Lakewood City Council Finance Committee Budget Priorities Discussion - July 2, 2026
Lakewood City Council Finance Committee Budget Priorities Discussion
This Finance Committee meeting, chaired by Councilman Kyle Baker, focused on the final three items from the list of 25 Council Budget Priority Worksheets submitted after the May 11 council retreat. While the meeting was originally scheduled for July 6, 2026 (as indicated in the agenda), this summary uses the July 2, 2026 date as instructed. The committee discussed the Implementation of the Racial Equity Plan, the Lakewood Community Circulator, and the Expansion of Winter Sidewalk Maintenance, with an emphasis on identifying whether each priority requires budget allocation or policy development for the 2027 city budget.
Consent Calendar
- The minutes of the June 29, 2026 Finance Committee meeting were approved by voice vote of the two members present (Baker and Strebig).
Discussion Items
- Implementation of the Racial Equity Plan (Sponsored by Councilperson Angelina Hamilton Steiner): Councilperson Hamilton Steiner reported that the consultant is finalizing the racial equity plan, which will be reviewed by the Anti-Racism Task Force before being referred to Council. She noted the plan extends beyond race to include gender, sexuality, disability, and other marginalized identities. The desired outcome is to implement the plan’s recommendations. Council President Sarah Kepple highlighted the need for dedicated funds, but the exact amount is unknown until the plan is complete. It was agreed that Councilperson Hamilton Steiner would work with Director Barry and others to propose a specific budget figure by the end of the month.
- Lakewood Community Circulator (Sponsored by Councilperson Angelina Hamilton Steiner): The proposal aims to revisit the feasibility of a community circulator, building on a 2024 transit feasibility study. Councilperson Hamilton Steiner emphasized that it is a waste of public dollars not to act on the study. Discussion centered on exploring creative solutions beyond a traditional bus route, such as partnerships with Lakewood City Schools for student transportation, free RTA passes for residents, and micro-mobility options. The committee considered this more of a policy initiative for 2027, with a working group to be convened to develop a long-term plan and short-term outcomes. Several members expressed support for exploring the concept, acknowledging the financial challenges but noting high public interest.
- Expansion of Winter Sidewalk Maintenance (Sponsored by Councilperson Angelina Hamilton Steiner): Noting the severe winter of 2025-2026, the priority proposes a pilot city-run snow clearing service focused on high-need areas (senior populations, schools, mobility-challenged). Public Works Director Robert Gordon outlined current snow removal practices and the challenges of clearing 180 miles of varied-width sidewalks, including equipment constraints and potential property damage. He confirmed the city is already internally reviewing improvements. The committee agreed that this is primarily a policy development effort for 2027, with Director Gordon willing to meet with council members to further refine the concept before potentially requesting engineering funds or other budget allocations.
Key Outcomes
- All three items were discussed with no formal votes; the committee focused on clarifying the nature of each priority (policy vs. budget) and establishing next steps.
- For the Racial Equity Plan, Councilperson Hamilton Steiner will coordinate with administration to propose a budget estimate for the 2027 budget.
- For the Community Circulator, a working group will be formed to study the issue further, with a policy-oriented approach for 2027.
- For Winter Sidewalk Maintenance, Director Gordon will meet with interested council members to develop a policy framework, with possible budget implications for 2028.
- Councilman Matthew Bixenstine noted that his own priority items (inclusion, block clubs, mental health, safety, recreation) were already covered by others’ proposals, so he did not submit separate priorities.
- The meeting adjourned after approximately 32 minutes, with no additional meetings scheduled at this time.
Meeting Transcript
Who uh the folks that are here that are going to be here, uh I'll go ahead and on time uh call the July 6, 2026 finance committee to order. Uh Councilman Bullock is coming back from a family vacation. So he'll be here later this evening, but not for this meeting. But um myself and Councilperson Streiebig, I think represent the forum. We're going to move on. Uh the first item uh up for business is the review and approval of the June 29th, 2026 finance committee meeting minutes. Uh I will go ahead and move approval. Second. Uh there's a first and a second. Any discussion? It's passed because we're the two. So if you uh your second got it got us there. Uh and as we discussed the at the end of the last committee meeting, um we're gonna kind of try to keep it tight to a half hour because there's a a committee meeting after this uh some very important issues. Uh but wanted to see how much we could accomplish in the half hour that we have and see whether we need to come back uh in the next week or two to finish out some of these budget priorities and talk about process. Um so rather than me continuing to talk, uh I will go ahead and we have three left. Uh so we'll see if we can get through them. Uh I do not want to shortchange them, so if we need more time, we will schedule more time. Uh the first one is the implementation of the racial equity plan. And I believe that is um council person Hamilton Steiner. Or yes, okay. Um so it you I guess the floor is yours. Thank you, Chair Baker. Um so the city of Lakewood via resolution created the anti-racism task force to advise and work with administration to ensure the value of anti-racism is foundational and unambiguously expressed, and all city objectives involving safety, housing, education, culture, and community wellness. Um it was in direct response to the George Floyd protest in 2020 and is intended to ensure that Lakewood lives up to its values of being an inclusive and welcoming community. Um so to just talk through a little bit um uh so the desired outcome is for implementation of recommendations from the racial equity plan. Um the racial equity plan will present an opportunity for public discussion of what an inclusive Lakewood looks like and how to achieve it. Um while racial is in the name, it is not only about inclusivity for race. It will involve inclusivity for race, gender, sexuality, sex, religious affiliation, belief association, disability, and other identities from historically marginalized groups and less or heard voices. It is a recognition of the necessity to deconstruct institutional oppression that harms not just racial groups, but is harmful to all demographics and counterproductive to a democratic society. Progress will be demonstrated by steps taken to address the recommendation of the racial equity plan. So I did reach out to Director Barry to just get a status update on where things are and the um consultant is finishing up the racial equity plan and will um provide that to the anti-racism task force and the anti-race ARTF will review the plan and um either you know approve it, and then once they've approved that Director Barry uh plans to put together a communication and refer that to council. Um and then I'm assuming the next step would be a referral, and we will um you know discuss that. And my thought of of everything is that it would mirror um other plans that have been approved by this body um and we go from there. Thank you. Anything from the um council president or um councilperson Striebig, uh as I know you're kind of co-workers on this. I'm I'm happy to join this effort to bring um more inclusion across our community, and I'm looking uh very much forward to seeing the the uh plans from the consultant and helping to implement those across um our city so that we can get more involvement and more participation from everyone in in town and not just some of those people that have the privilege of of paying attention um because they have additional time. Thank you. Council President Keppel. Thanks. And I'll just follow up. This was um a few years ago, a couple budget priority processes in a row were um put in money for us to do this plan essentially because we had the anti-racism task force, and without um having you know a consultant and some guidance to figure out, you know, it's not really fair to just put on a group of volunteers like how should we solve you know hundreds of years of racism in our city. So um and how we do this. So um and how we do this, so it's uh there the anti-racism task force was charged with being unambiguously uh expressed in all of our city um services and policies and those sorts of things. So without seeing what the racial equity plan is yet, I don't know quite what implementation looks like, but I think like before where it was important to put a few some dollars um towards this work, you know, I think it will be important to have some funds because unlike you know, we've done other we do um you know active transportation and we do uh climate action and all these other things without some uh some money and depending on you know what all the aspects of this are, we don't quite know what that will hit. Some of it will be carried forth by staff, but there may be um additional consultant work or additional um uh outreach pieces or those sorts of things. So not quite sure what the dollar amount should be though, without seeing the the plan finished and what's included. Well, I think what might be helpful is it sounds like there is some funds that the three of you would like to see in the 2027 budget. So perhaps if between now and the end of the month, we can come up with kind of what that number is based upon consultation with Director Barry and whomever else, and then that's what goes in kind of our report out as a priority. Um I think maybe that would be a good process. Um if that's okay with you all.
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