The Observation Deck

Ms. Antonio will be good for Lakewood?


Ms. Antonio will be good for promoting her own ambition and maintaining any obtained public position. If her past is any indication of her character.

Bryan Schwegler

Oh I agree, I just am a little disappointed that this was not made public during the campaign as she clearly knew she'd be running. Would have been important information for the voters to know.

Ran for a council seat she knew she had no plan on filling.

http://www.onelakewood.com/CityCouncil/Members.aspx
At Large:
Nickie J. Antonio was elected to the At-Large seat for Lakewood City Council in November of 2005. She chairs the Health and Human Services Committee, is a member of the Public Works Committee and serves on the Lakewood Hospital Board.

Voted to outsource Human Services and cut Office of Aging

http://www.gaypeopleschronicle.com/stor ... 814093.htm
“During her first term, she helped defeat a proposal to privatize the city’s sanitation service and was able to keep money in the budget for senior citizen transportation.”

Antonio is a progressive who believes city government should “do good public service and make good public policy.”

In her jockeying for higher office … sold em out

http://www.onelakewood.com/CityCouncil/Members.aspx
She also serves as the Council liaison to the Community Relations Advisory Commission. …”believes that civic engagement is key to building a strong and safe community.”

Answers no emails from this concerned resident

http://www.onelakewood.com/CityCouncil/Members.aspx
She is a founding member and past Chair of the NorthCoast HIV/AIDS Coalition, past President of the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the National Organization for Women, and former board member of the Domestic Violence Center. ….“ Nickie and partner, Jean Kosmac…”

http://www.onelakewood.com/CityCouncil/Members.aspx
“I bring [lesbian] sensitivity to whatever I do,” Antonio said, “So when we [council] talk about community, we’re truly talking about everyone in the community.”

Has failed to sponsor and kept silent on extending same sex benefits for city employees.


Ms. Antonio will be good for promoting her own ambition and maintaining any obtained public position.

If her past is any indication of her character she will sell out and roll over if it is not in her personal and own best intrest.

not too long ago the PD reported this blunder at the County Administration Building that could costs taxpayers $400,000.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10 ... could.html

Does Nickie work in this office? I thought she oversaw the Ryan White funds down there? Feel free to correct me if I am wrong (Like that needed to be said).

In doing more research, the blunder must have been caused by two of the following six employees listed as managing the Ryan White Part A Program:

James Corrigan, RN
Program Director

Stephen J. Rusnak
Program Manager

Walter R. Miller, Jr.
Program Officer

Regina S. Frazier
Administrative Assistant

Nickie Antonio
Planning Council Manager

Destiny E. Harris
Quality Management Officer

So if Mr. Corrigan makes reference to the employees in the article, then it can't be him. So that leaves five to choose from:

Stephen J. Rusnak,Program Manager
Walter R. Miller, Jr., Program Officer
Regina S. Frazier, Administrative Assistant
Nickie Antonio, Planning Council Manager
Destiny E. Harris, Quality Management Officer

In my estimation it's 50-50 as to whether Antonio was part of the blunder. The question is how could anyone with titles like these let something so important just slip under the radar? Don't these people interact with each other on a daily basis to know what priorities are critical and what deadlines are approaching. Where was Nickie with her "collaborative efforts and positive approach?"

Mr. Demro,

Posting employee lists and proffering "odds" over who's to blame seems at best a low blow and at worst like a pinata swing.

If you spent five extra minutes Googling (like I did), you'd see that four days after the article you cite was published, the Federal Goverment agreed to provide the funding anyway.

http://www.ohio.com/news/politics/state/65002767.html

So, something happened that didn't cost anyone anything other than a couple of days of worry and no knowledge of who is to blame.......

Why is this an issue?

Bob- I was just looking for an answer to a legitimate question. Just because the government chose to hand over the money anyway doesn't excuse the incompetence of a government official.

It sounded to an impartial observer like an accusation with a question mark at the end.

You spent time finding out who works in her office, but couldn't be bothered to find out if the feds had decided to release the funding anyway? (Which again, occurred over a month ago, four days after your article was orginally published) You're either lazy or trying to present only the negative half the story - and praying the electorate is even lazier when it comes to fact checking.

Furthermore....

In my estimation it's 50-50 as to whether Antonio was part of the blunder.

....isn't a question. Granted, I'm only an simple engineer, not an english major, but I'm pretty sure I'm still up on my interrogatives.

A phone call to the department or a reporter and a response here would be a benefit to the community.

"Incompetence" is a strong word....and while it may apply here, you may be better served to ensure sure it applies before using it.

Bob Mehosky wrote:So, something happened that didn't cost anyone anything other than a couple of days of worry and no knowledge of who is to blame.......

Why is this an issue?

It’s an issue because two people screwed up (probably more than two, IMO). Yes, in the end we got bailed out by the Feds. However, two people still screwed up.

As we all know, s@#t rolls downhill. Never uphill. It’s highly unlikely anyone on Ryan’s list will be held accountable. If this issue were pressed further, the county will probably blame layoffs and budget cuts.

The real question should be who at the County level knows someone in federal Health Resources and Services Administration? Who called in the favor? We all know the federal government is as slow as molasses in the wintertime. Someone had to call in a favor to get that kind of action in a few days.

Sorry Charlie (I couldn't help myself), perhaps I wasn't being clear.

Of course it's an issue that should be investigated, but I was questioning whether it had a place in the discussion about Ms. Antonio's qualifications.

If there's no direct link to her involvement, why bring it up here other than to try to play the "guilt by association" game?

But to stay off topic, if someone in county government knows someone who can pull strings to help Cuyahoga County, I'd say that's a good thing!

Ryan - Where do you get off with the 50:50 thing?

Do I detect some jealousy there? Maybe Nickie is the one who straightened it out. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong done at the county end and and feds had screwed up.

Ever deal with government programs Ryan? Maybe it's one way in the service, then again, I've heard mumblings that their paperwork is wonky often.

It's one thing to nail someone on a legitimate issue, it's another to decide who made the mistake in a department where there were at least 4 other people who could have screwed up. Go deal with county agencies. Let me know how that goes.

Shelley Hurd wrote:Ms. Antonio will be good for Lakewood?

Yep - maybe we should take a poll?

Bob Mehosky wrote:Sorry Charlie (I couldn't help myself)

Bob Mehosky wrote:Of course it's an issue that should be investigated, but I was questioning whether it had a place in the discussion about Ms. Antonio's qualifications.

If there's no direct link to her involvement, why bring it up here other than to try to play the "guilt by association" game?

I appreciate the clarification. I agree, it should be investigated but without further evidence it has no bearing on her qualifications.

Bob Mehosky wrote:But to stay off topic, if someone in county government knows someone who can pull strings to help Cuyahoga County, I'd say that's a good thing!

Connections can be a good thing as shown in this event. However, my inquiring mind wonders how deep these connections go. Do these connections have the ability to stonewall the county corruption probe until issue 6 is fully implemented? What then? Does the probe fizzle out without getting the top dogs?

Stan Austin wrote:In the State Rep race-------

Having said that----what's in it for Lakewood?
The district is Democratic (sorry Ryan).
About 3/5 of the district is Lakewood.
So, the winner of a Democratic primary will win in the general election.
Problem is----we have two good Lakewood candidates vs Dan Brady, a
Cleveland candidate. I would really like to see either Niki or Tom in the
seat and I would really NOT like to see Dan Brady in the seat.

Therein is the problem folks.
Lets' get some solutions!

Stan Austin

Stan,


I believe you have nailed it.


.

Bob,

Nobody said I was done seeking answers to who was responsible in this matter.

Sharon,

I have dealt with county agencies. With few exceptions they and their employees are incompetent and corrupt. That stems from the rampant cronyism and nepotism within the County Democratic Party that continues to be within the iron sights of the FBI.

Haliburton.

sharon kinsella wrote:Haliburton.

Enron