New Curfew Law

sharon kinsella · Post by **sharon kinsella** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:23 pm

City of Cleveland manages to do it with no charge.

Gary Rice · Post by **Gary Rice** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:33 pm

In my opinion, we probably have had a "class" issue in Lakewood since the very inception of our city. I can think of few other cities where the wealthy and the poor live in such close proximity.

Still, this has not been a bad thing necessarily, at least in my opinion. It really seems that when the wealthy leave an area, that difficulties can begin in earnest.

Both groups, and their interactive dynamics, would seem to have made historical contributions to the mosaic of Lakewood.

Rec centers that I've been to in Cleveland (Michael Zone, Cuddell, Gunning) as well as those in other suburbs, have been places where residents, often of modest income, can meet, enjoy sports, and participate in a variety of activities ranging from senior dances to family picnics. An urban rec center is a vastly different place than a "Y", as far as I'm concerned.

As fine a place as our "Y" is, I really think we might need to go one better. We need a community rec center badly for young and old to meet, and have a variety of constructive activities available for Lakewoodites of the full demographic stratum.

The politician advocating a community rec center would go a long way towards getting my vote.

Or, perhaps the "Y" plans to cover many of those other rec-center type activities in the future?

Ryan Salo · Post by **Ryan Salo** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:35 pm

Just an FYI

The Y has a sliding scale for membership, they will not turn anyone down do to financial hardship. Right now there is open gym for high school aged kids everyday from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. During the school year they are open from 3:30-7:00pm. According to some people the only thing that gets packed is the work out room on the 2nd floor, the gym almost always has room.

Here is some pricing on a family membership from some area rec centers

Westlake - $450 yr
Strongsville - $379
Middleburg Heights - $230
North Olmsted - swimming only - $350
Brookpark - $195
YMCA - $735, youth only is $16.13 a month

Obviously the Y is more but with the sliding scale it is much less if you qualify. Applications for the scholarship program are available at the front desk, you need to provide your last 2 paystubs and your 1040's from the past two years (according to the front desk).

Everyone that cannot afford the Y should apply for the scholarship, it may be much easier than building a new facility.

Also - if Cleveland already offers free activites to the youth, why are they still coming over here? Will it really get used by the people we want to use it?

Dee Martinez · Post by **Dee Martinez** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:44 pm

Ryan Salo wrote:
Everyone that cannot afford the Y should apply for the scholarship, it may be much easier than building a new facility.

I agree on this.
Lakewood is not hurting for physical spaces. We will still have 10 school buildings when all is said and done each with a modern gym. The Beck Center and armory are unused much of the time. We have the three neighborhood Catholic schools that closed to become the Lakewood City Academy. Even the smallest churches have some spaces that can accomodate arts or learning programs. And the good Lord knows we have all those empty storefronts, some of them quite large.
The issue is manpower mostly, supervision and maintenance. Liability, utilities, repairs, etc.
The Chat Room had space donated but couldn't maintain a steady supply of adult volunteers or paid staff. And that was a couple of sofas and a TV set. Imagine trying to maintain a health club.
(Not wanting to dismiss Mr O'Bryan's idea out of hand, but keep in mind that McKinley, which probalby wont be avaialble until 2010 anyway, is on exactly the opposite end of the city from where the majority of the concerns are.)
Unless the city or private foundations are ready to make a massive commitment to such a project better to get those applications from the Y, I think (PS-I don't go there nearly as often as I should, but Mr Salo is correct, the courts are usually open)

sharon kinsella · Post by **sharon kinsella** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:06 pm

The scholarships at the Y are great - however - sliding scale is not free - there is a limit on the number of scholarships available. $16.00 may not be a lot of money for many kids but some it is not an option.

My point being - instead of hiring a bunch of police people it might be a better use of already strained funds to do something posiitive and proactive.

In addition - I need to say - I truly do not like all the references to thugs. If you want to see some I will be more than happy to drive you to places in Cleveland where they are - I have no issues about going to those neighborhoods. Who wants to go on a field trip?

Ryan Salo · Post by **Ryan Salo** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:32 pm

60th and Lorain is the closest free rec center I think, so why can't those that want free go there? I am just afraid if we copy a broken system, Cleveland is not something we want to become. All of the other suburbs do have to charge, and I am guessing that the sliding scale will make the Y cheaper than most if not all of them depending on your income. As far as I know the Y is not ending applications for the scholarship, so if you were implying they don't have enough, why don't we test it and have 200 families that can't afford it apply?

I just think we should try to use what we have before stretching our money even further than we can spend it now.

sharon kinsella · Post by **sharon kinsella** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:41 pm

West Blvd. and Detroit is Cudell - free rec center.

PS. We also charge for swimming and ice skating - they are not free.

Great idea Ryan - I'm willing to help work on a rec center even though my kids are grown - why don't you spearhead the Y 200 families project?

Ryan Salo · Post by **Ryan Salo** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:57 pm

Sharon,

I would totally be up for helping get the word out and getting 200 families to apply. Joe Cerny and the Membership person at the Y would love to meet with those that are interested sometime next week. Post publicly or private IM me if you are interested in Sharon's Y200 family project.

sharon kinsella · Post by **sharon kinsella** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:11 pm

Good for you Ryan - and I love the name "Sharon's y200 Families Project" - has a nice ring to it.

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:53 pm

In two other threads posted here today there are statements that the Chief of Police reported that crime is DOWN in Lakewood and that there is no real gang activity in the city.

This conflicts with the statements made by Ryan Demro on why a new, more restrictive curfew law was needed in Lakewood.

Mr Demro, do you care to address this yet?

You have not defended your new curfew law nor have you responded to requests for FACTS on crime statistics. Especially those upon which you based your argument for a restrictive curfew law.

In fact, we now are being told by the police that crime has not increased.

If this is true, why do we now have a redundant, restrictive, potentially unconstitutional law on the Lakewood books, thanks to you?

sharon kinsella · Post by **sharon kinsella** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:15 pm

Looks like Grace hit that nail right on the head.

c. dawson · Post by **c. dawson** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:35 pm

Cleveland Heights has a great rec center, with several skating rinks, a huge area of multiple basketball courts, elevated walking/running track above the basketball courts and a nice, although small, gym/workout space. And it also has child care space, and is home to the senior center (handy during the day when many of the seniors use the gym upstairs to workout).

Best of all, it's $154 a year for an adult, or $250 for a family (though of course, it's subsidized through taxes).

Our Y is lovely here, and there's nothing like it over there, but perhaps a community center is a way to go in the future? A lot of cities build them as perks to attract new residents, and keep their current residents and families. And certainly utilizing the space occupied by a now-closed school or parish school might be an advantage.

But yes, it does raise the spectre of more taxes, though are they necessarily bad if they translate to increased services? Tough question, with answers both positive and negative.

But shouldn't it be something that the city should at least explore to find out how much it would cost, where would be the best location, and most importantly, would the populace support it?

Grace O'Malley · Post by **Grace O'Malley** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:47 pm

It appears Ryan Demro is too busy tooting his own horn at "the other place" to bother answering any questions about the law he trumpeted.

I'll ask again, Ryan.

Upon what FACTS did you base your campaign for an intrusive, redundant, and worthless curfew law on?

Jim O'Bryan · Post by **Jim O'Bryan** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:59 pm

Grace O'Malley wrote:In two other threads posted here today there are statements that the Chief of Police reported that crime is DOWN in Lakewood and that there is no real gang activity in the city.

This conflicts with the statements made by Ryan Demro on why a new, more restrictive curfew law was needed in Lakewood.

Mr Demro, do you care to address this yet?

You have not defended your new curfew law nor have you responded to requests for FACTS on crime statistics. Especially those upon which you based your argument for a restrictive curfew law.

In fact, we now are being told by the police that crime has not increased.

If this is true, why do we now have a redundant, restrictive, potentially unconstitutional law on the Lakewood books, thanks to you?

Grace

The Chief of Police said that to Ryan when asked if crime was up. Also to come out was that no gang activity, in complete disagreement with Ryan's assertions and also that a lot of man hours in nuisance calls and curfews. Of course Ryan came back to correct that as well.

There is also some talk the the nuisance law is not the Demro law, but a complete rewrite of the original as it was not legal and only pertained to Lakewood High as it was written. This could have been political in nature.

Ed Fitzgerald brought up that it is impossible for politicians to talk about raising taxes in an election year. Mayor George point out the action being taken and ready to lead the discussion. Ryan getting his name out. I am sure we are but hours away from Ryan radio interview on how unsafe Lakewood is!

Whatever.

.

Ed FitzGerald · Post by **Ed FitzGerald** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:16 pm

Jim-

You're misquoting me. I said that difficult decisions don't tend to get done in election years, but we owe it to residents to try and find solutions. The first step is admitting there's a real problem. I also didn't hear the mayor say that he's going to be leading a discussion; his consistent position has been that crime is down, as was re-iterated last night.

Crime is not down. It's up over the last few years, significantly in some categories. The statistics show it and the residents know it. We'll be having some committee hearings where all of the data we have will again be made public.