Thanks for coming to the Holiday Parade of Lights
We saw one of the best turnouts in the history of hosting our Holiday Parade of Lights at our event last weekend.
The number of parade entries grew, and so did the crowds! Thank you to everyone who joined us for this great community event. While the tree lighting didn’t go quite as we had hoped (we saw the Grinch tinkering by the tree shortly before the countdown!) we enjoyed seeing the community come together to celebrate local businesses, cheer on neighbors and friends in the parade and enjoy the start of the holiday season.
Thank you, Lakewood for joining us and helping make our final event of 2024 be one for the memory books! Find photos from the event on our Facebook page.
Lakewood’s Jingle Bell 5k & Kids Dash is Saturday
The City of Lakewood is excited to again partner with the Lakes Cross Country Booster Club to host a Jingle Bell 5K Walk/Run & 1K Kids Dash at Fort Steilacoom Park this Saturday.
Day-of registration is available. Wear your best holiday-themed costume, dress up your pet, and hit the trails for this holiday-themed fun run.
The 1-mile Kids Dash starts at 9:30 a.m. The 5k walk/run starts at 10 a.m. Chip timing will be provided by GC Racing.
- Pre-registration: $10 for 12 and under; $30 everyone else.
- Day-of registration: $15 for 12 and under; $35 everyone else.
Event details and registration are found online.
The proceeds from this affordable event support the Lakes Cross Country Booster Club, contributing to the enhancement of youth running events in the South Puget Sound area.
Lakewood employees embody ‘Guiding Principles’
The City of Lakewood operates with four Guiding Principles:
- Service: We provide prompt, courteous and effective service, emphasizing problem solving and creativity.
- Teamwork: We communicate and work cooperatively with others, recognizing and appreciating the contributions of all.
- Integrity: We are honest, accountable, and honor our commitments.
- Respect: We embrace differences and treat each other with respect.
Each year the City’s leadership team recognizes employees who have gone above and beyond their daily job responsibilities to embody one or more of these four principles. The employees are announced at the city’s annual holiday recognition event at the end of the year and presented with a Guiding Principle award by City Manager John Caulfield.
Congratulations to this year’s recipients:
Individual award
- Tiffany Speir, Planning Division manager
- Michelle Yeider, maintenance worker
- Capt. Jeff Alwine, Lakewood Police Department
Team award
- Washington State Emergency Management Team members deployed to North Carolina to assist with Hurricane Helene response:
- Elizabeth Scheid, recreation coordinator
- Andy Suver, Lakewood Police Department
- Assistant Chief John Unfred, Lakewood Police Department
- Members of the city’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Action Pillar development teams:
- Elizabeth Scheid, recreation coordinator
- Shannon Bennett, program coordinator
- Carolina Alba, Human Resources technician
- Joanna LaVergne, administrative assistant to the police chief
- Weston Ott, City Engineer
- Tracey Freeman, Human Resources analyst
- Danielle Beavers, permit technician
- Heather Brown, court clerk, Lakewood Municipal Court
- Katie Foster, engineering technician
- Becky Newton, Economic Development manager
- Erica Meeks, evidence property supervisor, Lakewood Police Department
- Hannah Hillig, Human Resources analyst
- Michael Vargas, assistant to the city manager/policy analyst
- Megan Davis, local government management fellow
- Sam Mahugh, lead finance technician
- Sgt. Timothy Borchardt, Lakewood Police Department
Winter 2024 Lakewood Connections is here
The Winter 2024 edition of the quarterly Lakewood Connections magazine arrived in homes earlier this month.
Inside the latest edition readers will find:
- A Council Corner article from the Lakewood City Council highlighting its key accomplishments in 2024 and its plans for 2025.
- A look at what’s happening at American Lake Park and other major park improvement projects underway.
- A summary of nine months of police calls for service and overall crime trends.
- Information about “street ends” and the city’s plans to see these developed through a pilot project.
- Major construction is coming to Steilacoom Boulevard. Read more to see when.
Read the online version. Or the PDF version.
Council Corner: Dec. 9 recap
The Lakewood City Council started its night with a special meeting to act on the following:
- Authorized the execution of a construction contract to Redside Construction, in the amount of $3,247,839.90, for the Wards Lake Phase 1 and 2 Improvement Project.
- Adopted an ordinance amending the 2023-2024 Biennial Budget.
With those actions completed the Council concluded its special meeting and began its study session. The meeting included:
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Program and Fund Status Report. The City Council received an update on how the money the city was awarded from the federal government during the pandemic has been utilized. Under the law, all the money awarded to the city must be allocated by the end of this year. It must then be spent by the end of 2026. The City Council identified the following priorities to be supported with ARPA monies:
- Children’s programs
- Community programs
- Food banks
- Housing and Homelessness supports
- Public health
- Public Safety
- Workforce development
- Parks and green space
- City Hall upgrades
- Administrative costs for running the ARPA program
South Sound Military and Communities Partnership (SSMCP) Update. The City Council heard an update from the South Sound Military and Communities Partnership about its upcoming legislative initiative to support the creation of a statewide unified approach for defense community coordination.
Review of City Council Meeting Schedule. The Lakewood City Council is looking at whether to change the number of monthly meetings it holds starting in 2025. The City Council reviewed and discussed a proposal to reduce the total number of meetings from four a month (two regular meetings and two study sessions) to either two meetings (one regular meeting and one study session) or three meetings (one regular meeting, one study session and one regular meeting followed by a study session). Lakewood is just one of four cities in Pierce County that still meets every week. The City Council will act on the proposed meeting change at its first meeting in January.
Watch the meeting.
What’s on Deck: The Lakewood City Council has no more meetings in 2024. The next Lakewood City Council meeting is Monday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers.
Police Chief’s Corner
Each week Lakewood Police Chief Patrick D. Smith shares a summary that includes a look at total calls for service the Lakewood Police Department responded to for the prior week. The intent of the summary is to show a snapshot of how the department works to keep the community safe. To see quarterly statistical analysis, visit the Lakewood Police Department crime statistics page on the city website.
Weekly Summary, Dec. 3-10, 2024
- Calls for Service: 908 (up 11% from prior week)
- Arrests: 44 (down 6% from prior week)
- Violent Crime: 28 (up 47% from prior week)
- Property Crime: 58 (up14% from prior week)
- Traffic Stops: 128 (up 42% from prior week)
- Collisions (reportable): 24 (up 41% from prior week)
Community events
Lakewood Playhouse presents “It’s a Wonderful Life: A live radio play”
Head to the Lakewood Playhouse in Lakewood Towne Center to experience a classic holiday tale performed like a 1940’s style live radio play. This unique take on a familiar tale honors Lakewood Playhouse’s history of presenting radio plays while also exploring how “It’s a Wonderful Life” speaks to a modern world.
The show runs Dec. 13-29, 2024. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Pay What You Can Performance is Sunday, Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m. For ticket information call the Box Office at (253) 588-0042 or visit www.lakewoodplayhouse.org.
Call to Poets: Submit Your Poem for Lakewold Gardens’ Winter Garden Poetry
Lakewold Gardens is seeking original, unpublished poems for inclusion in the 2025 Winter Poetry in the Gardens event. Poems should be no longer than approximately 1,000 words or no more than five minutes in duration when read aloud, preferably with a theme related to gardens and/or the celebration of nature.
Participants must be Washington State residents and be available to record their poems and have headshot photos taken onsite at Lakewold Gardens the week of Feb. 10, 2025. Poets of all backgrounds and ages are invited to participate. Lakewold Gardens strives to promote contributions from communities that have been traditionally underrepresented. Poets who identify with or are part of these communities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Selected participants will be celebrated at a special event on February 22, 2025 where they will be invited to read their poems aloud. Only one entry per poet will be accepted. Entries must be submitted before Jan. 17, 2025. Learn more.
Sign up for Lakewood Alert (Code Red)
The City of Lakewood uses Code Red, an alert service, to notify residents of important information happening in the city.
If there is an emergency that requires public notification, we will use Lakewood Alert as one way to communicate. We will also post information to our website and social media channels.
Subscribers can sign up to receive text and email alerts. People can also sign up for important non-emergency updates including information about road impacts from large events in the city or information about special events.
Find out more and sign up today.
Road project updates
Lakewood Station Access Project: Sound Transit is investing nearly $70 million in road improvements in and around the Lakewood Sounder Station to improve roads in the Lakeview and Springbrook neighborhoods. Residents may see crews in the area while they begin preliminary surveying for this project. The survey work will add one-foot squares of white paint on certain roads. Construction is not anticipated to begin until the fall of 2025.
84th and Pine: The contractor will install pedestrian lighting soon.
Farwest Drive SW: The contract is currently in suspension while waiting for new pedestrian luminaires to be delivered.
Rose Road Sanitary Sewer Project: Work is anticipated to start early 2025.
Steilacoom Boulevard Weller to 87th Ave: Active Construction, Inc. is expected to start construction in early 2025.
South Tacoma Way Overlay 96th to Steilacoom Blvd.: Miles Resources is expected to start work in early spring 2025.
South Tacoma Way & 92nd signal replacement: Bids were opened Dec. 4 and an apparent low bidder identified. This project is expected to begin in early 2025.