City didn't "win" the referendum??

[Marguerite Harkness]

My remarks to City Council Monday Nov. 21, 2016:

"Guess what. You did not "win" the referendum.
54% of the Lakewood voters who voted on November 8, did NOT affirm your City Council ordinance.

"According to your own Lakewood Dem Club rules, you have to add up all the votes AND the abstains, and you have to have 50% plus one, of all that total, to be able to say you won.

"That means out of 25,291 who voted, you would have had to have 12,647 votes to say you won. But you were way short of that.

"A 700-vote difference is in no way a mandate for you to justify closing the hospital.

"To us, you threatened. To your buddies, you promised - to ignore the results of the referendum election

"NOW IS THE TIME to ignore the results and DO THE RIGHT THING.

A mere 700 privileged, wealthy, educated but ignorant voters, have eliminated health care for 100,000 residents of Lakewood and four surrounding zip codes.

"50,000 of these people were not allowed to vote - because the Lakewood Hospital is owned by the City of Lakewood - even though it served people in at least 3 other cities. So they could not vote.

"You KNOW our city has a heroin epidemic that is killing people. Nickie Antonio bemoans the lack of treatment facilities - ALL WHILE IGNORING THAT YOU HAVE OVER 100 HOSPITAL ROOMS RIGHT HERE AT BELLE AND DETROIT.

"The. Hospital. Formerly. Known. As. Lakewood. has been moved 12 miles west, to another COUNTY, much less populated - taking with it $146 million of Lakewood's money for construction costs, $50 million of cash and liquid investments, our bed licenses worth millions, our catheter lab worth millions more - with NO - that is ZE-RO - guarantees of ANY future health care remaining in Lakewood.

"You guys didn't READ the Master Agreement.

"You didn't read where it says "as long as there is a Family Health Center . . . there will be an Emergency Dept." "AS LONG AS"

"You didn't READ where Clinic says they will do WHATever they want, WHENever they want.

"We did.

"You can let the Clinic build their inadequate MOB Medical Office Building (that's what they called it) on the site of the Professional Building. You can let them build their own parking garage or parking lot adjacent.

"YOU CAN ISSUE EMERGENCY LEGISLATION that will get rid of the noncompete clause, issue new RFP's to all appropriate hospital systems, and get a hospital system in here to run our hospital.

"IT ISN'T TOO LATE. YOU CAN STILL DO THE RIGHT THING."


Their reaction? NO reaction. Nothing. Nada. No acknowledgment. Not even any back-talk (imagine THAT!)

[Bridget Conant]

Their reaction? NO reaction. Nothing. Nada. No acknowledgment. Not even any back-talk (imagine THAT!)

They're brain dead.

[mjkuhns]

One councilmember told me "this stopped being about healthcare a long time ago."

[m buckley]

One councilmember told me "this stopped being about healthcare a long time ago."

"The Council of Heroes."

[cameron karslake]

It's truly sad how, day after day, the government we have proves they don't give a damn about the people of this city and their needs.

[Lori Allen _]

A mere 700 privileged, wealthy, educated but ignorant voters, have eliminated health care for 100,000 residents of Lakewood and four surrounding zip codes.

Or did they? More on this to come pending investigation.