Entrepreneur and owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting in Lakewood, Colorado. Gordey ran for Lakewood City Council Ward 5 in 2025 and has been a leading citizen activist fighting against the city's controversial zoning overhaul and for property rights protections.
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Karen Gordey is an entrepreneur and civic activist based in Lakewood, Colorado, where she has resided since purchasing her home in 2011. She is the owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting, a business she founded after transitioning from a career as an award-winning customer service executive in corporate America spanning over 20 years.
Gordey initially ran a national painting franchise before establishing Radiant Painting and Lighting to provide personalized painting and holiday lighting installation services tailored to the Denver metro community. Her business philosophy emphasizes quality, transparency, and customer-focused service.
Beyond her business, Gordey is deeply engaged in Lakewood civic affairs. She completed the Lakewood Citizens Planning Academy and served 3.5 years on the Lakewood Advisory Commission, rising to the position of Vice Chair. She has written extensively for the Lakewood Informer on zoning code changes, city council voting records, and development projects, establishing herself as a community watchdog for transparency and accountability.
In 2025, Gordey ran for Lakewood City Council Ward 5 and was at the forefront of citizen efforts to challenge the city's 398-page zoning overhaul, which she argued would eliminate single-family protections, regulate private property use down to porch and planter sizes, and push high-density development without adequate infrastructure. She helped organize the city's first-ever citizen referendum against the zoning ordinances and successfully advocated for a disaster clause protecting non-conforming property owners.
Liberty Toastmasters on engaged citizenship, Karen Gordey on Lakewood's zoning fight, Priscilla Rahn on Excalibur Classical Academy, Pat Miller's run for State Senate, and a Communist Manifesto book review. June 18, 2026.
“They said it's an even year, so this is a special election, and you have to collect over 12,000 signatures in six weeks with a buffer that's 15,000 signatures if you want to have it on this year's election.”
Dr. Brian Joondeph on Colorado's empty classrooms, Nate Jorgensen on the business exodus, and Karen Gordey on Lakewood's blocked petition. June 15, 2026.
“This does not bode well when there's a trust issue between the people and the city government.”
Mark Tapscott breaks down a 749% surge in school spending, Lori Gimelshteyn the Cherry Creek lawsuits, and Karen Levine the housing market. June 11, 2026.
“Even though they were rezoning the entire city last year, they didn't have to mail notices out.”
Lauren Fix on license plate surveillance, Trent Loos on loyalty-card pricing and farm policy, and Karen Gordey on Lakewood's zoning fight. May 27, 2026.
“And essentially, we're branding this as transparency before transformation.”
Karen Gordey on Lakewood civic engagement, Liberty Toastmasters on civic virtue, Stephen Varela on Colorado GOP, Paula Sarlls on Memorial Day. May 21, 2026.
“So we've got a huge amount of community engagement, and it is so wonderful to see because the people, they're showing up, we have a voice, and we're going to figure out how to move forward.”
Jay Davidson reads the Declaration as a moral standard, Karen Gordey on Lakewood scrapping its wildfire code, and the HD51 primary field. May 14, 2026.
“Third reading was Monday and unbelievably, at the very beginning of the meeting, the mayor, you know, she's talking about the agenda. She says we're going to see some changes on the agenda. We're pulling some things off the consent agenda. But most importantly, we are postponing indefinitely the WUI code.”
Tina Peters' appellate update, HB26-1430, the Duty to Disobey film, Lakewood fire codes, and Colorado's National Day of Prayer. May 7, 2026.
“Well, somebody at Lakewood chose to follow the Jefferson County map and not the state map. And they have put a large portion of Lakewood in a fire zone.”
Virginia Macha warns of Southwest Power Pool land grabs. Susan Miller tackles Jeffco's MLO. Greg Lopez updates the wolf reintroduction pause. April 16, 2026.
“We were outspent, what, eight to one? They raised almost $300,000. We raised about $42,000. And I like how your article put it. We had yard signs and shoe leather.”
Lakewood voters reject upzoning 63-37%. Greig Veeder and Dr. Broman on the Supreme Court therapist free speech ruling. Brad Beck on founding principles.
“They raised almost $300,000. We raised just over $42,000. So this is a lesson in you don't have to have all the money to be able to win.”
Kim Monson examines voter roll data, the Lakewood rezoning fight, FBI election probes, and Colorado legislation. March 26, 2026.
“City council said over and over again that wards four and five are not gonna be impacted by the zoning, but that Wadsworth and 285 is ward five, and my question is then how many other land deals are pending that we don't know about.”
Karen Gordey on Lakewood zoning, Wendy Warner on election bills, Bob Boswell on energy policy, and Rachael Flick's story of resilience. February 26, 2026.
“Some don't like the assault on property rights. Some said, don't Denver my Lakewood, because they don't want Lakewood to look like Denver.”