Lakewood spending $50,000 for data study targeting improved healthcare

[Mark Kindt]

Regardless of the cost, purpose or outcome of this new study, we need to remain focused on the big picture issues.

The mayor and the majority of city council have supported (or are supporting) multi-million dollar tax subsidies to private entities via the Master Agreement and other contracts currently in negotiation:

1. The Lakewood Wellness Foundation will be the recipient of $32,000,000 from abandoned contractual rights that the City of Lakewood owned and that could have been received by the public treasury instead for a future reserve.

2. The City of Lakewood has proposed transferring the former Lakewood Hospital site to its selected developer. This is an approximate $5,000,000 public subsidy to that developer.

3. The City of Lakewood has proposed transferring the value of $7,000,000 in site demolition and site preparation costs to the same developer.

4. The City of Lakewood has proposed transferring the value of an additional $3,000,000 to the same developer.

5. These contractual and proposed subsidies come on top of multi-million dollar losses in hospital lease revenues and hospital employee income tax revenues.

The "vision" of our civic leadership has not only cost us our invaluable long-standing community hospital, but comes with an additional cost to the taxpayers of about $70,000,000.

Please correct me if I am wrong about any of this.

[Stan Austin]

Mark-- you've done a good analysis of out of pocket losses. Just add to that the estimated $100 million annually of lost economic activity. An upscale pet food store just don't cut it. Stan

[Bridget Conant]

Mark-- you've done a good analysis of out of pocket losses. Just add to that the estimated $100 million annually of lost economic activity. An upscale pet food store just don't cut it. Stan

Stan, wait!

Don’t forget there’s Mitchell’s Ice Cream!

We’ll be the HEALTHIEST city around!

[Peter Grossetti]

Mark-- you've done a good analysis of out of pocket losses. Just add to that the estimated $100 million annually of lost economic activity. An upscale pet food store just don't cut it. Stan

Stan, wait!

Don’t forget there’s Mitchell’s Ice Cream!

We’ll be the HEALTHIEST city around!

Is anyone surprised that the much needed “pants store” or “boutique hotel” didn’t make the final cut?

[Nadhal Eadeh]

Mark,

You are spot on.

Mayor Summers could have rebuilt all of Lakewood’s parks with the money he squandered on the studies widely available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Department of Labor. Those healthcare studies were actually free.

To make matters worse, this was done with the support of 7 council members!

1. The worst political strategy is silence. The new council members have now had almost 4 months to ask for an outside audit. Haven’t heard a peep.

2. A letter from elected officials to either the Department of Justice or the Ohio Attorney Generals Office would make waves because it would come from “credible” sources.

3. Federal and state agencies operate on public pressure. If people organized to open an investigation, it would at least get a thorough review.

Nadhal

[jkocinski]

I’m asking because I do not recall. Did Tristan or Megan campaign on asking for an independent audit? Are they breaking a campaign promise? I recall a stand on BSL as well as a position on truth and transparency in government but not a specific promise to ask for an audit.

[Jim O'Bryan]

I’m asking because I do not recall. Did Tristan or Megan campaign on asking for an independent audit? Are they breaking a campaign promise? I recall a stand on BSL as well as a position on truth and transparency in government but not a specific promise to ask for an audit.

JK

Neither made a campaign promise for an audit. That is correct.

Tristan Radar, Meghan George and Tom Bullock all campaigned on honesty, transparency and accountability if elected.

They all knew full well that City Hall has been desperately fighting for nearly 3 years in courts to keep from public view thousands of pages of documents that the courts have all said are public and ordered City Hall to turn over. Only about 75% have to do with the hospital debacle. ALL are within the definition of PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.

What is City Hall hiding?

IT will be fascinating to see if Tristan is multi-dimensional or if he is just a BSL person. Tom Bullock was lying and hiding before the election and continues after the election and is a complete nightmare if he goes to the state house. Meghan George has continuously worked to keep meetings in the light of day, when they are not protected by "Executive Session."

I will say that I have spoken with many members of council, O'Leary, Anderson, O'Malley, Radar, George and Bullock. All claim to want to heal the city and bring evetyone together. From what I can see is the only way is to release all the documents. ALL OF THEM. Mayor Summers, Law Director Butler, Council President Oleary, Councilman Anderson, have all said it is all honest and above board. So no fear there. Bullock, Summers and Butler have repeatedly stated to me and others "all the documents have been released which is absolute lie. Go figure. What is City Hall hiding?

What is City Hall hiding?
.

[Dan Alaimo]

The Lakewood Healthcare Report

The citizens of Lakewood love the idea of a Cleveland Clinic Family Health Center.
The citizens of Lakewood overwhelmingly want outpatient services provided exclusively by the Cleveland Clinic.
The proposed Emergency Room is sufficient for our needs.
The hospital was an outmoded concept and had to go.
We could use a few health and wellness classes or activities.
Reading is bad for the eyes, so keep the documents out of sight.
A mixed use development is healthy for Lakewood.

You’re welcome.
May I have my $50,000 now.

(If anyone needs to know, the above is entirely tongue in cheek. But I pretty much know what the study is going to conclude, I can use the money and I thought this might save the city some time.)

[jkocinski]

Jim,
I'm certainly not aruing that the records should not be released of if they have all been released. The reason I am asking is because I truly did not remember. If the campaigned on that promise and the did not come through on it, then it is fair to call them out. If that promise was not made then calling them out makes no sense. I have had interaction with Tristan. I asked him through a message what the city was doing to prevent more car jackings. His responce was pretty thorough and reasonable as well as immediate. I posed the question to another council member that did not respond at all. I voted for Tristan and thus far am pleased with the way he is doing the job.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Jim,
I'm certainly not aruing that the records should not be released of if they have all been released. The reason I am asking is because I truly did not remember. If the campaigned on that promise and the did not come through on it, then it is fair to call them out. If that promise was not made then calling them out makes no sense. I have had interaction with Tristan. I asked him through a message what the city was doing to prevent more car jackings. His responce was pretty thorough and reasonable as well as immediate. I posed the question to another council member that did not respond at all. I voted for Tristan and thus far am pleased with the way he is doing the job.

John

One question. Do you own a dog, and or a pit bull?

I do own 3 dogs, and I think BSL is utterly bullshit and has been struck down legally. When you add the other things that happened around the BSL laws in Lakewood I see it as a racist over reach. On the other side, and there are other sides, they will point to one or two incidents in Lakewood they felt gave them the perfect time to act. Also in the time frame was the removal of Basketball courts. Recently a car was jacked within eye sight of KFC, so is Fried Chicken next? At the same time you have to speak honestly with the players in all of this to get the real feel of how and why it was done. While having a real understanding how politics work in Lakewood, and Ohio., where Mayors are damn close to Kings.

A perfect example of all of this us yard sales. The Mayor used to drive by a neighbor that had a constant yard sale. So he flexes and his council quakes and scrambles to serve the king, and yard sales are outlawed except once a year. The size and location of yard sale signs are highly regulated, a big deal is made of the new law. The Mayor huffs and puffs and goes to his town criers and they trumpet "no more!!!" and within a month everyone ignores it, and with serious crime in the city who can blame them. Still the Mayor gets to look in the mirror and admire his new emporor's clothes. Ahhhhhh peace in the land.

Which brings us back to Council, and specifically those running on "Honesty, accountability, and transparency." As we have pointed out for nearly a decade Tom Bullock doesn'r mean a damn thing he says, and will often change positions faster than Trump. Which leaves us with a true Democrat Meghan George, and a self proclaimed Progressive Tristan Radar. Well Meghan has stepped up to stop some of the abuses, but could go farther. Tristan talks about BSL, tweets about BSL, posts about BSL, and, and, and, and, and, and oh that bag thingy that will hurt the poor.

Now this is where we all need to pay attention and get our score cards out. ANYONE on council can call for a release of the documents. Though I believe it could still come to a vote. When Dan O'Malley was elected he was completely shut out of any Hospital conversation, and has stayed out of it. However, the time is right to call for a complete and total release of all public documents. ALL. When a convicted stalker can get public records on his victims faster (less than 24 hours expedited by Law Director) than we can get simple public records like employee computer usage there is a problem, and council can address it. When residents have to take City Hall to court and soon the Ohio State Supreme court to get records the courts have repeatedly declared public, and have ordered the city to produce, we have a serious problem. Council can fix that.

Now with Councilman O'Malley it would have been a one to 6 vote, as everyone else seems to be in on the cover up, as they never told the truth, never sided with residents rights to know, and have never indicated anything but a loathing of all those that dare to ask for the papers the courts have ruled public. Now one would hope that has grown to 3 to 4 vote. However, maybe one has drinking the koolaid, that makes one think, much better to go along, than be a real American and public servant. We have seen others taken in by the magic of holding public office. Good god fearing people, that now make lame excuses why the public should "move on."

I know, most of us know the hospital is not coming back. That ship has sailed, and in an era where healthcare is king and the driving force in most cities, we paid people to take it for a handful of magic beans. Well fuck, so be it. But we have every right to understand how this nightmare happened. So when I voted for "honesty, transparency, and accountability" I was looking forward and backward and made sure everyone that got my vote understood that.

Which brings us back to the title of this thread. As the city gets ready to run another scam study to underline what they want, putting residents more in the dark, poorer, and confused, might be time for some progressives to step up and look progressive.

.

[jkocinski]

Jim,
I do indeed own 3 dogs, not pit buls but certainly the "block head type". They are Olde English Bulldogges. Yes this was an issue for me in the last election, unfairly targeting a single breed of dog which isn't really a breed at all certainly had a major impact on my decision of who I was voting for if that is what you are asking. I am in complete agreement with you that in order for the city to heal all documents should be released, although I do not believe all will be healed. Some will definitely never let this go, and I'm not saying they should. Everyone should be able to form their own opinion and debate it as they see fit, those that do not want to engage won't. That being said I am a strong supporter of knowing what our government is doing, they do work for us and they are accountable to us. Have you asked either of the new council persons to ask for an independent audit? if so what was their response? The only reason I jumped into this thread at all was to find out if calling out our new council people for not asking for an independent audit was fair, and that is really only because I have had some dealings with Tristan and found him to be responsive to my questions and concerns. A direct request would certainly let you know where they stand depending on the response. If a no answer is given or some kind of political double talk then it would be fair to say that "even our new council persons don't want to find the truth" or " our new council persons have joined the status quo on city council".

[jkocinski]

I would add that there was one other thing that had a significant impact on my city council vote last year, that was reading the deck.

John

[Jim O'Bryan]

Jim,
I do indeed own 3 dogs, not pit buls but certainly the "block head type". They are Olde English Bulldogges. Yes this was an issue for me in the last election, unfairly targeting a single breed of dog which isn't really a breed at all certainly had a major impact on my decision of who I was voting for if that is what you are asking. I am in complete agreement with you that in order for the city to heal all documents should be released, although I do not believe all will be healed. Some will definitely never let this go, and I'm not saying they should. Everyone should be able to form their own opinion and debate it as they see fit, those that do not want to engage won't. That being said I am a strong supporter of knowing what our government is doing, they do work for us and they are accountable to us. Have you asked either of the new council persons to ask for an independent audit? if so what was their response? The only reason I jumped into this thread at all was to find out if calling out our new council people for not asking for an independent audit was fair, and that is really only because I have had some dealings with Tristan and found him to be responsive to my questions and concerns. A direct request would certainly let you know where they stand depending on the response. If a no answer is given or some kind of political double talk then it would be fair to say that "even our new council persons don't want to find the truth" or " our new council persons have joined the status quo on city council".

John

You nailed it with, "They are accountable to us." To think politicians have to run on that is embarrassing, and underlines just how far Lakewood City Hall has strayed.

The problem is, residents, voters were never given the facts. The Mayor, City Hall and their supporters have consistently lied, misrepresented the truth, cover-uped and even went so far at to run elections from City Hall, and hire thugs to intimidate those that opposed the mayor. Think about it.

As I have said repeatedly you had one side, with ALL THE FACTS, lying and hiding them, while blaming the other side "FOR NOT HAVING ALL THE FACTS."

I grew up in the Vietnam era, to this day many people think we were in Vietnam because of the Pueblo Incident, and we were, BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED. We went into Iraq, errr Afghanistan because of a woman that testified to Congress about babie being thrown to the floor and incubators broke. IT NEVER HAPPENED. And now we have sold the hospital because...
1)It was losing money, it never happened.
2) $120 mill in benefits from the sale, All proven to be a lie.
3) Not because of a Rec Center, Drawings and plans were found.
4) Because CCF was pulling out, They were asked by City Hall to Leave
5) "It was sprung on us."Mayor Summers, Mayor Summers had been working on it since 2010 or earlier
and on and on and on and on.

If they new members of council, or if members of council cannot see the need for honesty and transparency, they have to be voted out of office.

This is OUR history, we have every right to know and understand WTF happened.

Sorry to stop thread drift.

THEY HAVE ZERO RIGHTS IN ASKING US TO BELIEVE ANYTHING IS HONEST including this new study, until they move past their last nightmare, and "debacle," as they call it.

.

[Mark Kindt]

[quote="Jim O'Bryan"

However, the time is right to call for a complete and total release of all public documents. ALL. When a convicted stalker can get public records on his victims faster (less than 24 hours expedited by Law Director) than we can get simple public records like employee computer usage there is a problem, and council can address it. When residents have to take City Hall to court and soon the Ohio State Supreme court to get records the courts have repeatedly declared public, and have ordered the city to produce, we have a serious problem. Council can fix that.

[/quote]

Mr. O'Bryan is absolutely correct on this point.

All previous public document requests must be fully honored on a timely basis, consistent with Ohio law, and current court orders.

I have written at length on this topic and find the level of stone-walling from the city administration unbelievable. There is no reason that citizens should have to be forced to litigate these fundamental rights in the court system. We each owe Mr. Essi and his lawyers a debt of gratitude for their continuing multi-year effort to gain access to public documents.

It is nothing less than a travesty that the city law department would immediately produce records on citizens to an individual that it knows had been terminated from city employment for the harassment of those citizens.

Mr. Butler's action was done at the height of cynicism, arrogance, and at considerable legal risk to both himself personally and to the city.

He should ponder the question of whether or not citizens are being harassed as a result of his actions.

Just one more reason to call for municipal reform.

[Marguerite Harkness]

Stan.

It's not just $100 million in lost economic activity.

It's $300 million annually, in lost economic activity. My figure was $293 million. Clinic was at $286 million, announced in April 2015 in national news.

Every $59,000 hospital job generates $250,000 in economic spending in the community.

We've been robbed - in so many ways.