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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 explained that counts can change between initial and final determinations because petition circulators withdraw names, confidential voters are reclassified, and the county may supply different voter lists at successive checks. Robb said he used the county’s active registered voter count from the 2023 municipal election (117,237) to calculate the 3% threshold used in his office’s review and that, under his process, that translated to a 3,517 threshold the clerk used for these petitions.
Councilors also questioned signature-verification limits for petition checks. Robb said city clerks do not have the same access to the Secretary of State’s statewide signature database (SCORE) for petition verification as they do for municipal election ballot signatures, and that the Secretary of State told his office it cannot provide SCORE access to city clerks for petition verification outside of municipal elections. Robb told the council the county might provide additional assistance where appropriate, but added that state law and case law constrain what additional verification requirements a city can impose on petition circulation without risking legal challenges to the right to petition.
Residents and observers in the council chamber urged process improvements. Ben Hensley and other petition critics argued the city’s threshold calculation and the clerk’s verification protocol need clarification and stronger integrity controls; Hensley said petition pages require signers to confirm they read lengthy ordinance text and questioned how that requirement could be enforced. Hensley urged revisions to ensure consistent signature verification and clearer campaign-finance registration rules for groups circulating paid petitions.
What happens next: council staff placed repeal ordinances and resolutions on the consent agenda for first reading on Jan. 12. Under the charter, within the clerk’s presentation and after public input, the council must either repeal the named ordinances in full or adopt resolutions to refer the measures to a special election (and set the election date). The council is scheduled to revisit and take action on these items at its Jan. 26 meeting.
Votes at a glance: the consent agenda motion to publish the first-reading ordinances and adopt related resolutions passed by roll call, recorded as 11 yeses, 0 noes. The council’s formal vote on repeal or referral will occur at the Jan. 26 meeting.
"This table is from my final report and represents my final determination for the referendum petitions," Robb told the council, describing the process and next steps.
Background: the ordinances targeted by the petitions relate to recent zoning-code reforms under Title 17 of the Lakewood Municipal Code. The clerk’s presentation noted statutory and charter citations relevant to the referendum procedure and provided counsel on the choice facing council members.
The council will decide on Jan. 26 whether to repeal the ordinances or to send each to a special election; if the council opts for elections, staff will set the dates and return to the council with required resolutions and timelines.
