News Release from Chief Tim Malley

[chris richards]

Ken,

I don't think anything you said in that post defends or explains further the plan stated by Jim...

And low rental price isn't the problem, it's a symptom of undervalued run down property and an unattractive economy. A problem with the plan as pointed out is that the renters will end up paying the cost rather than the landlords. Then, only renters would be paying this, not all the residents of Lakewood.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

these thugs don't have concealed weapons licenses, they buy guns out of trunks in dark alleys.

they wouldn't able to buy them legally because they most likely have a criminal record already.

I don't think the right to bear arms is an issue here, it's more of "our police officers are unequipped to do their jobs to the best of their abilities".

Sharon I have to agree with you on the jails, it's part of America as we know it today. You have bums that are more comfortable in jail because they have a roof over their heads, showers, food, and a mattress rather than sleeping on the sidewalks.

[Stephen Eisel]

Eg. 20,000 renters x's $100 annual registration fee = $2,000,000 a year in renter registration revenue for the city..

[sharon kinsella]

Igor -

The right to bear arms was written into the constitution in the 1700's, a different time a different place.

Back alley purchases wouldn't happen if there were not product.

Did you know that there is a gun manufacturer in Ohio make plastic, single shot handguns. People could use that instead of their .38 or .45 to hunt that big game traipsing through here. Ooops, I forgot, we're not allowed the cull the deer herds anymore, no hunting there. Better to watch these animals starve due to over development and elimination of feeding grounds.

[Stephen Eisel]

We can just do away with all of those old out dated amendments..

[Kenneth Warren]

Chris:

There is no plan. It's was just brainstorming and talk.

Jim let go a trial balloon, not yet ready to fly.

In conversation, I mentioned that over the past decade there has been a divergence in valuations between single home prices and multiple units, with the end result property tax rates are going up faster for single home owners.

The idea of fees more adequately tied to costs generated by rentals was raised for consideration and investigation.

First question was dollar threshold and legal issues to be researched.

That was as far as it went.

I had written my previous post prior to reading the inquiry about this so-called plan.

Kenneth Warren

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

I don't know if many of you have heard about the story in Cleveland over the past summer where an older man was held up at gun point, knife point and I think bat point by three juvenile thugs on his way back from buying groceries.

The man had a concealed weapon and was able to protect himself without having any harm done to himself.

That's the whole point of a concealed weapon.

I'm not a big gun fan myself, but if we could limit gun sales to those that take classes and are educated on the laws, the guns, and know how to use them properly for the proper reasons, I think we'd be much better off.

I feel much safer knowing that if anyone steps into my house and threatens my loved ones, I am trained enough and am confident that my shot is better than the thug that's looking at me.

back to the subject of renting.....
if I get charged an extra $1000 to rent an appartment or home here in Lakewood, I'm using that $1000 and moving to Rocky River where cops are notorious for their enforcement.

we need more police. it's sad to think that our safety is not as important as making the budget at the end of the year. Are we just a number to these people?

[chris richards]

Chris:

There is no plan. It's was just brainstorming and talk.

Jim let go a trial balloon, not yet ready to fly.

In conversation, I mentioned that over the past decade there has been a divergence in valuations between single home prices and multiple units, with the end result property tax rates are going up faster for single home owners.

The idea of fees more adequately tied to costs generated by rentals was raised for consideration and investigation.

First question was dollar threshold and legal issues to be researched.

That was as far as it went.

I had written my previous post prior to reading the inquiry about this so-called plan.

Kenneth Warren

I think it should be investigated. If property taxes are lower for rentals than singles then perhaps the action should be to work at increasing those taxes rather than adding a licensing fee. In that way, when rent goes up, it will not appear that only the renters are paying it, but rather that they are finally contributing their fair share. If there is that drastic of a difference.

It is the same with commercial property taxes... if they are lower than what they should be, then we should work to get them raised.

[sharon kinsella]

Chris - The only reason property taxes would be lower for rentals would be the properties that have suffered from mass neglect. If you don't take care of a property it will lose value.

[sharon kinsella]

In Jim's defense and yes I realize I was the first to jump in and say no, he's angry about the shooting of this young man over drugs. This is the second shooting in three weeks tied to drugs.

I've mentioned before that drug use is up all over this country. Addiction is an illness, we need to do research into the cure.

[Jim O'Bryan]

All

So here we are, almost exactly where some of us were when we started the Observer project. To combine threads, crime, now shootings, drugs, the perception of unsafe, housing stock dropping in value and quality, and let's not forget, Lakewood with the battered woman syndrome. How do we address this, in a way that we can afford and makes sense.

The DREAM was to turn Lakewood into a Chautauqua, Berkley in the early sixties. A place where civic and artistic intelligence is celebrated and displayed. An oasis in the rust belt of Northern Ohio. A city that is not tied to the sinking anchor called Cleveland, and stands apart from those burbs to the west. Simply put the BEST and SAFEST place to live in Northern Ohio. The DREAM is not that crazy, it is not that far off right now, believe it or not.

The city, needs to address safe and clean. We have seen, many of the "headline" crimes currently happening are nearly impossible to stop, as they are all about sudden flair ups, domestic violence of sorts. However, the root cause we can address, and we all see it everyday.

I credit council person Nickie Antonio with this one, and it is an easy key. Be the friendly noisy neighbor. Criminals hate these people, and will move to get away. Get involved, SAFELY. People talking about getting chased out of our parks. Don't go, go with enough people you feel safe and put those mom eyes on the problem. If you see trouble call the police, make notes, call it in, get involved SAFELY, be noisy. Turn up the heat.

Run down problem homes, do not wait for the next safety meeting to tell your story to deaf ears. Call the city, talk with Ed Favre, Mike Flynn, and tell them your story. Get them out, get them involved. How many of us have watched homes rot with never making the call? I know I did, the home next to my rental has started to melt into the ground. I never called, finally as we get the house ready to rent (single 4 bedroom, central air, view of the Emerald Canyon if anyone is looking), I finally called. The list the owner ended up with was huge, roof, paint, yard, new garage, foundation, etc. I might have been a better neighbor had I bitched earlier. His comment to me, "when I get this done, I am moving!" Well two problems solved in one call.

The final part is the fun part, the easy part, building the brand by having fun. One of the things I am proudest of is the ability of the Observer to find people, get them together and fire off new groups to tackle the serious issue of fun and good living, while working with the old established groups. LEAF Community, Food Security, Madsion Avenue Merchant Association (MAMA) now DADA for Detroit, Lakewood Is Art, Bike Lakewood, Lakewood Motoring Society, and more forming as I input this. Most, if not all, getting together without help of tax dollars, getting like minded people together, and creating "events" and movements that are fun, light hearted and with purpose to make the city better. The advisory board has consistently been told, IT CANNOT BE DONE, while we are doing it. All of us that take the time and believe we can do it.

Sharon, maybe you can address this better than any of us. Correct me if I am wrong, A battered city, like a battered woman has to know she is safe, then she has to be given her self esteem back, clean-up, and get dressed up and go have fun and start living again. She/We have to know we are better than what the low class spouse has told us while beating us. Or we let the creep win, we move into a shelter, get away, change our names, and live lives in other places, knowing we ran when we should have fought.

FWIW

[sharon kinsella]

Jim -

You pointed out something important, Nickie Antonio's advice to be a noisy neighbor. I found, in my apartment building, if I call and tell the management what's going on they get on the tenants who are misbehaving, evict them and move right on. We recently got a new building manager for two of our building and our landlord put one of the maintenance guys into an apartment over here. Amazing, no more beer cans in the lobby, no more screaming in the parking lot and people in the building are starting to talk to each other.

Driving home from a fundraiser last night, in Cleveland, I saw a group of young men walking down the street, one had a pipe in his hand. I called 911 and gave them a description of the boys and they were sending a car right out.

One of the tenants here had a freezer on their balcony along with things that should have been in a storage locker. I called the building dept. when the management wasn't able to get it taken care of. The building inspector came out, wrote a citation, the stuff got moved. One phone call.

Phone calls can be made from the privacy of your home. Sticking your neck out doesn't mean that you put a sign on yourself saying "I'll tell on you". It means "I care about where I live and won't allow you to pee all over my territory".

None of these phone calls cost me a thing, except for 2 minutes on the phone. Of course, it isn't always that quick, but many times it is the beginning of putting your foot down.

Jim, you found out that when you no longer were being passive about the situation and took a stand, problem solved.

These are the things everyone needs to do.

As Stephen Davis says "It ain't rocket science".

Just as in Battered Woman Syndrome, if we empower the survivor, we empower the family (community).

[Bill Call]

properties. We added $1,000 a year license fee to ALL rental units. This would address many problems.

One that has surfaced is rental units cheaper than Section 8. Another problem is the offloading of heavily medicated people into rental units.

We have got to get serious.
FWIW

Of course!!

There is declining demand for Lakewood rental units. The solution: Incease the cost of those units.

The middle class is fleeing the City. The solution: Increase taxes on one of the most heavily taxed community's in the country.

The problem: We don't have enough City employees!!

The solution: Thirty more jobs for North Ridgeville!

Anyway, as the Mayor has repeately pointed out: Everything is just fine.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Jim -

You pointed out something important,

Sharon

Even a blind squirrel gets found by a nut now and then.

While most of us reminisce over "the good old days" of Lakewood, one thing we all forget. You got away with nothing back then.

By the time you got home, your parents and every neighbor knew you were smoking and drinking on the tracks. that and very real truth that "bad behavior" was not tolerated, kept the city safe, and built the reputation of "do not bring your BS to Lakewood."

This is where I believe as do others we get real tough, for one or two years, and rebuild that brand, the city wins and we all win. If we need to move, we do it on on terms not theirs. We do it with homes that are salable, and valuable.

This is what I do not understand. It is only common sense.

.

[sharon kinsella]

I just found a great and appropriate quote on a website I read "Green As a Thistle". I know most people just publish url's, but I thought that this quote was very appropriate for this conversation.

"A person who feels that they live in a nurturing, thriving community of warm-hearted people, rather than a cold, isolated place, is going to be more likely to get involved in improving their community. They’ll learn to trust their neighbors and thus be more inclined to share resources.â€Â￾