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Clerk finds four referendum petitions sufficient; council faces repeal-or-election choice
Summary
The city clerk told Lakewood City Council that four referendum petitions against recent zoning ordinances exceeded the 3% signature threshold, meaning the council must either repeal the ordinances or send each to a special election; councilors probed how the threshold and signature verification were calculated.
The Lakewood city clerk reported to the City Council on Jan. 12 that final determinations found each of four referendum petitions against recent zoning ordinances met the valid-signature threshold required to trigger referendum rights.
City Clerk Robb said his office’s final sufficiency review showed the referendums against Ordinances O2025-27, O2025-28, O2025-29 and O2025-30 each exceeded the 3,517 valid-signature threshold and therefore qualify either to force repeal or to appear on a special election ballot. Robb told council staff prepared ordinances for first reading so the council can comply with Charter Section 13.2 and either repeal the ordinances or adopt resolutions calling for a special election; staff proposed a target election date of March 31, 2026 with a latest call date of April 7, 2026.
Why the final counts differed from initial tallies was a focal point for councilors. Councilor Roger Lowe pressed the clerk on why petitions 29 and 30 showed higher final signature totals than earlier verifications; Robb…
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