion process with relation to emergency vehicles.
Rein: Reiterates question on staff opinion about going to 25 mph or 20 mph. Rein supports 20 mph only after a period of 25 mph.
Low: He says he did his own research and found lowering speed limits actually works. He supports going to 20 mph. He says Lakewood has a lot of people who want to do more biking, more walking and we need safer streets.
Strom: Comments that we have a lot more cars so there is a lot more conflict. Asks for yard signs for residents to remind people of the lower speed limits.
Store grand opening event will feature tire installation, fun, food & prizes
Press Release
Easterseals Colorado’s vehicle will get some top-notch new tires at the two-day grand opening celebration of Lakewood’s new Les Schwab Tires store. Les Schwab is donating the tires as part of its Tires for Purpose program and will install them during the festivities on Sept. 27. The West Metro Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 28. More details can be found below.
Easterseals Colorado helps people with disabilities, their families and caregivers all have the opportunity to thrive in our communities through programs and services. New tires on their vehicle will help advance the organization’s mission by enabling staff members to help people move around and transport supplies.
The community is invited to join the grand opening celebration at the 11,961-square-foot Les Schwab Tires store at 2165 S Webster St.,featuring the tire installation at 11 a.m. on Sept. 27. Visitors will enjoy food, snacks and a chance to win prizes, gift cards and more. Come by for a free brake check and pre-trip safety check, as well as a visual inspection of the most important parts of your vehicle.
In addition to welcoming a new community supporter, with the opening of the Lakewood Les Schwab Tires store residents now have a new option for one-stop shopping to ensure their vehicles are equipped to safely transport them wherever they need to go. Les Schwab’s offerings include brake services, alignment, shocks and more – a more robust range of services than those available from other tire shops that simply sell tires.
WHEN: Friday, Sept. 27, 2024
8 am-6 pm: Food and snacks, spin the prize wheel for a chance to win prizes, gift cards and more (while supplies last)
11:00 am: Tires for Purpose donated tire installation for Easterseals Colorado
1:00 pm-3:00 pm: KXKL 105.1 to attend
Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024
8 am-5 pm: Food and snacks, spin the prize wheel for a chance to win prizes, gift cards and more (while supplies last)
10:00 am: Ribbon cutting hosted by the West Metro Chamber of Commerce
WHAT: Media tours, video opportunities
Spin to win prizes and services
Free treats and food for tire center visitors
WHO: Reporters will have access to store leadership for interviews, video and photos.
Aaron Wheeler, Les Schwab’s Lakewood Store Manager
As Mayor, you and the City Council are asking us (in the November ballot measure) to allow you to permanently keep and spend all the extra tax dollars you over collected, not just this year, but next year and every year after that, as well as asking blanket permission to raise taxes anytime without a vote of the people. We know these extra tax dollars were not an accident, but deliberately over collected – in anticipation of your ballot measure.
How are our tax dollars being spent? As a taxpayer, I was shocked to learn we pay Lakewood City Manager, Kathy Hodgson, $368,137 in base salary per year – nearly as much as the President of the United States at $400,000 and much more than the vice president and governor. This seems really high for a town the size of Lakewood. The city Manager in Ft. Collins (slightly larger) is paid $97,232 and Colorado Springs (much larger), $104,517. Please advise and explain the total compensation package currently being paid to the city manager. Please include additional fringe benefits, any bonus amounts paid, deferred compensation, expense accounts, retirement benefits and any other benefits. As you know, all of this is public information.
Thank you in advance. This information will help us evaluate your Ballot Measure.
Sincerely,
Bob Adams
Lakewood.
Further information: As an addendum, I’ve just learned that our Lakewood city manager also has a deputy city manager who is paid $207,000.
This letter was sent to the Mayor by email. If I receive a response from her or the Council, I’ll share it here.
Correction 9/21/24: There is no single commercial applicant currently under consideration for the Vivian property. This month, following a pre-qualification process, several applicants were invited to submit final proposals which are due in October.
Correction 9/26/24: Paula Reed represents District 2, not District 1. District 2 includes Green Mountain and Lakewood High Schools . Erin Kenworthy is District 4 which has Alameda High School and the now closed Emory Elementary. Three Board Members are up for election this year: Danielle Varda – District 1, Paula Reed – District 2 and Mary Parker – District 5
Thank you readers for your corrections and information!
An untested process caused misunderstandings and hiccups resulting in delays to Lakewood purchasing shuttered Jeffco schools. Lakewood is now negotiating to buy 3 acres of Vivian Elementary School. They are also still asking about acquiring Emory Elementary for use by the Action Center. At a meeting on September 13, 2024, City Councilors and Jeffco School Board Members were able to get a lot of their positions stated for the record; however, this remains a closed process with both managers negotiating on a staff level. There has been no presentation to the public of a plan for school properties. School district documents show that the district must approve the use designation. That means that Lakewood must have presented their plans for the Action Center months ago, during the same time Lakewood Mayor and City Manager were calling the stories “misinformation”.
City officials appeared united in their efforts to buy school property at less than market-rate for city use or for general community sustainability. They cited multiple reasons for deserving a price break:
Due to the trauma of the school closures, giving the property to a deserving party for less than market-rate would be healing
The school board has a history of giving property away for community use so they should stand by that precedent (two examples cited including a property sold to Gold Crown for $1)
Non-profits like the Action Center do a great community service and there should be an equivalent value included in the decision-making process
School District officials were divided in their response. Although everyone from both organizations signaled their willingness to work together, officials are making hard decisions.
Danielle Varda acknowledged the many great ideas they have received for using each building but said there is no way the district can give away all those properties because constituents expect proper fiscal management of public dollars.
“What I’ve been concerned about since day one is that we have a fair process that’s very public, that all people follow and there’s no backdoor deals, no handshakes.” – Daniella Varda
Paula Reed encouraged a new metric to be added to the evaluation process so that properties could be utilized for other uses, not necessarily getting market-rate. She said that Board Members have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that all assets are used for student education but there are lots of ways to contribute to that, including community sustainability. Reed represents School Board District 1, which covers Lakewood schools
School Board President Mary Parker pointed out that every time they would make a deal with one city, another city would expect the same. Indeed, City Council Member Mayott-Guerrero already brought up Mulholm Elementary in her ward, which is not up for disposition yet, but would be of interest to residents there.
Purchase proceedings were held up not only by price but by parcel size. Lakewood seems to be asking for 3 of the 9.9 acres of Vivian Elementary School property, which will be used as a park. One of the initial guiding principles of the School Board was that the property not be subdivided, which contributed to Lakewood’s delayed offer. Under the old rules, Lakewood could not buy just three acres.
Now the school board is rethinking its decision and will allow subdivision. Lakewood is in active negotiation for the 3 acres of Vivian. The rest of the land is being considered by Cardel Homes (among others) for development. There was no Council discussion about Vivian’s purchase but the residents there have mounted intense public pressure to preserve the land and it has been discussed in ward meetings, indicating some Council Members knew of the plan. Apparently, a new purchase option was issued to show the 3 acres as separate but Lakewood Informer cannot readily find that information.
Lakewood has already met once in a mysterious executive session that did not include a specific reason, contrary to Colorado Open Meetings Law. However, at the end of Monday’s study session, Council agreed to another executive session on September 19 to confirm negotiations on a school property. That meeting agenda also does not state the specific property or use they are negotiating for.
The case for Emory Elementary is less clear. Council Member Shahrezaei asked the hard question about whether Lakewood could get the property in exchange for community use. There were no easy answers to that question and no apparent change to Lakewood’s plan to purchase the entire property and let the Action Center use it.
Lakewood may have the same dilemma as the school district if they start giving any non-profit preferential deals, especially if there are multiple properties purchased.
The Municipal Option for school property purchases seems to be in flux as Jeffco schools test the process on Lakewood. According to the posted process (below), Lakewood and Jeffco Schools should have a joint public session after negotiations have concluded. At this point on Sept 18, it is all being handled by privately by staff.
Municipal Process provided by Jefferson County School District
School district officials seem willing to engage in a public discussion about property use but it’s a fast-moving process. Lakewood is finalizing negotiations on Thursday morning. As of Tuesday night the district website does not show an updated status for the school properties.
City Council Member Rich Olver’s column was not included in the latest Looking@Lakewood because he explained alternative facts for the Council-approved TABOR ballot issue. He did not advocate for a position either way but Lakewood is. Lakewood initiated the ballot issue and spent $74,000 for a study to craft the ballot language to gain approval.
Olver was told he wrote an opinion piece about a ballot issue so it couldn’t be printed. Olver then wrote a short piece to refer readers to his own website where he posts what the city won’t print.
The city refused with no explanation. Print deadlines may be to blame. There is no column from Councilor Olver this month.
Lakewood posted its own TABOR ballot piece in the newspaper, as it was designed and approved by the City to maximize voter approval (see pg 8). Under dispute is whether voters consider keeping rebates to be a new tax and if the new tax money will actually be spent as the ballot describes.
Lakewood also published a piece about the budget, including vague explanations about how TABOR funds have been and will be used. This also steers voters into thinking that TABOR funds did not impact general fund expenditures. Olver tried to expound on this point as well.
Councilor Olver did not advocate for or against the ballot issue. Instead, he explained things that might be misconstrued. Lakewood crafted this language, using tax dollars, before they approved it becoming a ballot issue. Today, Councilor Olver is not allowed to explain why those words may not mean what you think they mean.
This is all perfectly legal. However, unless Olver was advocating for a position, it would be perfectly legal to print the piece as well. This is strong evidence that the real intention is to silence dissenting voices about the TABOR issue.
Before the 2023 election, Looking@Lakewood had a column from every Councilor in every edition. That changed to be a rotating column so that only one ward was represented in each edition. That means that Councilors will have one chance a year to post a column in the city newsletter.
You can read more opinions for both sides of the ballot issue on the city website lakewoodspeaks.org
The City Council recently voted 9-1 to place a TABOR termination question on our November ballot. If passed, Lakewood will no longer be subject to TABOR restrictions, ending TABOR refunds permanently. I was the sole dissenting vote.
I believe this qualifies as Shenanigans because voters might not fully understand the implications. The ballot claims, “Without increasing current taxes or adding any new tax,” which is technically true. However, the TABOR rebate will disappear. If you lose a rebate (or pay more ‘fees’) and end up paying more, haven’t your taxes effectively increased? When is a tax increase not a tax increase? Never.
The ballot also states that funds will be earmarked for Police, Parks, and Public Works. While this is accurate, (Lakewood has a ‘Tabor Fund’ which contained $30 million at the end of 2022) these departments already consume nearly 80% of the city’s budget. In 2023, they spent $221 million out of a $287 million budget. The reality is that your rebate money will go into the Tabor Fund bucket, which will free up funds in the General Fund Bucket, potentially diverting money to other projects.
Council’s primary priorities has been the Homeless and Government Subsidized Housing (often termed Affordable Housing). This is where the money will actually go. This is not a secret, it is what the vast majority of Councilors favor. If you’re willing to give up your TABOR rights to fund these initiatives, that’s your choice. But you should be fully informed about what you’re voting for.
The Lakewood Advisory Commission (LAC) has proposed changing its ethics rules to allow penalties for misinformation. This rule change is a result of information posted by the Lakewood Informer. As discussed in the public LAC meetings, this change would allow Commissioners to be removed from the LAC if they are found to have violated the new ethics rules.
This piece was not authored by Morgan and made no claims to be from Morgan in an official capacity. It was published under the Lakewood Informer banner, which makes no claims to speak for Lakewood or the Lakewood Advisory Commission in any way. Note: This current article, authored by Morgan, also does not speak for Lakewood, the LAC or Morgan in any official capacity.
Nevertheless, Morgan was asked to censor the Foshag article by changing the content.
The Foshag article is a well written, thorough rebuttal of the information presented by the LAC in their report to the Lakewood City Council. Foshag presents clear facts and tells the side of the story not presented by the LAC. The LAC proposal makes several one-sided claims about climate change, the benefits of electrification through elimination of gas-powered appliances, and the need for government mandates and incentives.
The LAC proposal includes no balance and no drawbacks to their recommendations.
The Foshag article states:
“Traditionally, governing bodies have found it easier to regulate individuals, as corporations and larger organizations have lobbying groups and funding, and are better equipped to fight back and litigate if necessary.”
According to Morgan, LAC Commissioner Glenn Weadock asked Morgan to remove or alter this sentence because he felt Morgan should know it was not his intention or the intention of the LAC to go after single-family homeowners just because they are vulnerable.
Morgan refused.
It is true that there was no public discussion regarding single-family homeowners being easy targets. But the point is moot since Foshag’s post did not say “Glenn Weadock thinks….” Or “Lakewood thinks…”. The statement in and of itself is not untrue.
Moreover, the LAC proposal does, in fact, recommend targeting existing single-family homes (from pg 10, Recommendation 2):
“Expand to target existing single family homes without square footage restrictions, including benchmarking (baseline energy performance) and free comprehensive home energy audits. Audits can be revenue neutral to Lakewood with IRA/BIL grants.”
The proposal outlines the specific ways it would like Lakewood to affect residences: “Innovative beneficial electrification technology (such as heat pumps) and weatherization are best practices to reduce fossil fuel emission sources from homes under such future programs.”
The proposal goes so far as to cite examples of full gas elimination (from pg 5): “San Jose, CA, like numerous other cities, is outlawing natural gas into new single family homes through their Reach Codes.”
The LAC proposal is not unbiased research; it is a carefully curated set of facts to support an agenda. The agenda, in this case, appears to be to force existing and new single-family homes to eliminate or reduce gas powered appliances, reducing fossil fuel usage and reducing the energy choices for homeowners.
The Informer sentence “Traditionally, governing bodies have found it easier to regulate individuals…” is a fact that was called misinformation because it gave someone the wrong impression.
As a comparison, the LAC gives the impression that the actions presented in their proposal will reduce greenhouse gases, that the action is needed urgently, and that residents will suffer no performance loss when they write: “action to reduce greenhouse gasses must be undertaken urgently. Working to transition Lakewood homes to electricity will move the city in the right direction.”
All of their statement is debatable.
“Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation can exist without specific malicious intent; disinformation is distinct in that it is deliberately deceptive and propagated. Misinformation can include inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or false information as well as selective or half-truths.” – Wikipedia
Karen Morgan, in her official role of Commissioner, is often the sole no-vote to LAC actions, always voting no for the same reason – because the report is incomplete without presenting the other side. Without full information, policy decisions are made that are regretted in the future.
There is not a clear line between misinformation and things people don’t want to hear. As one Lakewood resident said,
“Misinformation is true facts the government doesn’t want you to hear because it will change your perception of what you know is truth”
During the City Council discussion on reducing speed limits, Lakewood Police and Transportation departments did not concur with recommendations from the LAC that reducing speed limits would decrease accidents. Mayor Pro Tem Shahrezaei said she’d like to highlight the LAC research that did not include any dissenting information. Such an act shows how the LAC proposals are used to justify the actions specific people want to see, rather than unbiased research. As such, the entire green remodel proposal, or speed limit proposal, etc., could be deemed misinformation.
The LAC is scheduled to vote on the new code of ethics in the September meeting. The code is not available for review online. Although no hearing or appeal process is actually included in the proposed rules, Commissioners can be removed on the basis of a misinformation ethics violation.
A Lakewood resident gave an impassioned speech about how crime has dramatically increased around the Lakewood Navigation Center. She spoke immediately after City Council passed their new ordinance to allow more transitional housing for homeless. This resident lives near the new Navigation Center shelter and has had her life threatened multiple times. Council members, like Council Member Low in Monday’s meeting, like to point out studies where crime has decreased around pallet homes or shelters in Los Angeles. What they don’t say is that crime first dramatically increases due to the city’s policy of enabling crime through compassionate non-enforcement and enabling of unhoused activities.
“Today is the third time in less than three months that my life has been threatened…. These people told me they would knock me off my bike, beat me to death and kill me.”
“They go back there and smoke their crack and smoke their meth.”
“When we call the police, WE become the criminals.”
See this Lakewood resident speak at video minute marker 2:05:30
Transcript:
I live [in Ward 1]. The Garrison station’s there, the James Richie park is there, the action Center’s there, and just a few blocks from that is your Recovery Center.
I can’t walk to the grocery store. I can’t ride my bike around my neighborhood from all the drugs and you all sit here with all this enthusiasm to help the homeless.
I’m not an uncompassionate person. I have compassion to help those that want to help themselves.
Drug addicts are not housing insecure.
Yes, they live on my street and they endanger me every single day. I can’t go and dump my garbage without this, okay (holds up can of mace). I can’t dump my garbage. It’s literally 20 feet from my house because I have to carry mace.
Today marks the third time, not the second, I was a little upset when I called you today, the third time in less than three months my life has been threatened. Three times! Do you guys get threatened every day in your neighborhood? Do you have to carry mace just to dump your garbage? I doubt it.
The police are familiar with this.
Every time myself and my other neighbors contact [the police] we’re the criminals.
Those of us that have worked hard all of our lives and paid for a place and pay our taxes and we’re the criminal. Oh but they’re homeless! Today the police officer when I called dispatch they said do you want to press charges and I said absolutely!
These people, five of them, said they were going to knock me off my bike, beat me to death and then kill me, which was both the same thing.
They asked if I wanted to press charges. I said yes.
No one came.
They told me to wait in the Action Center in the parking lot. I did for 15 minutes while they all dispersed and harassed me on their way out of town or wherever they were headed and then, when the cops finally got there after I called 911 the second time, three officers show up in three different $250,000 vehicles and go,
“What do you expect us to do?”
That was the response after they interrogated me, the victim. It was what do you want us to do. This is crap. You guys know it.
The police aren’t doing anything.
You guys have an ordinance sign ordinance 9.66.10. It’s got the City of Lakewood written on it and it says no trespassing in giant letters. It’s down to a ravine it also backs up to a derelict property that has drug dens on it. That’s all they do. They go back there and smoke their crack and smoke their meth. That’s what they do. I know it for a fact. I’m not just making it up to be mean to homeless people.
This is a dangerous little corridor. It’s a simple fix folks and it doesn’t take $250,000 SUVs to fix it. How about you put a couple of e-bike cops out there. They could ride between Garrison and Carr Street and 13th and 14th and be busy 24 hours a day.
Colorado might claim that they are trying to cut down on people having to drive. While failing to mention that it is due to the state’s and municipal failures of planning that so many people have to drive to their jobs.
Regional Transportation District (RTD) has been in existence since 1969 (so, since before many of us were born) and it (along with CDOT) has failed to implement, maintain and adapt a transportation system comprehensive enough to eliminate the need for most to drive on a daily basis. Why did the RTD and Denver, and Colorado state legislature fail to secure the rights of way for future transit build-out decades ago, when the land cost the proverbial pennies on the dollar?
Red light and speeding traffic cameras are a contentious and well known issue. Lakewood specifics from the staff memo:
Cameras would have to be installed on arterial streets, not residential.
The city is looking at vendors who are confident the city will make money from citations, not lose money on cost of cameras
Would require two additional staff positions with salary/benefits of approximately adequately staff the program, the addition of an FTE AVIS program supervisor with an approximate salary/benefits of $221,000
Recommendation deploying 11 cameras would incur a monthly cost of $55,000-$60,000
