Help LOBC help the kids!

[Grace O'Malley]

OMG! That letter sounds like someone is requesting a permit to put in a topless bar next to a church!

Are basketball hoops really that scary to people? When I was younger EVERY schoolyard and park had hoops and we all survived.

I love how she's so concerned about the impact on LCA - that's pretty telling.

[Teresa Coyne Andreani]

I, too, am puzzled by Councilwoman Smith's letter. The kind and forward-thinking folks behind LOBC have nothing personal to gain for the hundreds of hours and personal resources they've expended on behalf of improving fitness opportunities for our community's children. I think LOBC and organizations like it are what make Lakewood a great place to live. Tapping citizen resources and energy to better our city is what being a community is all about.

For point of clarification -- Councilwoman Smith refers to the Lakewood Public Schools in her letter. The Lakewood Public Schools serve Hebron, Ohio. Our local public school district is the Lakewood City Schools.

[Scott Meeson]

Councilmember-at-Large Monique Smith questions Lakewood Outdoor Basketball Committee's qualifications/planning/decisions and Mayor Summers' efforts to help. Her letter, in full, (source: onelakewood.com) to be presented at the September 4, 2012 City Council meeting:

Dear Members of Council:

We have received communications from the mayor informing us that his office has agreed to allow a private local advocacy group, The Lakewood Outdoor Basketball Committee (LOBC), to build a basketball court at Lakewood Park. We have not seen a written, formal plan for what has been proposed but some information has been shared over the course of the year including the recent communication that city funds may be used to complete the project that was originally proposed to be fully funded by LOBC. By way of this letter, I would like to request that the details of this private public partnership be documented in writing and shared with council and the public more formally so that we can all fully understand the plan and have the opportunity to share feedback on this unique partnership and parks initiative.

I am interested in understanding details such as:

- how the plan evolved?

- the projected timeframe for the project, including start date and be completion date

- a definition of goals and target population that we are attempting to serve (e.g. young children, teens, adults, boys, girls, Lakewood children, all of the above?)

- where the court (presumably a converted tennis court) will be located

- how and why a particular park was chosen as the location for this new program

- how and why the specific location of the court within the park was chosen over other locations

- how much community input was gathered on the choice of court location from those who live near the park and who regularly use nearby facilities such as Foster Pool, The Lakewood Catholic Academy pre-school playground, other tennis courts and the Kids Cove playground area

- what the hours of operation for the new court will be

- how and when the court will be supervised

- who will supervise, and how will they be trained or screened appropriately

- what the original financial commitment from LOBC was

- what the original financial commitment from the administration was

- a current projection of total costs to the city including labor, materials and funds

- whether other private groups may begin to submit proposals to build activity-specific facilities on public parkland

- Why this initiative has been chosen as a higher priority than other improvements that have been needed or requested by the public and council or outlined in the parks Master Plan

Because this information was not documented or measured in the pilot stage of the outdoor basketball court program at Kauffman Park, questions still remain for some members of the community about how to best manage an activity like this I believe that documentation of all expectations and commitments associated with this partnership will benefit everyone involved.

More broadly, I think this initiative presents an opportunity to think about the overall alignment of the city recreational programming efforts, currently managed by Lakewood Public Schools, and the Public Works/Parks planning efforts, currently managed by the city. I would like to take this opportunity to invite the Mayor Council and the Lakewood School Board to discuss the larger issue of how recreational programming can best be executed to meet our community current and future needs a subject that is so critical to families who are deciding which community to choose as their permanent home. For example, how can we work together to develop and supervise drop-in recreational activities such as outdoor basketball, in a way that maintains safe and successful programming for everyone, and what criteria should we use to prioritize initiatives such as new basketball courts when other improvements and investments may be wanted and needed by the community?

As our city continues to make itself more marketable and desirable by focusing on economic development and housing improvements, we should also take time to understand the recreational priorities and expectations that today’s residents and potential residents may have when choosing a community in which to live. Please refer this communication to an appropriate council committee to discuss the above questions about the city outdoor basketball plans with the Administration. I look forward to this discussion and to future conversations about parks and recreational program planning.

Sincerely
Monique Smith
Councilmember-at-Large

Love the timing!!





?

[marklingm]

Love the timing!!

Scott,

In full disclosure, I support the Lakewood Outdoor Basketball Committee.

On the one hand, I admire At-Large Lakewood City Councilwoman Monique Smith for what appears to be her willingness to take on Mayor and Public Safety Director Michael P. Summers.

On the other hand, this is not another “chicken gate.” If Mike is yet again overstepping his authority, it would seem that At-Large Lakewood City Councilwoman Smith should have raised this concern much earlier than now. Or maybe At-Large Lakewood City Councilwoman Smith has raised the issue before and she was just ignored … as before:

The problem with the news of the backyard hen pilot program is that the mayor and his administration didn't involve city council in a single word of the discussions or the planning that they have apparently been having for quite a while about it. In fact, it's only because of the news that has been reported in the Observer that I even know about this pilot, and I'm a member of Lakewood city council. Pretty sad, eh?

To make it worse, when I reached out to the city's Director of Planning and Development several weeks ago to ask about the rumor that a pilot was in progress or being planned, the only response I received was that there was "no pilot"... and that was after more than one request for the information. So much for transparency and collaboration.

It breaks my heart to say this, because I once publicly supported the campaign of our current mayor and genuinely believed he would bring a very beneficial management style to city hall, but here's the thing: The mayor and some members of his administration are showing increasingly worrisome signs that they have no regard for council or some members of the public in Lakewood who may have opinions that differ from theirs. This backyard hen question is only one example in a pattern that I've been observing and have been worrying quite a bit about. I'm sure the mayor knows that there are members of council and the public who oppose the idea of backyard chickens in a city as densely populated and burdened with extremely serious housing issues (and few resources to handle them) as Lakewood. So how did he choose to deal with that potentially contentious issue? By completely excluding ALL of us from the discussion about this pilot. I regret that I have to take this complaint to the public rather than speaking with the mayor about it, but I feel that I'm left with no choice when members of council are excluded from these kinds of conversations at city hall.

One of my chief concerns about this pilot is that the mayor has said that housing is one of his top priorities, yet he has unilaterally chosen to increase the burden on our housing department and city resources by adding chickens to the residential landscape. It doesn't make sense to me. I'd like the opportunity to hear how it makes sense to him.

I sincerely respect the point of view and efforts of backyard hen supporters in Lakewood because I know that their intention is to provide a new means of making healthy, fresh food accessible to Lakewoodites. However, based on what I know of our city's housing situation, including issues that I see in my own neighborhood every day, and what our city is facing in terms of resource constraints, I can't support the inclusion of chickens in our residential landscape. Though our city has some similarities to other urban areas that allow backyard chickens, we also have many key differences and very unique challenges to manage. While the City of Cleveland may have some very appropriate conditions for raising backyard chickens, Lakewood simply does not.

Thank you to the publishers of the Observer and the readers of this forum for giving me a place to share my opinion on this. Unfortunately, I haven't had the same opportunity at city hall.

http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10552

I also hope that City Hall doesn’t revert to the “blame the schools” zone defense whenever City Hall is asked to “step up to the plate” and do what is right by Lakewood.

Matt

[Danielle Masters]

I guess I just don't understand the objections and fear some people have of kids, ultimately that is what it seems to boil down. Keeping kids active keeps them out of trouble but it just seems like people want them to be hidden in their houses which is really sad. I am really disappointed in Ms. Smith. As a parent of kids who don't play basketball I have been able to keep an eye on the goings on of LOBC. This is the second time I remember that she has pleaded ignorance to the goings on of Lakewood, last time it was about chickens. Is she paying attention to Lakewood at all?

I wish LOBC good luck. The skatepark went through many of these same objections and ultimately it took a lot of hard work but it got done. The skatepark has been a resounding success. I hope we as a community can give that same opportunity to kids who just want to play some ball. At the end of the day these objections seem very odd. Every morning I drive into Westlake passing the hoops in Bay Village. They can have hoops in Bay but people are afraid to have them here.

[Betsy Voinovich]

which is really sad. I am really disappointed in Ms. Smith. As a parent of kids who don't play basketball I have been able to keep an eye on the goings on of LOBC. This is the second time I remember that she has pleaded ignorance to the goings on of Lakewood, last time it was about chickens. Is she paying attention to Lakewood at all?

Hi Danielle,

I wanted to jump on and say that I'm grateful to Monique for putting that letter together. I think she is making an effort to do exactly what you are asking for: paying attention to the goings on of Lakewood. There is a screaming lack of transparency around here. The chicken thing shouldn't have been meetings in coffee houses with the mayor. They should all have been public meetings. The Hen people had no public protection getting a royal approval from King Mike. He's not King Mike, he's Mayor Mike. We should actually try to use the structure we have.


Monique's letter sounds uptight, but that's actually good, she should include representation of the people who have concerns or flat-out fears about "basketball," they live here too. (And full disclosure, I am an LOBC supporter.)

The only way to move forward as a city is to share our thoughts, our dreams our successes our failures our fears. My son just wrote a paper about "History repeating itself." It will if nobody knows what went on the first time, or now.

I would like to see EVERY SINGLE ONE of Monique's questions answered. I too think that the LOBC is made up of exemplary Lakewoodites doing a stellar job. LOBC has no need to operate behind the scenes. They have nothing to hide, let's get to it. They would do an excellent job of answering every single one of those questions.

What is the deal, exactly?

More than anything else, Councilperson Smith's letter seems to be asking that and I'm glad she's done it. I wish that would happen with every issue that goes through City Hall until everybody there gets used to a process that explains matters clearly to the Public that elected them. What are they doing? Why? How much does it cost? Does it make sense on the priority list of what the City is supposed to be taking care of, (Like street repair, man, did you see Jim's post?) especially given our limited resources in these times. They should take a page from Jeff Patterson's playbook. How much have we got? What are we doing with it? What are we supposed to be doing with it? Or as is the case with the City, do the citizens have any idea what we're doing with it, and how much everything costs? I'll say it again. It's our money.

And I agree with everyone here who has said that Lakewood is truly blessed that our "private citizens" get together in groups to make things happen.

Betsy Voinovich

[Jim O'Bryan]

Councilwoman Monique Smith is in her rights. These are good questions, though I have
always looked at the loss of our basketball hoops as nothing less than vandalism by the city
and schools brought on by fear of "those people" coming to Lakewood. It was done when
Cleveland had closed their courts down, and you know how "those people" love basketball.
(Interesting sidenote, the city finds itself in court again for discrimination and trying to shut
another LEGAL business down through pressure and intimidation)

However these questions are nearly the same questions I have been asking about the Detroit
Avenue Clean-Up. the Parks that are closed as early as 4pm in the winter, he trees, and well
everything coming out of City Hall the past 4 years. But no answers just BS.

The LOBC is a good organization that stands for everything this city stands for or claims it
stands for in lip service to residents. Health and Activity (Live Well Lakewood), Living and
having fun in DowntowN Lakewood (Lakewood Alive/Downtown Business Alliance), young
families moving to Lakewood, and more.

What needs to happen, is the LOBC to incorporate, then City Hall will bend over backwards
to build courts all over the center of the city.

Someone needs to remind city hall, businesses do not vote, residents do.

FWIW

[Stephanie Toole]

I think it is important to note that members of LOBC met with Council member Smith this past winter. In one such meeting, which lasted close to two hours, Council member Smith informed LOBC that she would not supp
ort any outdoor hoops in Lakewood unless they were supervised from the opening to closing .

I replied, "What other activities in our parks are supervised from open to close?" Council member Smith and I engaged in a healthy discussion and in the end we agreed to disagree.

Council member Smith also suggested that it would be a good idea that the kids of Lakewood carry ID's while playing in our parks. I openly disagreed with Council member Smith. The mere idea of 10 year olds, 12 year olds, or 16 year olds being expected to carry around ID's is beyond ridiculous.

When I asked Council member Smith what the purpose of these ID's would be and just who would be checking them, I was informed that it would be to ensure that just Lakewood kids would be playing in our parks and that the police would be expected to undertake such a task.

Yet again, keeping ‘those people’ out of our parks was her concern. I asked her if this would mean we would also be checking the ID’s of all adults as well? That the police would be checking the ID’s of all park visitors engaged in activities other than basketball correct? If we are checking the ID’s of kids on the basketball court than I would expect the police to check the ID's of people picnicking, playing baseball, folks attending The 4th of July Fireworks, swimming at our pools, watching Friday Night Flicks, and the skateboarders just to name a few. On second thought, I told her why don’t we just put a gate at the 117th border and check ID’s there. Stop them before they enter.

All of the questions asked of Council woman Smith have indeed been answered. There have been no secret meetings at coffee houses around the city.

I was present at the City Council meeting on June 20, 2011 in which one of LOBC founding members, Nadhal Eadeh, spoke in favor of the Kauffman Park court pilot program. Council member Brian Powers is on record stating in response that returning basketball courts to the city was not an issue the Council should be involved in. Council member Powers stated he had no official resolution. Pairing this statement with Mayor Summers’ approval of the reinstallation of courts, and the fact that Council member Smith’s refusal to sign the letter of support from City Council and the Mayor, I find her questions at this time quite peculiar .

The mere fact that she thinks these hoops are being built on an old tennis court speaks volumes as to her paying attention to MVD courts. One just needs to check out LOBC web site to see the actual location.

Once again, to find out more about the MVD Memorial Courts, check out LOBC’s website at: http://lobc.org/

LOBC is grateful to community of Lakewood, who have up to this point donated more than $22,000 for the MVD Memorial Courts at Lakewood Park. Their financial support speaks volumes to the value they place on the youth of our city and keeping them moving and fit with the healthy outlet of outdoor basketball.

Respectfully,
Stephanie Toole

[Peter Grossetti]

For the record: I am merely an LOBC volunteer. I hold no LOBC office that would make me an official spokesperson for the organization.

I am not opposed to questions being asked, but ONLY if each and every private organization who uses City facilities (parks, buildings, etc.) are required to answer the same questions.

How about this: perhaps ALL such usage/activity should cease immediately until each and every private organization who uses City facilities answers the same questions.

[marklingm]

This weekend, my family attended a baseball tournament at the Eleanor B. Garfield Park, which I believe to be a park run by the City of Mentor, Ohio.

It is a great park … and it has basketball courts … and lots of diverse people … even a few folks from Lakewood ...

See http://cityofmentor.com/play/explore/garfieldpark/.

[Colin McKay]

A letter submitted to Councilman Tom Bullock 9-3-12:

Councilman Bullock,

I am concerned that the recent communication from At-Large Councilmember Monique Smith posted on onelakewood.com is an attempt to further delay a program that has been patiently awaited by voting residents, youth, and the community as a whole. I was present at the City Council meeting on June 20, 2011 in which Lakewood Outdoor Basketball Committee’s (LOBC) spokesperson Nadhal Eadeh spoke in favor of the Kauffman Park court pilot program, Councilmember Brian Powers stated in response that returning basketball courts to the city was not an issue the Council should be involved in, therefore he had no official resolution. Pairing this statement with Mayor Summers’ approval of the reinstallation of courts, I believe that while the questions outlined in Councilmember Smith’s communication are valid in theory; they stand to further delay a project that the appropriate parties have decided to act on, and one that I personally have been looking forward to seeing completed.

Councilmember Smith’s questions within the communication to the Council should be taken seriously, specifically the concern about long-term planning for parks and programming. I agree that there should be a concerted planning effort amongst local government departments. I feel that this planning and coordination should take place in addition to the current basketball court project rather than instead of the project.

A study I conducted as part of my Master’s in Public Administration capstone from Cleveland State University’s Urban Affairs College researched former Mayor Tom George’s 2007 decision to remove basketball courts from Lakewood public parks. The scholarly research cited in this study states that non-profit organizations such as LOBC are born from necessity; they attempt to fill gaps in public service that the public deems necessary. The overwhelming financial and vocal support of LOBC by the citizens of Lakewood is evidence that the residents of the City are enthusiastic about basketball courts returning to the community. In addition, I am hopeful that the Council can resolve its differences on this issue and afford City management the opportunity to continue working with the appropriate entities to reinstall additional basketball courts for the community to utilize.

Sincerely, concerned citizen and Ward 2 resident,

Colin E. McKay, MPA
2129 Woodward Ave.
Lakewood, Oh 44107
216-227-8620
eagleson04@aol.com

[Justine Cooper]

Yet again, keeping ‘those people’ out of our parks was her concern. I asked her if this would mean we would also be checking the ID’s of all adults as well? That the police would be checking the ID’s of all park visitors engaged in activities other than basketball correct? If we are checking the ID’s of kids on the basketball court than I would expect the police to check the ID's of people picnicking, playing baseball, folks attending The 4th of July Fireworks, swimming at our pools, watching Friday Night Flicks, and the skateboarders just to name a few. On second thought, I told her why don’t we just put a gate at the 117th border and check ID’s there. Stop them before they enter.

Well Stephanie, there IS a beach in Lakewood that requies ID so maybe this is not so out of the question?
I know every single reason for the hoops to be up has already been passionately articulated, so do not want to beat a dead horse. I do want to point out that teaching in a residential facility last year in Cleveland, I saw students in the system, most from horribly broken homes and many with no homes. Their educational levels were scattered and often their emotional and behavioral growth incredibly stunted. But when they got on the basketball court, they were tranformed. The kids who were rivals because of different neighborhoods forgot all that when they played. It was like everything to them. And if I had a nickel for every time one of these tough street kids turned to make sure I saw them make their long shot I would have enough to buy more than one brick.

It is a lot more than exercise. For some kids, it is the only time they feel good at something, enjoy something, can forget everything else. My son is at football practice now, because we signed him up. We all know every child in Lakewood does not have that "luxury." I wish this group all the best and realy appreciate your advocacy and passion for our kids.

Where do I buy a brick?

[Myra Beckrest]

We are talking about basketball right? Or did I miss something. This wasn't a conversation about strip clubs right? Because that's what it sounds like. And for the record, I'm not a member, supporter, volunteer, advocate, etc of anything, I just live here.

It's BASKETBALL!! One of my husband's own criteria for buying a house is to ensure that the driveway has enough room for a hoop. For him, not kids. Perhaps if he could go play at the park with some other gentleman friends we wouldn't have to worry about that.

I guess I don't get it. I'm not afraid of "those people", whoever they are supposed to be.
Talk about judging a book by it's cover.

If kids are causing trouble, yes, call the police, but don't disturb them because they aren't "kids from your neighborhood" when you live on Lake... sheesh, come on. We are a city of 50,000+ people. It's Lakewood park, not LAKE only park. What's wrong with people?

Pardon my rant, but I just don't understand what the big deal is, and why someone needs a 32 page analysis about safety and basketball.

[Peter Grossetti]

I do want to point out that teaching in a residential facility last year in Cleveland, I saw students in the system, most from horribly broken homes and many with no homes. Their educational levels were scattered and often their emotional and behavioral growth incredibly stunted. But when they got on the basketball court, they were tranformed. The kids who were rivals because of different neighborhoods forgot all that when they played. It was like everything to them. And if I had a nickel for every time one of these tough street kids turned to make sure I saw them make their long shot I would have enough to buy more than one brick.

Justine - Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this! I don't care who knows this (I am man enough), but I cried uncontrollably when I read this, as I experience this every Wednesday night when I monitor the LOBC Kauffman Park Courts. This is PRECISELY why LOBC exists. This is why I volunteer my time. Kids (all kids!) NEED to know that adults care about them.

[Justine Cooper]

I am really humbled by you Peter and I totally get you and where you are coming from. I can't wait to meet you and buy my brick!