The Observation Deck

Mr. Fitzgerald,

I don't think that LA has updated their website in several months.
I told them to take the Loje's name off their "Friends" list several months ago.
It has yet to be removed.

Rhonda Loje

Ed FitzGerald wrote:Bill-Well done, I never even suspected you.

News flash 2009 or was it 44 BC? No one likes a dictator. An opposition ALWAYS exsists. And no politician is ever universally argreed with.


"After assuming control of government, he began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He heavily centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed "dictator in perpetuity" (dictator perpetuo). A group of senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, assassinated the dictator on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC, hoping to restore the normal running of the Republic." (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar)




And he was heard to utter, "Well done, I never even suspected you." Or was it


"Et tu, Brute?, "Et tu?

stephen davis wrote:As cynical as I am, I've never sensed any illegality or conspiracy involved in Lakewood appointments. Not that it couldn’t happen, but I haven’t seen the abuse that some Observation Deck participants are worried about.

Based on what I know now, if someone wants to make a campaign issue about this, I guess that’s his/her right, but I would have to judge it as silly demagoguery.

.

Not in this case.

Nickie Antonio has been a responsive and responsible member of council. She deserves reelection on the basis of her record. However, she has announced an intention to leave council if elected to higher office next year. People should at least consider that fact when casting their vote.

Who will be the secret replacement if she wins? Who will be Councilman Bullocks replacement if he wins? Who will replace the Mayor if he seeks appointment next year to Countywide office? Those unanswered questions make it more important than ever to have one or two independent voices on council.

Just as aside I happen to think that Ed Fitzgerald has been the best Mayor Lakewood has had in a very long time. I don't begrudge him his quest for higher office.

Ed FitzGerald wrote: Well done, I never even suspected you.

I mistakenly had the word Bill in my last posted quote. Which seemed to infer Mr. Fitzgerald was talking to Bill. I apologize for my error.

Ed FitzGerald wrote:Bill-

Out of curiosity, I checked the LakewoodAlive membership list online. I was surprised to see Jim O'Bryan is a member.

Jim, are you the person who is actually pulling the strings behind the curtain? Well done, I never even suspected you.

Mayor FitzGerald

Thanks for pointing that out, I will now let my lawyers address that. You see I suppose
I got on the list the same way Bill Call did. They acquired my name. Like the names
they acquire by getting school email lists, phaseIII email lists,etc. I thought over a
year ago they were told they cannot use the term "members" legally. Hence the fall
back to the Facebook term "friends."

When LakewoodAlive was formed I thought the idea of 3 public meetings to discuss ideas for
development in Lakewood was a refreshing idea from the people that tried it through
backroom dealings, misrepresentations, and silence. However over a year ago I asked
to be removed from their lists, when the founder for life, and his puppet refused to
answer the simple question, by law as a 501C3, are required to answer. They found it
easier, and I am sure they thought more fun to belittle a 50-year-old woman with
a terminal illness. A woman that is a resident of Lakewood, a taxpayer,and had every
legal right to ask.

Yes it is true, in the early days I had great hope for LakewoodAlive. After all they
assured everyone, "we are merely an educational group. We would NEVER try to be the
facilitators or agents for the ideas we discuss." But then, even that was a lie, they were
a registered Political Action Committee. They were trying to build political clout to
change the city in the vision of a very small group of people. One day at lunch with the
permanent head of LakewoodAlive and their spokesgirl, they gleefully told me how they
stopped economic development on Sloane, as the hotel would have created traffic
(almost 40 cars a day) in front of one of their homes! I smiled thinking of the 2,000
cars an hour (in their dreams) they wanted to put past my house. Of course it was
months later that Rick Foran told me, "Yes I even offered the landowners on Sloane
legal help, if they promised me first option to buy." Now I see what this is all about.

So the founder and his public face were not really for economic development for the
city, they were the "NIMBY" people they accused others of being during the WestEnd
nothing had changed. A group that works back room deals to benefit themselves. Of
course since then this Political Action Committee has morphed like a chameleon into
whatever is needed to get the public to buy into the very over paid cult.

LakewoodAlive has great potential, but not as long as any of the founders of the
Political Action Committee are still involved. LakewoodAlive could be doing wonderful
things for this entire city but not as it is run now. LakewoodAlive, needs to be
transparent, needs to answer to the city, residents, businesses. LakewoodAlive needs
to come clean by cleaning house from the top down. LakewoodAlive needs to look in the
mirror, sober up and do what is right for the city, not the very few that meet over
cocktails. Otherwise it is nothing more than a PAC securing power, for their own small
ideas like dead flowers, closing schools(2) for malls, and trying to trick the public into
thinking they came up with the lame ideas they developed in backrooms..

Mayor, as always thanks for stepping in and helping set the record straight. But I would
ask you, the person that brought fiscal responsibility back to Lakewood. For the nearly
half million dollars they have gotten from the city and over $1million from the state
and feds, what have they accomplished? Dead flowers on Detroit? No loitering signs
on Detroit? Downsizing Mainstreet's Jennifer Hooper's Light Up Lakewood? Downsizing
Spooky Pooch? Hell they haven't even put up "DowntowN" signs that they had submitted
a bill rumored to be slightly north of $70,000 for the designs before being turned down
for a figure around $32,000? You could have bought 2 circulators with the sign money
alone. Mayor we can do better, and you know it.

IMHO

Time to empower residents and volunteers, not enslave them.

Charlie Page wrote:Also, John Kamkutis is not a member either. How on earth did he get appointed to the school board if not part of The Machine? Could it be that board members are capable of independent thought and making decisions on their own?

Charlie

Highly unlikely for a majority of the board ask them. As one member told me "You
better learn to work with LakewoodAlive they are now the powers to be in Lakewood."
I then pointed out I tried, and tried, but I cannot buy into their ill thought out vision
for Lakewood, nor can I stomach the back room dealings.

Selected memory loss, you forget before John Kamkutis, the name of the people who
were originally slated to replace Chaz Geiger? Look at the names on the second list
that had to be hurried together when the scheme was uncovered, and the board had
to go public. I think if you talk with the board, you will find an interesting story how
John got selected.

Charlie, please a little critical thought here.


.

Justine Cooper on Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:51 am

And speaking of honest, Monique may have a decent resume, but if she is in charge of HUD funds and some of those are now going to Lakewood Alive and she is running for council, isn't that a conflict of interest? We need people for council who care for the whole city, not the desire of Lakewood Alive. Are there public records for that money available?

By the way..Did anyone find out if this is true? I would really like to know before I vote.

Rhonda loje wrote:

Justine Cooper on Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:51 am

And speaking of honest, Monique may have a decent resume, but if she is in charge of HUD funds and some of those are now going to Lakewood Alive and she is running for council, isn't that a conflict of interest? We need people for council who care for the whole city, not the desire of Lakewood Alive. Are there public records for that money available?

By the way..Did anyone find out if this is true? I would really like to know before I vote.

In the intrest of finding out the truth on these issues I sent her an email asking her to help clear up and clairify her involvment.

I do not have a solidified opinion on her yet, but her response and or lack of response will determine my final take on her and her level of Integrity.

She has yet to respond.

When and if she does I will share her response (with her permission)
As I am sure clearing this up is the publics best intrest.

Thank you Shelley!
I really appreciate your quest to get the correct information.
It will really make a difference in my vote!

Rhonda

Jim O'Bryan wrote:

Charlie Page wrote:Also, John Kamkutis is not a member either. How on earth did he get appointed to the school board if not part of The Machine? Could it be that board members are capable of independent thought and making decisions on their own?

Charlie

Highly unlikely for a majority of the board ask them.

Jim,

Are you suggesting that I am not capable of independent thought and making decisions on my own? Really? Which "majority" are you referring to in your premise?

Matt

Jim O'Bryan wrote:As one member told me "You better learn to work with LakewoodAlive they are now the powers to be in Lakewood." I then pointed out I tried, and tried, but I cannot buy into their ill thought out vision for Lakewood, nor can I stomach the back room dealings.

Jim,

You will, of course, clarify that I was not that one board member.

Matt

Jim O'Bryan wrote:Selected memory loss, you forget before John Kamkutis, the name of the people who were originally slated to replace Chaz Geiger? Look at the names on the second list that had to be hurried together when the scheme was uncovered, and the board had to go public. I think if you talk with the board, you will find an interesting story how John got selected.

Jim,

Chas Geiger unilaterally quit the Lakewood City School District Board of Education. I did not know that Chas was quitting the school board until approximately 10 minutes before he made his announcement in a public meeting. Chas served the Lakewood City Schools well for a long period of time, but his decision to quit was not any conspiracy of which I was a party.

Where is the list of people slated to replace Chas? I am unaware of any list (first, second, or otherwise), and there was certainly no scheme by the Lakewood School Board which I served on.

John Kamkutis was selected because he was the best candidate/applicant for the position. His fellow candidates/applicants even came on the Deck and agreed with the Board's decision. You even believe that John was the best candidate/applicant for the position and has served Lakewood well.

In sum, you do not believe that I was part of any conspiracy related to Chas deciding to quit. You do not believe that John was slated to replace Chas before Chas unilaterally quit. So, where is the beef?

Matt

Jim - The wonderful woman you referred to above is 60 not 50.
Carry on.

http://onelakewood.com/Development/Comm ... ogram.aspx

The above address will take you to the Lakewood administrative website and there you can see the list of people on the Citizen Participation Committee and Monique is one of the names.

You will also see that they approved Lakewood Alive for $80,000.00 total for two grants, more than any other non-profit.

Matthew John Markling wrote:Jim,

Are you suggesting that I am not capable of independent thought and making decisions on my own? Really? Which "majority" are you referring to in your premise?

The not Matt majority.

One of the reasons I appreciate your hard work is that you think outside of the
status quo.

Matthew John Markling wrote:[
You will, of course, clarify that I was not that one board member.

You were not.

Matthew John Markling wrote:Chas Geiger unilaterally quit the Lakewood City School District Board of Education. I did not know that Chas was quitting the school board until approximately 10 minutes before he made his announcement in a public meeting. Chas served the Lakewood City Schools well for a long period of time, but his decision to quit was not any conspiracy of which I was a party.

Where is the list of people slated to replace Chas? I am unaware of any list (first, second, or otherwise), and there was certainly no scheme by the Lakewood School Board which I served on.

John Kamkutis was selected because he was the best candidate/applicant for the position. His fellow candidates/applicants even came on the Deck and agreed with the Board's decision. You even believe that John was the best candidate/applicant for the position and has served Lakewood well.

In sum, you do not believe that I was part of any conspiracy related to Chas deciding to quit. You do not believe that John was slated to replace Chas before Chas unilaterally quit. So, where is the beef?

Matt

No, but you certainly know the list of one name, and how the board finally arrived at
John, and the list his name came from.

I would also say John is a breath of fresh air, and adds much value to the board.

Ready for my question?

.

by sharon kinsella on Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:28 pm
http://onelakewood.com/Development/Comm ... ogram.aspx

The above address will take you to the Lakewood administrative website and there you can see the list of people on the Citizen Participation Committee and Monique is one of the names.

You will also see that they approved Lakewood Alive for $80,000.00 total for two grants, more than any other non-profit.

Thank you Sharon! That was the information that I was looking for.

To be fair, I think we have to give Ms. Smith and chance to respond.

She could have recused herself when the vote for LA's $ allocation was put to a vote by the Committee.

I look forward to her response and clarification.

Recusing herself would be the right thing to do, I hope she tells us whether or not she did.

Jeni Matousek might have also.

Rhonda loje wrote:She could have recused herself when the vote for LA's $ allocation was put to a vote by the Committee.

I'm curious to know why a recusal would be necessary in this instance. Monique is not paid by LakewoodAlive to my knowledge. There would be absolutely no way of being enriched by voting to fund it.

If I think an economic development project in my ward would be nice for the citizens of Ward 1 and Lakewood, should I recuse myself from voting to fund it simply because I live in the ward?

Just curious to know what the rationale is here.