The Observation Deck

Grab your life vests. We are in extremely treacherous waters.

Example of Covid-19 Contagion Spread - Ohio Department of Health Graphic

Lakewood's Worst Idea Ever -- Use of City Property for "Parklets" During Severe Global Pandemic

Today we learned a couple of things:

1. Governor DeWine has tested positive for Covid-19;

2. PD Front-page Headline -- "Anecdotal Contact Tracing Links Recent Outbreak To 50 Bars"

Last week (7/29), the City released its "Temporary Parklet Guide".

Are they nuts ?!?!???

Here it is.

Warning - Dine At Your Own Risk On City Property

The City of Lakewood and any business using a conditional use permit for expanded outdoor dining on city property have both a moral and a legal duty to warn residents, visitors and employees that dining on city property carries a risk of Covid-19 contagion that cannot be measured or controlled.

This program should be halted immediately.

Mark Kindt wrote:Warning - Dine At Your Own Risk On City Property

The City of Lakewood and any business using a conditional use permit for expanded outdoor dining on city property have both a moral and a legal duty to warn residents, visitors and employees that dining on city property carries a risk of Covid-19 contagion that cannot be measured or controlled.

This program should be halted immediately.

From Plain Dealer headlines this morning we now all know that some tests relied upon by the federal government return with results that are "false positives".

All week I have taken the time to observe outdoor dining situations in both Lakewood and Rocky River.

All I saw were people seated directly across from one another on two-tops or four-tops.

No evidence of any social distancing with regard to table spacing or patron spacing.

Ohio Department of Health Map - August 6, 2020

Note: Our county remains affected by "Very high exposure and spread."

We Should All Be Troubled

We should all be troubled by what we've learned since yesterday:

1. The federal government (Department of Treasury - U.S. Secret Service) does not have an accurate Covid-19 antibody test that does not generate "false positives" as resulted with Governor DeWine when screened for Covid-19 for his visit with the President yesterday.

2. Six months after Governor DeWine declared a state-of-emergency in Ohio his staff reported today on his behalf that Ohio has "little experience with antigen testing".

3. Very high exposure and spread in Cuyahoga County and nearby Medina County. Adjacent Summit and Lorain Counties with increased exposure and spread.

I an quickly losing site of the purpose of testing

Mr. Austin, before the Planning Department or the Planning Commission places your life in jeopardy from Covid-19 on public property they might want to understand whether or not they actually have any testing capacity for that disease.

At the local level this is all keep your fingers crossed while you walk past the cemetery. City council might be "woke", but they are "clueless".

In the meantime, I encourage you not to dine out on our sidewalks or our streets.

The at-risk age group starts at 60 years old -- per CCBH.

Be well, stay safe.

The quick-results tests have a place, but they are not 100%. From Mike DeWine's experience, if you get a positive from one of those, get a better test. Also from yesterday's news, some additional people learned that D. Trump likes to take shortcuts. It's a lifelong habit that has gotten us into the mess we are in. But how to tell his devoted followers?

Mark Kindt wrote:Mr. Austin, before the Planning Department or the Planning Commission places your life in jeopardy from Covid-19 on public property they might want to understand whether or not they actually have any testing capacity for that disease.

At the local level this is all keep your fingers crossed while you walk past the cemetery. City council might be "woke", but they are "clueless".

In the meantime, I encourage you not to dine out on our sidewalks or our streets.

The at-risk age group starts at 60 years old -- per CCBH.

Be well, stay safe.

Today, Mr. Alaimo posted a link to another media story in which City of Lakewood representatives are again misrepresenting to the public that dining on Lakewood public property under a conditional use permit is "safe".

Personal injury lawyers please take note.

Mark Kindt wrote:

Mark Kindt wrote:Mr. Austin, before the Planning Department or the Planning Commission places your life in jeopardy from Covid-19 on public property they might want to understand whether or not they actually have any testing capacity for that disease.

At the local level this is all keep your fingers crossed while you walk past the cemetery. City council might be "woke", but they are "clueless".

In the meantime, I encourage you not to dine out on our sidewalks or our streets.

The at-risk age group starts at 60 years old -- per CCBH.

Be well, stay safe.

Today, Mr. Alaimo posted a link to another media story in which City of Lakewood representatives are again misrepresenting to the public that dining on Lakewood public property under a conditional use permit is "safe".

Personal injury lawyers please take note.

I was wondering that if, while other Lakewood officials were celebrating Bernice Pyke, her accomplishments and the newly named park, Tom Bullock was off hyping his pet project. It takes a lot of effort to place a story like that. But I didn't know enough to say so in the other thread.

Too Much Cognitive Dissonance To Process

Dan, I am not really sure I have much else to say in this Deck Essay.

We have now had multiple public and private assurances from members of Lakewood's city council that outdoor dining on public property is safe (Bullock, Shachner, Rader) for several months now. The City continues with its planning for expanded outdoor dining on public property and has issued numerous conditional use permits for that purpose. Certainly they must have some solid scientific/medical evidence for these assurances. Sidewalk dining is now real in Lakewood and there is likely to be more of it.

So why are other people walking on our sidewalks wearing masks?

I haven't eaten in a restaurant since March 15th. I wear a mask when I buy a cup of coffee at The Root Cafe or Nature's Oasis. I wear a mask when I buy gasoline for my car. (The clerk is behind plexiglass.)

I guess I would really like to know whether council-members and their families are dining at Lakewood restaurants on a regular basis availing themselves of outdoor seating on Lakewood sidewalks.

If this is so safe, I encourage them to do so and post a photo.

"Parklets" Are Baked-In For Lakewood Before The End Of 2020

Now that "parklets" are baked-in for Lakewood before the end of 2020, I'd like to post this quote from the federal Centers For Disease Control:

"Exposures and activities where mask use and social distancing are difficult to maintain, including going to places that offer on-site eating or drinking, might be important risk factors for acquiring COVID-19".

Here is the link to the study:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/ ... mm6936a5_x

We should all be appalled that Lakewood City Council unanimously supports the continued issuance of conditional use permits for expanded outdoor dining onto sidewalks and city streets during a global pandemic.

This program should be halted now.

Gov. DeWine Signs The Immunity Legislation

As I discussed earlier in this Deck essay, those injured by Covid-19 have now been stripped of their fundamental civil rights to seek redress of injury in the civil justice system in Ohio.

As a lawyer with 40 years of practice under my belt, I have never ever seen the civil justice system dismantled like this before.

Again, why is the City of Lakewood granting conditional use permits for outdoor dining on public sidewalks during a national pandemic?

Here is a link: https://wkxa.com/ohio-governor-signs-co ... nity-bill/

Those residents, visitors, and employees who contract Covid-19 on Lakewood city property (sidewalk dining) now have no legal rights to seek recovery for their injuries.