Gary Harty for Lakewood City Council

Downtown Lakewood spans three different city council wards-- wards 1, 2, and 3.

If you live south of Alameda, you're in ward 3, where incumbent Pete Roybal faces a welcome challenge this year from Gary Harty. In office, Roybal has proven himself to be unreliable as an advocate for urban redevelopment and has allied himself with the head-in-the-sand policies of Ramey Johnson. Like Johnson, Roybal seems to think that by nixing high quality, carefully planned developments like Belmar, growth in Lakewood can somehow be stopped.

The reality is that growth is going to happen, and that the city of Lakewood should be working to manage this growth in ways that add to urbanized areas like downtown Lakewood and keep it out of suburban areas where it would be inappropriate.

Gary Harty understands the importance of promoting smart growth. He favors the city's sustainability plan and has been a long time advocate of alternate transportation and cycling. All this makes Harty the clear choice for anyone who loves la vida Belmar.

A Clean Slate for Jeffco Schools

Although Jefferson County is divided into five school board districts, board members are elected at large. This means that voters-- regardless of where they reside within the county-- have the ability to cast their ballots for a candidate in every district.

This means that in the coming 2015 November election, voters who live in downtown Lakewood will have the ability to vote for all five school board seats.

That is to say, voters in downtown Lakewood will have the chance to cast their votes for a return to the open and nonpartisan cooperation that has marked Jeffco's school boards in the past, and against the waste, disrespect, and lack of transparency of the current board.

Which candidates are in favor of a clean slate for Jeffco? They are:

• Ali Lasell
• Amanda Stevens
• Brad Rupert
• Susan Harmon
• Ron Mitchell

This is, without a doubt, the most impressive slate of school board candidates Jeffco has seen in years, if not decades. And that's fitting, given how high the stakes are.

But don't take my word for it. Visit their websites. Go and meet them at a candidate forum. Then vote to recall the current board and give our schools the leadership they need.

Get the Facts on the Jefferson County School Board Recall

Why are parents and community members in Jeffco seeking to recall three school board members?

The bloggers at Jefferson County School Board Watch have put together a Recall 101 for the Jeffco community.

It's well worth the read: http://jeffcoschoolboardwatch.org/?page_id=3508