2017 City Council Elections           

Development Related Special Interest Contributions Way Up 

           Fundraising for Lakewood City Council races reached a new high with a flood of development-related special interest money to Ward 3 candidate Michael Gifford.
          The previous record was held by former State Senate President Betty Boyd in a failed run for the Ward 4 seat against David Wiechman.  In her 2013 race, Boyd raised over $20,000.

2017 City Council Elections           

2017 City Council Elections           


​Special Interest Donors to Michael Gifford campaign

Development-Related Special Interest Donations
   Note - Maximum legal contribution is $2,500

Realtor PAC
           Krya DeGruy (Ward 1)                  $2,500
           Charles Davis (Ward 2)                 $2,500
           Michael Gifford (Ward 3)             $2,500
           LaDawn Sperling (Ward 4)          $2,500
           Karen Harrison (Ward 5)             $2,500
           Leadership Lakewood                $11,000 *

                           TOTAL                                   $23,500

* Leadership Lakewood - an "independent expenditure" committee designed to funnel "dark money" (unknown donors) to Gifford, Sperling and Harrison.

Home Builders Association 
(dba Metro Housing Coalition)
            Krya DeGruy (Ward 1)                  $2,500
            Michael Gifford (Ward 3)             $2,500
            LaDawn Sperling (Ward 4)          $2,500
            Karen Harrison (Ward 5)             $2,500

Metro Apartments Association 
            Krya DeGruy (Ward 1)                     $600
            Michael Gifford (Ward 3)             $1,000

CRL Associates (Developers' Lobbyists) 
            Krya DeGruy (Ward 1)                     $500
            Michael Gifford (Ward 3)                $500

2017 City Council Elections           

Johnson Eligible to Run for Council in 2017


            The next city election in November 2017 will see two open seats (Ward 2 - current Scott Koop and Ward 4 - current David Wiechman), and two incumbents (Ward 3 - Shakti and Ward 5 - Karen Harrison).  The fifth race will be Ward 1.  The seat is currently held by Ramey Johnson, the Mayor Pro-tem, who ran for mayor in 2015.  There is a question as to whether Mrs. Johnson can run for another term in 2017.  The City Charter establishes a term limit on elected officials of two terms.  In Mrs. Johnson's case she will have served one full term (2013 - 2017) and a partial term (2011 - 2013).  The question is whether the partial term counts as a full term.  A review of Colorado court cases finds a partial term must be evaluated in terms of how many days the official actually served.  In Mrs. Johnson's case her partial term was two days short of a full two years.  Thus she does NOT satisfy the requirement of serving "at least half a term" which would kick in the two term limit.