The jumping off discussion area for the rest of the Deck. All things Lakewood.
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Will a "credible concern for public safety near the park" still exist when Hayes Elementary Students flock to Kauffman Park on June 4th?
You state that, "Until the situation is resolved, the courts will remain closed."
Should parents keep their children home on June 4th if the courts are still closed?
You allowed hundreds of Grant Elementary School students to be exposed to a "credible concern for public safety near the park" on their May 23rd field day at Kauffman Park and the Kauffman Courts.
Please take steps to ensure the safety of all our children as they attempt to enjoy Kauffman Park.
Mike and the neighbor who is an alleged "credible concern for public safety" win.
As an aside, I'll bet our mayor won't close the "Michael P. Summers Recreation Center & Natatorium" when folks complain.
As a taxpayer and homeowner in this city I say this in unacceptable. If we cannot afford to have an officer check on the courts then there is no way we can afford to move the courts. They are in a great location. Sorry people but if you don't like the noise of an urban environment then maybe Lakewood isn't for you.
It is interesting that the Mayor told me we don't have the resources to have a police officer there, yet they respond when "the neighbor" calls and one happened to be there when channel 19 was interviewing people this afternoon.
BTW - I am starting to think that I have a mental health issue and can't stand the loud noise of all the cars on Clifton. I demand that the police move the traffic to another street.
It is interesting that the Mayor told me we don't have the resources to have a police officer there, yet they respond when "the neighbor" calls and one happened to be there when channel 19 was interviewing people this afternoon.
BTW - I am starting to think that I have a mental health issue and can't stand the loud noise of all the cars on Clifton. I demand that the police move the traffic to another street.
Maybe I should start complaining about the train horns at night, those noises are unacceptable. The city should put up sound barriers or something, never mind that I knew the tracks were here when I moved in.
Can we please ban backyard pools?? You know, those used by kids screaming at the top of their lungs for hours on end for no apparent reason.
"So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?"
Matthew John Markling wrote:Well, here is an interesting find.
From the "public comment" section of the May 20, 2013 city council meeting ... a year prior to the 2014 Summers Kauffman Park Hoops Lockout ... the minutes read:
David Heller – 1371 Lakeland Mr. Heller expressed concern about outdoor basketball. He remarked that there is a lack of supervision. He stated that he called the police 10 times in April and May. He stated that basketball was being played on days the courts were supposed to be closed and after hours. Mr. Heller blamed the Outdoor Basketball Committee for the problems. He spoke about how other solutions have failed. He asked for a solution.
Are we all witnessing Mike Summers' "solution" to David Heller's "concerns" play out a year later?
Unless I have the timeline wrong, this was prior to the opening of the Lakewood Park hoops, which changed the clientele, and the discussion, at Kauffman Park.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste." - Winston Churchill (Quote later appropriated by Rahm Emanuel)
Dan Alaimo wrote:Unless I have the timeline wrong, this was prior to the opening of the Lakewood Park hoops, which changed the clientele, and the discussion, at Kauffman Park.
The Lakewood Park hoops opened in 2012...I believe it was late summer.
I've been involved with this court from the onset and have met said neighbor many times and have engaged, well tried to anyway, in conversation with him about the importance of kids playing, healthy outlets, exercise, community building etc,....only to have to hear his foul mouthed reply.
I don't know where his bitterness and hatred for kids and bouncing balls originates from. He grew up in Lakewood playing basketball outside.
The fact that he has been allowed to incessantly complain for 3 years, constantly calling the police, coming to council meetings, you name it, he never stopped complaining doesn't help the matter. With every call, every complaint, he somehow felt he was getting closer to his goal of an empty Kaufmann Park. He's grown into the proverbial elephant in the room. He's a bull in a china shop. He's tidal wave ready to crash and those involved saw it coming and did nothing about it.
Mr. Heller has been complaining long before basketball. Remember, the empty Kaufmann Park with the abandoned and over grown Little Links? He was so frustrated with the city not listening to him over the condition of the park and what was happening in that overgrown abandoned area of the park. And in that situation, we could agree, rightly so. His anger at the city over their lack of really listening to the neighbors over the concerns of what was happening at Kaufmann was the flame that ignited all this and he has not stopped since. Little Links is just one example of the city not being able to take care, run, and manage a resource that was very important, utilized and valued by the community.
So now we are faced with 'credible threats" from this man that are serious enough to fear for the safety of our children. Are we really safe closing the courts? Or will he just hyper focus on the next group of noisy kids playing in the grassy area? The adult softball players and the lights on the field after 'dusk' when the park is closed? I do not understand why the city can not do something? He can not possibly be the first person for which the public safety is at risk. If this was some teen making these threats back at him the police would have arrested the kid 3 years ago.
How long are we going to hold hostage our park for what I would call a domestic terrorist.
Who will be the next "Mr. Heller" to put out threats to get something shut down/removed/closed because of NIMBY.
This is the conversation we need to have. He will not be the last sadly to say. We live in a city of 50,000 people. Close together. We all have 'stuff' we don't like about our city, but somehow 99.9% of us figure out a way to work it out, deal with it, or work for a resolution.
Who suffers yet again...the kids.
Stephanie Toole
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrafice the gift." PRE
Will a "credible concern for public safety near the park" still exist when Hayes Elementary Students flock to Kauffman Park on June 4th?
You state that, "Until the situation is resolved, the courts will remain closed."
Should parents keep their children home on June 4th if the courts are still closed?
You allowed hundreds of Grant Elementary School students to be exposed to a "credible concern for public safety near the park" on their May 23rd field day at Kauffman Park and the Kauffman Courts.
Please take steps to ensure the safety of all our children as they attempt to enjoy Kauffman Park.
Sincerely,
Matt Markling
Matt that is the field trip form my 10 year old son James brought home yesterday.
I told him last night that I was not letting him go on that field trip, and before I could even explain my reasoning, he says, "What??? We get to bring basketballs mom. Our teacher said to bring a basketball, our baseball mitt or soccer balls. We get to check out library books and eat lunch and play basketball."
Are you kidding me!?!?!
Stephanie Toole
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrafice the gift." PRE
[quote="Stephanie Toole] "Our teacher said to bring a basketball, our baseball mitt or soccer balls. We get to check out library books and eat lunch and play basketball." [/quote]
Classic example of the left hand (city hall) not knowing what the right hand (BOE) is doing!
The clusterfuck grows!
"So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?"
Stephanie Toole wrote:"Our teacher said to bring a basketball, our baseball mitt or soccer balls. We get to check out library books and eat lunch and play basketball."
Classic example of the left hand (city hall) not knowing what the right hand (BOE) is doing!
Peter,
I disagree.
I don't believe that Mayor Mike Summers ever told the Lakewood City Schools that a "credible concern for public safety" exists because a "credible concern for public safety" does not exist.
If Mike Summers really believes that a "credible concern for public safety" exists, Mike should be removed from office for allowing hundreds of Grant Elementary School students to be in the Kauffman Courts and Kauffman Park all day on May 23rd ... the same thing with the June 4th Hayes Elementary School field trip ... and the same thing with the children at Kauffman Park right now.
Here is the bottom line: If a "credible concern for public safety" really exists, the "public safety concern" needs addressed - i.e., the alleged neighbor.
This is a red herring.
Mike Summers and his pals at City Hall never wanted the hoops at Kauffman Park from the start.
Now Mike has a convenient excuse to remove the hoops and is looking to do just that:
“We are also looking to relocate the courts. We have to figure a way to satisfy both the neighbors and the kids playing on them,” said Mayor Summers.
Mike and the neighbor who is an alleged "credible concern for public safety" win.
If we have learned one thing from this debacle, it is that Mike Summers and City Hall have no business running any recreation department.
The folks at City Hall can't even keep the Kauffman Courts open and our children safe from an alleged "credible concern for public safety" from one neighbor.
Mike Coleman, while I won't disagree a basketball bouncing flash mob would send a clear message, I don't think its necessary to drag the kids in on this. They have already suffered and will continue to suffer because the adults in charge have once again let them down.
In defense of Mayor Mike Summers, he has been a HUGE advocate of LOBC and the return of outdoor basketball in Lakewood. For that I as a mother, coach and community advocate am grateful. Mayor Summers knows first hand the benefits of outdoor play, having grown up here with the opportunity to not only play basketball outside but other activities as well. His grown children also had the opportunity to play basketball outside prior to the systematic removal of all of the courts throughout Lakewood.
Where could those 100 people be better utilized??
Take the time to call and write your council person and the mayors office.
Take the time to educate yourselves and the community about the importance and value of play. Not just basketball, but the unstructured spontaneous play that is crucial to children's development not only physically but emotionally as well.
For this issue is far bigger than basketball courts.....its about the cities ability to manage our green space and parks in a crowded city, its the ability to keep our parks OPEN and SAFE. Its about engaging the police force, expecting them to take the time to get out of their cruisers and get to know our kids. Rather than say, "It's not our job to babysit basketball courts." Its about the "it takes a village" to raise a child philosophy.
The tail needs to stop wagging the dog. For yet another summer will go by with locked up courts and fields and parks closing at dusk.
There are those of us who would like to walk dogs at Kaufmann Park, (heck I'd just like to have the opportunity even walk my dog at Madison Park in general), when the sun is down and the temperatures are cooler.
The more people in a park engaging in HEALTHY activities with each other the more vibrant a community we become. What better an example could we set for our kids.
I recently read where folks want to blame the kids for playing past 8:00pm. Let's remember just that, they are kids. They were playing basketball, all TWO of them. How many times have our own kids been caught up in a game and they say just one more shot? Just 5 more minutes?
It is not their responsibility to lock the courts. They are kids. The city is responsible for locking up the courts.
Mr. Heller has spent the last 3 years hyper focusing on those courts, the bouncing balls, and calling the police 10+ times a month if they are not locked exactly at 8pm. He has held the city hostage for far longer than you are aware and because of the cities mismanaging of his antisocial behavior and other warning signs to the stability of his mental health, we are faced with this...closed courts because of his threat to the children in OUR COMMUNITY. We should be outraged, not blaming the kids for playing basketball at 8:10pm.
Stephanie Toole
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrafice the gift." PRE
