Local Election Issues -- 2019

[Mark Kindt]

One Simple Test

Is Lakewood better-off or worse-off in 2019 than it was in 2015 for the average resident?

Some factors to evaluate:

1. Significant levels of job loss;

2. Drastic increases in water/sewer rates enacted for the next 5 years;

3. Demolished hospital;

4. Acute care hospital services relocated to other communities;

5. New Family Health Center;

6. New Healthy Lakewood Foundation;

7. Public subsidies for developers;

8. Ethics provisions in new Charter;

9. No benefits to investors under new federal tax code;

10. Mismanagement of social media accounts;

11. Residential affordability versus gentrification;

12. Valuable public debate on open government and accountability due to public interest law suits;

13. New Recreation Center;

14. Private parties directing or influencing public policy outcomes in non-public deliberations;

15. New tattoo establishments;

16. Medical marijuana dispensaries;

Please add your issues to this list.

[Dan Alaimo]

As I posted before...
http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... =7&t=25202
...most of the local races are for ward council seats and, with the exception of Dan O'Malley, none express a knowledge of their wards. Yes they will be considering citywide issues, but these positions are hyperlocal.

[Bill Call]

As I posted before...
http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... =7&t=25202
...most of the local races are for ward council seats and, with the exception of Dan O'Malley, none express a knowledge of their wards. Yes they will be considering citywide issues, but these positions are hyperlocal.

Lakewood is at the mercy of larger economic trends. The best we can hope for is competent day to day management. That means controlling labor costs, improving efficiency and implementing long term plans for routine maintenance and improvements in the roads the sewer and water system and maintaining and improving our housing stock.

Of course our Mayor and Council shouldn't do anything stupid like transfer 1,500 high paying medical jobs to Lorain County or transfer $70 million in City assets to private foundations. People are tired of hearing that but that doesn't mean it is irrelevant. What is the next stupid thing on Sam O'Leary's list? That seems an important question.

[Mark Kindt]

A Couple Hyper-local Issues

1. The proposed beer-garden/chuck-wagon entertainment venue for the intersection of Detroit and Edwards.

2. The apartment blocks planned between Cranford and Rosewood along Detroit.

[Bridget Conant]

A Couple Hyper-local Issues

1. The proposed beer-garden/chuck-wagon entertainment venue for the intersection of Detroit and Edwards.

2. The apartment blocks planned between Cranford and Rosewood along Detroit.

The Beer Garden was supposed to open Spring 2019 but I don’t see much activity. Wonder what the status is?

The apartments planned at both the Buick site and down on Bunts are causing a furor with nearby residents, as well as people concerned over the scope of the projects and gentrification.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Mark

To me there is but 2 issues, and until they are addressed nothing else matters.

Transparency and Accountability

Your entire list is because 2 administrations that lied, misled, and worked in secret to make the worst deal for Lakewood residents but best for their friends. And the fact that not one person on council has stood with the residents to help us understand what happened and why. In the little bit of digging a couple people did, you included we uncovered massive ethic violations causing people to step down. Conflicts of interest, and all sorts of details that had the public known would have thought differently of not the Hospital Deal, but the inability of those trying this to pull it off honestly and to the betterment of Lakewood not themselves.

Until we can trust City Hall to be accountable, the rest is a joke.

Until we have the ability of council to stand with residents in demanding answers to public issues, Lakewood residents have nothing.

It is time for elected officials to start supporting and working for those that elect them, not those that wine and dine them.

.

[cmager]

Oh man, those apartments on Detroit at Bunts and Parkwood are a complete, greedy disaster. 5-7 stories and shoe-horned accommodations for parking and more is an abomination. Were there to be development at that site, they really need to buy out the corner business (I know...) at Bunts and Detroit to have a quality development, and they need to limit it to 3-ish stories. 5-7 is ridiculous.

[Kate McCarthy]

As I posted before...
http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... =7&t=25202
...most of the local races are for ward council seats and, with the exception of Dan O'Malley, none express a knowledge of their wards. Yes they will be considering citywide issues, but these positions are hyperlocal.

Ward 1 council candidate Laura Rodriguez-Carbone has been meeting with residents and business in ward one and, as a candidate, has already helped some residents with long unresolved issues. Her focus is and has been hyperlocal. I'm not sure what you base this opinion on.

[Dan Alaimo]

As I posted before...
http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... =7&t=25202
...most of the local races are for ward council seats and, with the exception of Dan O'Malley, none express a knowledge of their wards. Yes they will be considering citywide issues, but these positions are hyperlocal.

Ward 1 council candidate Laura Rodriguez-Carbone has been meeting with residents and business in ward one and, as a candidate, has already helped some residents with long unresolved issues. Her focus is and has been hyperlocal. I'm not sure what you base this opinion on.

Ward 2, and what I've seen of others. That's good to know about Laura Rodriguez-Carbone. Thanks!

[Stan Austin]

I would add that Laura hosted a business owners workshop two weeks ago. It was an early morning meeting--7:30 to fit in with the need to open up shop a few hours later. I attended not really in my capacity of Treasurer of her campaign but actually out of curiosity. I found the 1 1/2 hour meeting extremely interesting and an insider's view into operating a retail business.
This is just one of the local issues that Laura is taking on in Ward 1.
Stan Austin

[Dan Alaimo]

A Couple Hyper-local Issues

1. The proposed beer-garden/chuck-wagon entertainment venue for the intersection of Detroit and Edwards.

2. The apartment blocks planned between Cranford and Rosewood along Detroit.

Which wards are they in?
Who are the candidates?
Who are the incumbents and what have/haven't they done about these issues?

[Mark Kindt]

A Couple Hyper-local Issues

1. The proposed beer-garden/chuck-wagon entertainment venue for the intersection of Detroit and Edwards.

2. The apartment blocks planned between Cranford and Rosewood along Detroit.

Which wards are they in?
Who are the candidates?
Who are the incumbents and what have/haven't they done about these issues?

This article in Crain's sheds light on the opinions of residents and the city administration regarding the Detroit/Cranford/Rosewood apartment project.

https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-es ... -head-head

Quotes from the Mayor are interesting. The official with the bottomless public relations budget laments the loss of the press:

"It was easier to get information out, too", he added, because "we used to have reporters at every council meeting." But cutbacks at daily papers mean council, zoning and planning meetings now go uncovered and unquestioned by the press.

"We don't have city hall reporters anymore. I wish we did," Summers said. "I mourn the day we lost those beat reporters who would comb the halls of city halls everywhere and say, 'What's going on here?' and effectively pull stories out. It doesn't happen anymore."

[edited by Kindt to reflect actual quotation]

[Jim O'Bryan]

A Couple Hyper-local Issues

1. The proposed beer-garden/chuck-wagon entertainment venue for the intersection of Detroit and Edwards.

2. The apartment blocks planned between Cranford and Rosewood along Detroit.

Which wards are they in?
Who are the candidates?
Who are the incumbents and what have/haven't they done about these issues?

I would argue that in Lakewood there are very few hyper local issues. As Lakewood is only 5 square miles, with the second largest population in the county. The town houses on Bunts and Detroit will have an affect on all of us. Not just traffic, but number of housing units to chose from, living tax free for 10+ years, even daylight. Homes east and west of that development just lost direct sun light for part of their day.

This is exactly how they defeat residents time and time again. When the city was lying about trucks on Clarence and Grace, the residents showed up to protest and were lied to. The people not on there cared less and couldn't be bothered. Then the same issue showed up with McDonalds on Westwood and Detroit. The residents freaked out, but no one else cared, as it was Not In There Backyard. So the residents fought the same battle Grace residents fought, and also lost. Had they worked together, I bet the difference would be in no trucks and no traffic. This City Administration bets on that everyday of their lives. So Lakewoodites get played and lied to again and again. Coming at such a rate, no keeping up.

Hyper local?? That fence fight was hyper local. Parma is the largest city in the county with 80,000 residents compared to our 50,000. But they are also in 25 square miles. There might be hyper locals issue like this in Parma, but here this is City wide stuff. It is time we joined together to keep elected officials honest, as they really do not seem to be to bothered with honesty, transparency and holding the Mayor accountable.

.

[Mark Kindt]

Another Quotation from CRAIN'S Article

"We get a lot of talk about density, when we don't talk about affordability," said Paula Kampf, another Ohio City resident who's not happy with recent development trends there. "I would love to see affordable housing provided and abated. Most of these new developments are market-rate and also publicly funded, and that seems absolutely absurd to me. Tax abatements are a public subsidy." [undeline added.]

Ms. Kampf, a resident of Ohio City, is describing the same problem (and same thinking) that we have in Lakewood.

Lakewood public subsidies are different, but, nonetheless, they are still public subsidies.

Density comes at the expense of existing residents to the benefit of future residents.

Existing home-owners have considerable investment and sunk costs associated with their home ownership; future apartment residents do not.

How much real estate is the City of Lakewood acquiring for green-space? Why this constant focus on commercialization?

[Dan Alaimo]

A Couple Hyper-local Issues

1. The proposed beer-garden/chuck-wagon entertainment venue for the intersection of Detroit and Edwards.

2. The apartment blocks planned between Cranford and Rosewood along Detroit.

Which wards are they in?
Who are the candidates?
Who are the incumbents and what have/haven't they done about these issues?

I would argue that in Lakewood there are very few hyper local issues. As Lakewood is only 5 square miles, with the second largest population in the county. The town houses on Bunts and Detroit will have an affect on all of us. Not just traffic, but number of housing units to chose from, living tax free for 10+ years, even daylight. Homes east and west of that development just lost direct sun light for part of their day.

This is exactly how they defeat residents time and time again. When the city was lying about trucks on Clarence and Grace, the residents showed up to protest and were lied to. The people not on there cared less and couldn't be bothered. Then the same issue showed up with McDonalds on Westwood and Detroit. The residents freaked out, but no one else cared, as it was Not In There Backyard. So the residents fought the same battle Grace residents fought, and also lost. Had they worked together, I bet the difference would be in no trucks and no traffic. This City Administration bets on that everyday of their lives. So Lakewoodites get played and lied to again and again. Coming at such a rate, no keeping up.

Hyper local?? That fence fight was hyper local. Parma is the largest city in the county with 80,000 residents compared to our 50,000. But they are also in 25 square miles. There might be hyper locals issue like this in Parma, but here this is City wide stuff. It is time we joined together to keep elected officials honest, as they really do not seem to be to bothered with honesty, transparency and holding the Mayor accountable.

.

But what are ward council incumbents and wannabes saying and doing about issues in their backyard? That's what the positions they hold, and want to hold, are about.

Jim, you are right in a sense, but then we should have nothing but at-large council members.