The Lakewood City Council looks mostly the same following the Nov. 4 elections.

With that, the council’s goals remain the same: affordable housing for the missing middle — or families that don’t qualify as low-income but don’t earn enough to obtain a mortgage on a single-family home.

The city had four incumbents running for re-election on Tuesday. Ken Cruz, Bill Furman, Paula Nystrom and Jeslin Shahrezaei were all reelected, with the latter being uncontested.

Liz Black, a new candidate, also faced no competition in Ward 2.

Cruz beat Bonnie Nguyen and Pedro Roybal in Ward 3 with 50.95% of the vote. Nystrom beat Karen Gordey in Ward 5 with 67.59%. Furman won decisively over Ariel Manzanares-Scisney and Desirée González in Ward 4 with 73.13% of the vote.

Both Cruz and Furman were initially voted in during a special election in the spring, while Shahrezaei has held the seat since 2021 and Nystrom since 2024.

Cruz said the re-elections show “that Lakewood residents appreciate steady, collaborative leadership. They’ve seen that this council can disagree respectfully, make tough decisions, and still move the city forward. Voters are saying, ‘Keep working together, keep listening and keep making progress.’ That continuity matters.”

“I think that the re-election is an indication that while not every vote aligns with every constituent’s presence, they recognize that the council is focused on the best outcome for the people of Lakewood,” Furman told The Denver Gazette.

Residents seem grateful to have the full party returning, especially after big moves earlier this year to update the city’s zoning code to allow for more inclusionary housing on what were once single-family zoning lots.

“Their proven commitment to thoughtful planning, responsible stewardship and our community’s long-term vision gives us a strong foundation to continue building a vibrant, thriving city,” Malisa Eakins, a resident and local Realtor, told The Denver Gazette regarding the re-elections.

“Nice to see that candidates that were for changing the zoning in Lakewood all are winning,” a Reddit user, Adventnebula, said on the city’s forum during the elections.

“NIMBYs think we elect a city council that doesn’t represent us, reality proves otherwise,” another user said.

“Residents might not always have the same opinion about how to run things, but these are people with a passion and a heart to do good work in the City of Lakewood. That I am certain of,” newcomer Black said.

Still, some residents have been outspoken about the council, especially during the four-part zoning ordinance votes that occurred throughout the last few months.

“(The council) surely are not paying attention to those that appear before them at city council meetings or at ward meetings. They are evasive, dismissive, disingenuous, even arrogant when addressing their constituents,” a resident named Ludmila commented on the city’s website back in September.

“Unfortunately, the current council is not being held accountable by Lakewood voters and the resulting echo chamber has become complacent in their positions,” Steve Farthing, a founder of the Save Belmar Park group, said. “This needs to change for the betterment of Lakewood and for the protection of wildlife and open space.”

He claimed that former councilmembers faced “inhospitable” treatment from the council, leading to other qualified candidates being uneager to run.

All five of the Lakewood elected representatives, including Black, are listed on the Jefferson County Democratic Party website as Democrats.

Robert Preuhs, a political science professor and department chair at Metropolitan State University of Denver, said Democratic voting was a theme throughout the state this year.

He noted that backing affordable housing efforts in Lakewood generally aligns more with Democratic priorities than Republican ones.

“The voters were a bit more discerning in terms of who they wanted to throw out,” he said.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING STILL THE FOCUS

Between August and November, the council approved all four parts of a new zoning code that will go into place next year, the biggest change since 2012. It was the focus of the council’s year, with members stating multiple times that they wanted to get the voting finished before the election.

The most discussed part of the 400-page proposal was the erasure of the term “single-family housing,” though the city never had direct single-family- only zoning in the past.

New residential districts are broken up into low-form residential and mid-form residential classifications.

Low-form residential will include single-family homes and small-scale attached and detached housing to “support compact, walkable neighborhoods with a range of housing options,” according to the proposal.

Mid-form will include medium-density housing and multi-family buildings.

The updates include combining nine residential uses into three: residential dwellings, accessory dwellings and temporary dwellings, according to city spokesperson Stacie Oulton.

With the re-election of the council, bringing in more affordable homes — like duplexes and townhomes — remains a top priority.

“We are focused on the issues of affordable housing by pushing for inclusionary zoning,” Furman said. “There are strong advocates on this council that have and continue to be focused on the emergency sheltering issues. There is an effort to advance sustainability initiatives, currently in the ad hoc committee.”

Black said her first goal is to get in and learn more about the affordable housing initiatives “so that I can begin to think about policies that will begin to tackle these issues.”

Cruz said the priorities remain clear: affordable housing in a “balanced and responsible way,” supporting small businesses, building resources for the community and strengthening community outreach.

Nystrom added that greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements, tree canopy and other environmental goals that can “directly impact our health and quality of life” are on her priority list, as well. 

“Having a cohesive council means we can maintain momentum on major initiatives without having to start over,” Cruz said. “There’s already a shared understanding of our priorities and how to get things done. It allows us to focus on implementation, on turning conversations and policy frameworks into visible results for residents.”

Staff writer Nico Brambila contributed to this report.