Is the City Losing the Fight Against Graffiti?

[Jim O'Bryan]

Jim - I'm not saying you're exaggerating. I believe you. The example in the pic you posted above was gone. Maybe the City is in the process of cleaning it up so there wasn't 87 instances. Sorry, I should have been clearer.

No, I wouldn't let them use the disgusting slide. As a matter of fact, we were there for less than 5 minutes.

Charley

Actually went back with Matt late yesterday afternoon, and that graffiti was still there. Though
it did seem lighter as if someone had tried to remove it. Of course I am a realist, it was
the weekend and I would hate to see the city spend overtime, by over reacting to a post
on the Deck, though it seems the Deck comments do get quick action.

This would not even be an issue except...

1) Matt received a note that everything was cleaned up from the city. They might have been
talking about the doors on the bathroom, but...

Taken care of? I hope not.

2) This will be the ending point of the largest "Dog Parade in the country" well not even the
longest "Spooky Pooch Parade" in the country if you look at the videos for the much longer
running Chicago Botanical Gardens' Spooky Pooch Parade, where the idea was lifted from.
Still, hundreds of families and kids will be pouring into the only real park in DowntowN, and
as they lift their kids up to play on the equipment dare I say, no child is going down the slide.

3) Graffiti is out of control. It is thousands of times worse than in Sinagra's day. Much worse
than in George's days, and even worse than when Mayor Ed FitzGerald declared war on
taggers and graffiti artists. Now maybe this administration enjoys graffiti, and posts it to
their facebook page like the good councilman does, but as pointed out by retired Police
Sargent Favre, it is a crime, and it is also in your face.

4) The residents and businesses of Lakewood have more than stepped up to the plate. We
now carry our garbage to the curb. As we were told that would save us money. Of course
the truth is it will not even save us a penny for 7 more years, when we start to recoup the
extra cost of starting this program, and right around then, the trucks will be breaking down.
We, not the city have adopted every city mini park through Keep Lakewood Beautiful, a
tremendous program. Thank god they exist. They maintain and even pay for the flowers in
their parks. We have programs like Friends of Kauffman Park, that add to the great work
of Keep Lakewood Beautiful. We have LEAF Community that puts people/eyes in the parks
doing positive things year round. Maybe, just maybe the city could keep up their end of
the deal. Or do we just pay money so the city can convince McDonald's to move off of Sloan? Do we pay taxes so that Five Guys can get $500,000, instead of using it elsewhere?
So that big box corporations and multi-million dollar companies get tax abatements?

There is a vicious cycle forming, and it hits on all of the fears I have always had for many
now steering the city. Residents pay taxes, but get less services and less awareness of
the services that are there. Property both public and private get run down. This gives the
city a chance to say, "We can afford the parks..." and off they go to developers getting tax
abatements, as we foolishly try to compete with Cleveland or Solon. Meanwhile, they come
in and take homes because of nuisance, neglected, etc. tear them down, and leave them
empty as that drives down property costs, which allows for more acquisitions, and more
tax abatements for people to move in, and pretty soon, the residents are carrying the load
that was always covered and carried by businesses in this city. And then, the party is over.

How many people felt great reading in the Plain Dealer about Lakewood "having to tear down
62 homes" because of being run down or nuisance?" How do you think people thinking of
moving to the area felt when they saw the next day "East Cleveland to tear down 63 homes
because of neglect or nuisance"? Did that put us in direct comparison with East Cleveland
that this city is one home better. Now we are hearing that the city is looking to lay off
police, just like East Cleveland. So the message we are sending is, houses are crap, police
force getting smaller. Hmmmmmmmm talk about building and defining a brand!

Graffiti, and the way this is being handled is just another visible way on how City Hall is
losing control of Lakewood. The city should not have to pay McDonalds to move to Detroit,
nor should we have to give massive tax abatements to rich companies. Abatements almost
never pay off except around election time. Oh, that is right, sorry.

FWIW


.

[Roy Pitchford]

Gee, if I was a charitable individual with enough time on my hands to walk around the city and check on whether the city is doing its job, I'd get my hands on some of that Gorilla Snot and clean the graffiti off myself.
Sadly, I don't have the time. I'm too busy putting in 100% effort at my job and getting compensated 70% for it.

Maybe the reason the city hasn't the time and/or money to get to cleaning graffiti because people in this city are too dependent on them to take care of us. (I can just see it, somewhere, there's a city employee measuring Detroit Ave sidewalks to see if a bench will fit instead of cleaning graffiti.)
Maybe we could, heaven forbid, take it on ourselves to make Lakewood a better place and not rely on city employees to do the job for us.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Gee, if I was a charitable individual with enough time on my hands to walk around the city and check on whether the city is doing its job, I'd get my hands on some of that Gorilla Snot and clean the graffiti off myself.
Sadly, I don't have the time. I'm too busy putting in 100% effort at my job and getting compensated 70% for it.

Maybe the reason the city hasn't the time and/or money to get to cleaning graffiti because people in this city are too dependent on them to take care of us. (I can just see it, somewhere, there's a city employee measuring Detroit Ave sidewalks to see if a bench will fit instead of cleaning graffiti.)
Maybe we could, heaven forbid, take it on ourselves to make Lakewood a better place and not rely on city employees to do the job for us.

Roy

Let me get this straight.

This is my fault?

I do have an interesting story about a well meaning person in Lakewood removing graffiti
and having a "city official" make a citizen's arrest, and call the police. After the police came
and ran an ID and look at what he had. His story was believed, and he was allowed to leave.

By why bother, I have to go buy some elephant snot, and get busy.

You might not understand this Roy, In America, I get to choose where I volunteer.


.


.

[Roy Pitchford]

I'm not laying blame on anyone. I am trying to point out that all of you spent 5 days talking about it when someone could have volunteered and cleaned it off in significantly less time.

Quick aside: Its the same thing I see when I read "leetspeak" on forums. When someone writes this way, I typically go through and "translate" it, then attempt to respond to it. I have, on more than one occasion, been chastised by the original poster for the translation. "Its faster to ignore capitalization, punctuation and proper spelling," they tell me. I then respond by pointing out how much time I wasted trying to translate what they wrote, how much time they are wasting complaining to me about my translation and ask them if it was really worth it.

Milton Friedman outlined that free choice is the essence of the free market system. (Free to Choose, I highly recommend it.) In every decision we make, we must weigh the good and the bad according to our personal preferences. I would contend we haven't been in a true free market for some time thanks to excessive government regulation and interference in our lives. This, is beside the point at the moment.

You're right, you do have a choice to volunteer your time.
On the good side, you know the problem will be fixed and it will be fixed within the time frame you desire. On the bad, you have to put the time, effort and money in yourself and (as you mentioned) there is the risk of a someone thinking you have bad intentions.

You also have a choice to wait for someone else to do the work.
On the good side, you have no additional work beyond informing someone else and there's no risk to you. On the bad, you put the project on someone else's time table, someone who might be less reliable and/or care less about the effort than you do.

Based on the initial decision to go to the city, time would seem to be less important of a factor, except now the complaint is that the problem has not been solved. You (again, collectively) can't have all the good and none of the bad.

Keep in mind, these are not the only 2 choices available.
Does Lakewood have some kind of "Keep Lakewood Clean" volunteer organization? It would surprise me greatly if we didn't. We have the "Friends of Madison Park" who get together and pick up trash. They've never been "citizen arrested" as far as I know. I'll have to ask when I get to work at Madison.
Where are the "Friends of Kaufman Park" (or whatever park you found the graffiti at)??

[Jim O'Bryan]

Roy

You will have to excuse me, it is my day to volunteer at The Lakewood Observer doing layout.

It was just 4 years ago, we had backyard trash pick up, clean streets, transportation and
meals for the elderly. All gone, and now we have to clean the streets and parks too?

If that is the case what has happened to our city and City Hall. From what I see City Hall's
job is to provide services to the residents and businesses that are there now. You know little
things like protecting our property, trash removal, etc.

Now I do not mind tightening the belt, and I do not mind volunteering, and giving. When I
want. But if the city is going to ask all of us to do their job, then why do we need them?
Hell LakewoodAlive can do that, for a much smaller bill.

We you, me, everyone have made sacrifice after sacrifice for Lakewood. Maybe we need to
hear, just how many more we have to make, and why. I do not mind helping out, but it is
not a long term plan for the future, just putting fingers in the dike.

FWIW

.

[Roy Pitchford]

Everyone has their priorities. Lakewood Observer vs. graffiti. I'd probably make the same choice.

It was just 4 years ago, we had backyard trash pick up, clean streets, transportation and meals for the elderly. All gone, and now we have to clean the streets and parks too?

Just 4 years ago, we have a much better economy and more tax revenue coming in on all levels of government. Now, in the lean times, we are unable to draw back, for whatever reason. Albeit on a significantly smaller scale, we're looking at the European model. No one wants to give up their retirement at 50 and speedos, but now it's time to wake up and smell the hummus and they are mad, just as you seem to sound, Jim (whether it is sarcasm or not doesn't filter through on a message board).
And its not just here in Lakewood. The trouble exists around the country.

But if the city is going to ask all of us to do their job, then why do we need them?

There must be some societal structure or else we would fall into anarchy and chaos.

I imagine this will send someone into a tizzy, but I'm reminded of a biblical story...that of Joseph. Remember Pharaoh's dream about 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of famine?
The Egyptians could have gone to town during those 7 good years, had it all, but when the bad 7 years came, they'd be in big trouble. Instead, they saved excess grain from the good years and had it tide them over for the bad. Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.
This city seems to have failed to heed that advice.

Over the years, we have become coddled by the modern amenities and conveniences of American society. I'm just as bad as anyone else. If my power goes out, as the Italian's would say, "forgetaboutit". Imagine if the entire United States suddenly became the TV show "Survivor: Ghana."
My only difference is I recognize that trouble is coming. I'm trying to become more prepared.

[marklingm]

Now I do not mind tightening the belt, and I do not mind volunteering, and giving. When I want. But if the city is going to ask all of us to do their job, then why do we need them? Hell LakewoodAlive can do that, for a much smaller bill.

We you, me, everyone have made sacrifice after sacrifice for Lakewood. Maybe we need to hear, just how many more we have to make, and why. I do not mind helping out, but it is not a long term plan for the future, just putting fingers in the dike.

Jim,

In fairness to the Mayor, it appears from the February 7, 2011 Council Meeting discussions that Mike is going to waive his pay raise:

In regard to the mayor’s salary, Councilman Bullock said, that to his own surprise, he would be voting for the increases. For the majority of the conversation, he had been opposed to the recommendation, but he said that his fellow Council members were able to persuade him. With the current economy, and the future of our state funding in question, he was initially unsure of supporting the salary. However he said he had been convinced and comforted by Mayor Summers’ statements that if the City does not seem to be able to handle the strain of the addition to the salary, that if reelected [sic] he would waive the additional pay. Bullock stated that, even if they did pass the raises, maybe that it should be considered that mayors in the future would be asked the same-- to consider waiving the pay raise.

http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/2011/02/22/council-polarized-by-discussion-of-salary

While I believe that the Mayor should be paid the lawfully set salary amount, if Mike wants to waive his additional pay, maybe those funds can be used to retain/hire police officers and/or individuals to clean up after crime - e.g., graffiti?

Matt

[marklingm]

Roy,

I am very familiar with the works of Milton Friedman and would love to sit down and discuss his theories with you. My 21 year old Seal Point Siamese cat is named after Dr. Friedman … but I digress.

Under your analysis, the City of Lakewood should simply redistribute the wealth; deed the parks to Friends of Madison Park, Friends of Kauffman Park, Friends of Lakewood Park, et al.; and let the various “Friends” groups take care of their own privately held properties (which are probably tax exempt by the way). That’s not the direction I would recommend.

If we are going to pay taxes for City Parks, then it is not too much to expect that City Hall use that money to maintain those parks. I think Dr. Friedman would agree.

Matt

[J Hrlec]

I'm not laying blame on anyone. I am trying to point out that all of you spent 5 days talking about it when someone could have volunteered and cleaned it off in significantly less time.

Well it is the Lakewood Observer.... Not the Lakewood 'Doer'

[Jim O'Bryan]

Roy

Go back and look at the old posts. None of this is happening in a vacuum, or without prior
knowledge. Much of this has been talked about right here by some pretty smart people.

Things forecasted here nearly a decade ago. Gold over $1,000 an ounce. Food security
problems, educational needs, the states losing so much from the feds they cut, then cut
more with their own cuts, and city taking the brunt of both. That Lakewood needed to be
prepared for this shortfall and not align our selves with retail, or other dying business models.

So we could have made today better a long time ago. But the city and the administration
thought it would never end. Hence us in a deal with the state that might never see them
pay their promised amounts. The city needing through their own mismanagement to turn
over park and tear down homes.

The writing was on the wall, including the slippery slope of graffiti and where it leads.

J Hrelc

Really? And I am supposed to be the negative one.

.

[Jerry Ritcey]

I'm not laying blame on anyone. I am trying to point out that all of you spent 5 days talking about it when someone could have volunteered and cleaned it off in significantly less time.

Well it is the Lakewood Observer.... Not the Lakewood 'Doer'

I don't think I want Jim to stop reporting on crime and don a Bat costume and try chase everyone down. Sometimes complaining about a problem is the way to get it to the light of day to get it fixed permanently.

The only exception I have is that I do think those who want us to invade Iran should go ahead and invade it themselves, and report the results back to us.

[Will Brown]

For quite a few years we have been becoming more and more dependent on government; we now demand government provide many services we once provided ourselves, or through our churches and organizations. That naturally increased the cost of government, while at the same time introducing bureaucracy into the provision of services.

There was a news item a few years ago about a storm in Hawaii that wiped out a bridge which was the only way to get to some businesses; faced with no customers, the businesses went to the government which set priorities and told them it would be a couple of years before the bridge could be replaced. The businesses then rebuilt the bridge themselves in something like two weeks.

I think it is unfair to whine about the current administration, just because they are in office after the economic troubles that were so foreseeable. Simply put, we cannot realistically expect to receive the cradle to grave services from the government that we have come to expect, as the money to pamper us is not there. Why, for example, do we need a department of aging; I can do that myself with no help. And why do we need meals for the elderly; can't our families, clubs, and churches provide that?

People today think helping their elderly parents consists of helping them fill out the applications for government support. What happened to taking your aged parents into your home and caring for them?

As to graffiti, I think the perpetrators know it is wrong, so they won't do it if they are being watched. Wouldn't it be better if neighborhood groups patrolled the parks? It would strengthen community ties, promote exercise, and keep the parks up. Are we so busy watching TV that we can't do this?

[Jim O'Bryan]

As to graffiti, I think the perpetrators know it is wrong, so they won't do it if they are being watched. Wouldn't it be better if neighborhood groups patrolled the parks? It would strengthen community ties, promote exercise, and keep the parks up. Are we so busy watching TV that we can't do this?

Well, let's look at it.



Seems to surround the much heralded video camera.

You know this thread is nearly as troubling as the community. Since I went down there, I
have been assured it was not real, it was not a real as I said, that Matt and I did this, that it
is to be expected, that this is normal, that public art should be embraced, that how can anyone
blame this administration, and on and on and on and on.

It is insane, how many people are willing to hold anyone accountable except the people
that own, run and operate the park.

That is nuts.

Please go back and read the thread. It was not so much the abundance of hideous graffiti
that brought us to this discussion. It was the letter from the city that everything was taken
care of. No worry, it is all gone.

OK I now realized that Matt tricked them into lying about this.

Was Mike just crowing about Elephant Snot, so that we would all know what to go out and
buy, for cleaning up the parks?

What the hell happened to ZERO Tolerance policy in place when Tom George left office?
Did this council get rid of it in one of those one reading moments, I mean who wants to
worry about soft issues like crime, when we can give $500,000 to a chain that would have
come here without it? Do we carry our trash to the curb so that friends of Ed and Mike can
continue their development of Sloane Ave? Speaking of, why is Mickey Ds now claiming
the city came up with the idea for the move? You know to be near the new Taco Bell?

Will, Roy, Believe me I want the government out of our lives as much as you do. However
I would also like to get what I pay for.

Or at least I have been told was done.

FWIW

[Scott Meeson]

Jim,

It wasn't that long ago that all was right with the city!


I copied the following from your thread of "I Will Not Seek Political Office in 2011." (The entire thread has been attached: http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10235 ) I highlighted a portion of your original text that follows:


Me telling Mike Summers I was not running, Sunday night at Chatauqua.

As I am late for a meeting on the east side, I will make this brief and put something more
on later and in this coming Observer.

Those that know me, know just how serious I was about running and the ideas I have had
for both the city and the campaign. Mayor Summers and I had spoken many times about opening up the discussion, and letting it be a grand summer for discussing Lakewood.

However, at this time, and it kills me to say this. business, lifestyle, friendship and family
will not let it happen.

I would like to thank many people from both the right and the left who gave me support,
help, and a deep great conversation about what is right for Lakewood, and what is right
for the O'Bryans. I would like to thank my wife, for putting up with the additional stress
of seeing me walk away from the many businesses we own together.

Over the past 4 months I have spoken with many, many, many people about running for
mayor. I have made many friends during this period of time. I have learned and grown
from this experience, and our new found friendships. What I have found out is that no
one is really dissatisfied with Mike Summers as mayor. While there are minor complaints
here and there, as to be expected. The city seems at peace right now. This is a good thing.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Mike Summers since 2nd Grade. I know he loves and
appreciates the city of Lakewood as much as I do. While we do have different visions on
many, many topics, in the end, it will be his love for Lakewood, and the respect of its
citizens that will allow this city and community to move forward over the next four years.

I do want to thank both Congressman Dennis Kucinch and Kenneth Warren who echoed
nearly the same thought, "Sure I'll back you, but you are nuts for wanting it. It seems
you have a pretty sweet gig now." And in fact, I really, really do.

I will send out something more formal, this week.

Thank you everyone, supporters and non-supporters.

If you are in Lakewood, I love you!

peace


_________________
Jim O'Bryan
Lakewood Resident

"The very act of observing disturbs the system."
Werner Heisenberg

"If anything I've said seems useful to you, I'm glad.
If not, don't worry. Just forget about it."
His Holiness The Dalai Lama

[Jim O'Bryan]

Scott

Read the post. Look at life, and think a little deeper than most do.

I do like Mike Summers, we have known each other and been friends since he moved here
in second grade. Same homeroom, same baseball team, many of the same friends. I
believe he loves Lakewood as much as I do.

We have different visions and extremely different thoughts.

I would be tough on crime, the money being used for many things would find us hiring
more police. I would look much harder at creating revenue, than cutting.

I would go back to the days of Anthony Sinagra, and Tom George of keeping the city very
clean, and very safe. This allows the volunteers to work on creating fun. It would seem
that the current administration cares more about getting back to the hardcore economic
development of the city. I do not believe that you can serve two masters. So while the
community gets lip service and excuses, big box stores, chains, everything that works
against the fabric of Lakewood gets TIFs, abatements, and special favors.

Mike obviously cares more about economic development, than residents. If this was on
the side of Five Guys, I am sure it would be gone. Even if it was making the owners do it.
Get it? The owners.

Mike, is a good guy. But he is human as am I. We both make mistakes. No we all make mistakes.

But make no mistake, I was running to bring a very different vision to the election.

Scott. I am curious. Do you agree with everything all of your friends think? Do you support
them blindly even if you do not agree? Ever have heated conversations with friends?


.