Dispelling a Rumor

[David Anderson]

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes” – Mark Twain

While characterizing it as a lie as opposed to a rumor may be a stretch, I think the quote above is applicable to my note below.

I received a text message as well as a couple of emails from residents over the past few days concerned that Council recently has or may hold a secret session to vote for Lakewood Hospital’s closure. The text message was in response to a reader comment linked to a Bruce Geiselman’s Lakewood Hospital related article posted on Cleveland.com. The emails were from concerned citizens who appeared to have heard the rumor from different sources.

Before I joined Council just over four years ago I had a basic understanding of the requirements that must be met for elected officials to hold sessions/hearings and to call for votes. So, I appreciate that some residents, informed and engaged as they may be, might not be completely aware of all that is involved. I certainly know I wasn’t until 2011.

Per Lakewood’s Second Amended Charter and Ohio Revised Code:
1. Public notice must be issued in order for Council to meet. This applies for a Council session as well as a committee hearing.
2. Council cannot vote while in executive session.
3. While in executive session, Council can only discuss publically noticed topics.
4. Council cannot vote on ordinances or resolutions without a publically noticed meeting (date, time, location, ordinances and resolutions to be considered).
5. Ordinances are required to have three public readings. Passage of an ordinance before three readings requires the rules to be suspended which can only take place via a recorded and public vote of a super majority of Council members present during a properly noticed public session.

My intent was to disprove the rumor as well as to assure residents that there are checks and balances written into our Second Amended Charter and supported by Ohio law to prevent any concocted scenarios related to the rumor.

There have been no votes. There will be no secret votes.

I pledge to check in on this thread regularly and will try answer any questions and comments that I can.

Yours in Service,
David W. Anderson
216-789-6463
David.Anderson@Lakewoodoh.net

[Michael Deneen]

Thank you for the information.

You've done outstanding work on this issue, and it's greatly appreciated in the community.

[Bridget Conant]

Thank you from a Ward 1 resident. It is refreshing to see responsive, open communication with residents!

[Stan Austin]

Thank you for your reply Councilman. Your straight shooter response is refreshing.

Stan Austin

[Bill Grulich]

Thank you, Councilman Anderson. Transparent and open government is what the citizens of Lakewood want and deserve.

[m buckley]

Councilperson Anderson if you want to stop rumors and speculation concerning City Council activity then tell Ms. Madigan and Mr. Bullock enough of the backroom executive sessions. Enough of convening in the shadows. Do not allow them to define your legacy while they practice the politics of exclusion. You, Mr. O'Leary and Ms. Marx, ( Mr. Nowlin feel free to jump in) are in a position to make a difference. It's time to lead.

[Alex Belisle]

Thank you, Mr. Anderson. For a while there I thought I made a mistake moving to Lakewood.

[Kate McCarthy]

So happy to be very well represented in Ward 1. The first time I saw him speak at one of our block parties I thought he would be a great mayor if he every decided to run. Thoughtful and respectful.

[Richard Baker]

In the tenor I had as a small town mayor; executive meetings were a rarity and mostly concerned personnel issues. Only the "topic" not topics that could be discussed was stated and no decision outside the topic could be made and no decision could be made in an executive meeting. Minutes were taken during these meetings, although they are not released to the public. The action taken after the executive meeting normally provided the public of what and who was discussed during an executive meeting. It is also a forum that can be abused easily by a city council.
That being said, frequent executive meetings are an indicator of elected officials maintaining a non-public forum to discuss issues and to come to individual decisions without public discussion or debate. In the case of the City of Lakewood what is a more of a travesty and an affront to the public is the Committee of the Whole meetings held in a small room in the back of building. This is where councilmen discuss; ask questions, rarely debate and making decisions on pending business and ordinances prior to the Council Meetings.
If you want really want to know how your councilman thinks, if and how he debates on issues, I suggest you attend every Committee of the Whole meeting. The Council Meeting in nothing but a formality to make the decisions into law that was made during the Committee of the Whole meeting. When enough people attend the Committee of the Whole meetings, you can be assured, the discussions, debate and decisions will be move to the Council chambers where they belong. Healthy open debate is a good representative government; those unwilling to participate in a public debate should not be on the council.
The people in Lakewood are responsible for how open the City Council conducts business because it’s your city, not theirs.

[cameron karslake]

Thank you David and Richard with thoughtful remarks and responses. Open, transparent government is by far the ideal method. More and more, recently, our local government has maneuvering in the "dark" if you will with more frequency.

I very much agree that if Council members are not able to engage the public in good faith, they have no business in that seat.

[Peter Grossetti]

If you want really want to know how your councilman thinks, if and how he debates on issues, I suggest you attend every Committee of the Whole meeting. The Council Meeting in nothing but a formality to make the decisions into law that was made during the Committee of the Whole meeting. When enough people attend the Committee of the Whole meetings, you can be assured, the discussions, debate and decisions will be move to the Council chambers where they belong.

BINGO!!!


1,000% agree.

I've said this for years: COW meetings are the place to be. Go to the various committee meetings, too, (NOT just the big Council meetings at 730 on every other Monday.) These committee meetings are OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, and public comment should be a part of the agenda. (But note: committee members speak first, then any other member of council who might be in attendance, then public.)


COW meetings (and all city council meetings are listed here) and the agenda: http://www.onelakewood.com/calendar/

[Missy Limkemann]

If you want really want to know how your councilman thinks, if and how he debates on issues, I suggest you attend every Committee of the Whole meeting. The Council Meeting in nothing but a formality to make the decisions into law that was made during the Committee of the Whole meeting. When enough people attend the Committee of the Whole meetings, you can be assured, the discussions, debate and decisions will be move to the Council chambers where they belong.

BINGO!!!


1,000% agree.

I've said this for years: COW meetings are the place to be. Go to the various committee meetings, too, (NOT just the big Council meetings at 730 on every other Monday.) These committee meetings are OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, and public comment should be a part of the agenda. (But note: committee members speak first, then any other member of council who might be in attendance, then public.)


COW meetings (and all city council meetings are listed here) and the agenda: http://www.onelakewood.com/calendar/

However there are certain council people who think that there should be NO speaking at these committee meetings. As I just got my booty handed to me on a silver plate for having said item on my agenda.

[David Anderson]

A couple of points were made that I want to follow up on.

M. Buckley’s post and concern about the use of executive sessions seems to hit home with many who are less than confident that the current stable of elected officials can be trusted to make the best choices and that decisions are being made behind closed doors.

In my years on Council, executive sessions have been utilized to discuss pending lawsuits against the city and proposed collective bargaining agreements. We certainly would not want to discuss these type of active and sensitive topics in an open forum. Although, the results that the city would ultimately accept are public information.

Yes, Council has used executive sessions in recent months to discuss issues regarding Lakewood Hospital – potential sale or purchase of property and pending litigation. (For my part, I have voted against going into executive session to discuss hospital matters only once.) These sessions are not recorded and, again, we are not permitted to vote on anything. We have, however, used these to meet with lawyers from Thompson Hine which is the firm we hired to prepare for and initiate a negotiation process with the Cleveland Clinic. Some residents’ lack of faith in the elected representatives in these sessions notwithstanding, I am sure all would agree that discussing a negotiating strategy in an open session would provide an advantage to those with whom we are negotiating. We simply need some time and space to do this important work as a group.

There is some debate in the community as to whether the use of executive sessions to discuss potential Lakewood Hospital real estate transactions and litigation meet the legal criteria. I, and others, have consistently asked the City’s law department as well as the law firm of Thompson Hine to give an opinion as to whether our use of executive sessions in this setting is proper. We have been repeatedly assured that these do meet the standard. I am not a lawyer and would not be able to make sense of a binder of case law on this issue if I had to. Therefore, I must act on the legal advice solicited and provided.

To reinforce Mr. Baker’s comments, I have suggested to a number of residents over the years that attending committee hearings is a great way to better understand the issues at hand, the working style of individual Council members and how members work together as well as with the Administration.

Just yesterday, the Housing Committee met from 5:30-7:00 p.m. As the chair, I noticed that the committee would discuss (1) the permitting and inspection process and the 2016 budget, (2) progress regarding the 2015 housing surveys, (3) Substitute Ordinance 15-15 – air conditioner compressors, (4) Substitute Ordinance 16-15 – garage height definitions and (5) city owned home renovations and sales updates.

We utilized the entire 90 minutes and had a great discussion where Council members shared anecdotes on what we are hearing on the streets, thoughts about strengths and areas for improvement. We also recommended that Council approve the two Ordinances upon third reading.

I appreciate all the feedback on my original post.

David W. Anderson
Member of Council, Ward 1
216-789-6463
David.Anderson@lakewoodoh.net

[Brian Essi]

Yes, Council has used executive sessions in recent months to discuss issues regarding Lakewood Hospital – potential sale or purchase of property and pending litigation. (For my part, I have voted against going into executive session to discuss hospital matters only once.) These sessions are not recorded and, again, we are not permitted to vote on anything. We have, however, used these to meet with lawyers from Thompson Hine which is the firm we hired to prepare for and initiate a negotiation process with the Cleveland Clinic.

There is some debate in the community as to whether the use of executive sessions to discuss potential Lakewood Hospital real estate transactions and litigation meet the legal criteria. I, and others, have consistently asked the City’s law department as well as the law firm of Thompson Hine to give an opinion as to whether our use of executive sessions in this setting is proper. We have been repeatedly assured that these do meet the standard. I am not a lawyer and would not be able to make sense of a binder of case law on this issue if I had to. Therefore, I must act on the legal advice solicited and provided.

I pledge to check in on this thread regularly and will try answer any questions and comments that I can.

Yours in Service,
David W. Anderson
216-789-6463
David.Anderson@Lakewoodoh.net

Mr. Anderson,

I have taken the liberty of combining two of your posts above from last September.

Will you honor you pledge by answering the following questions:

1. Will you make the legal opinions you refer to above public?

2. Who besides you asked for the opinions and which individual attorneys gave you the opinions that this was all "proper" as you state above?

3. Will you produce all emails provided to you and Council from Mr. Butler and Thompson Hine lawyers referring to the preparation for, initiation of, and consummation of a negotiation process and the Master Agreement with the Cleveland Clinic?

I thank you in advance for your prompt response.

Brian Essi
Lakewood Resident

[Brian Essi]

Another day of Sunshine in Lakewood.