The Observation Deck

Charlie Page: Also, there are minimum manning requirements (how many people per vehicle). These requirements are negotiated with the City.

Didnt Mr. Fitzgerald do away with minimum manning last year? In hopes of cutting down on the daily, yes daily and numerous personel overtime which cost this city, and will continue to cost this city via retierments, millions of dollars every year?

And as you stated, minimum manning was about how many per vehicle, not about how many fire engines and police must respond to a call for an ambulance.

"These requirements are negotiated with the City" (Charlie Page)

Thats the point exactly Charlie....

The Mayor and Council are "the city" are they not? Therefore, this mess is in their lap, not the firemen or police personel.

Charlie Page wrote:Did all the vehicles for both police and fire stay the entire time? Or did some leave when they figured out it could be handled by fewer people?

Yes Charlie, yes all 15 did stay the entire time,... as usual.


So I ask of Mr Fitzgerald and his Council again:

Mr. Fitzgerald and Members of Council, why does an engine truck accompany every call for an ambulance? Why do two police cars normally accompany every ambulance and the afore mentioned engine truck? Or, 5 police cars, 2 ambulances and and engine truck to a call for A AMBULANCE? Does this not fit your view of “repetitive and redundant” vehicle use? Are these just not "add(ed) bodies" to a call for an ambulance? How do you “justify” this Mr. Fitzgerald and Members of Council?

I usually avoid this kind of bait as it detracts from the facts and changes the debate to a personal exchange, but ..............

“Council doesn’t rubber stamp any budget. If you ever attended budget hearings you’d know that. They ask lots of questions. “ (Charlie Page)

Asking questions for the appearance of debate for those in the audience does not replace curiosity to find the truth and then have the hutzbah to do what is in the best interest of their constitutes and this city.

And, believe it or not Charlie, I, like so many other folks, maybe not on this board, but in Lakewood, am dealing with my own set of struggles, challenges and tragedies. So, no I do not get to meetings, but I do correspond daily with many, many different entities and agencies in hopes of becoming a more knowledgeable resident. And I do watch Council meetings on T.V

I see the handicapped, the elderly, the frail, the disenfranchised many of whom walk, yes walk to these meetings, to plea to for their causes and needs. I cringe as I watch them being forced to humbly beg this Mayor and his Council, to have some shred of that which was taken from them be restored. Plead for this Mayor and his Council to leave them some measure of dignity in their daily lives. One ride more to Giant Eagle for food and prescriptions. These are their needs.

NEEDS not wants. NEEDS.

Since none here will. And City Hall is seemingly plotting and planing to take even more,

I choose to stand for them and with them.

They have had enough taken from them and put upon them. All we residents have. The cuts, guts and decimation of this city, by this Mayor and this Council can not, for the sake of this city, continue.

I have chosen to do what no resident should ever have to do. Not ever. Expose the truth to the cause of our “budget crisis”, which is undeniably the policies pertaining to our safety forces. And our Mayor and Councils failure as elected officials to stop this destructive and unsustainable madness.

So, again…..

Mr. Fitzgerald and Members of Council, why does an engine truck accompany every call for an ambulance? Why do two police cars normally accompany every ambulance and the afore mentioned engine truck? Or, 5 police cars, 2 ambulances and an engine truck to a call for A AMBULANCE? Does this not fit your view of “repetitive and redundant” vehicle use? Are these just not "add(ed) bodies" to a call for an ambulance? How do you “justify” this Mr. Fitzgerald and Members of Council?

Shelley Hurd wrote:

“Council doesn’t rubber stamp any budget. If you ever attended budget hearings you’d know that. They ask lots of questions. “ (Charlie Page)

Asking questions for the appearance of debate for those in the audience does not replace curiosity to find the truth and then have the hutzbah to do what is in the best interest of their constitutes and this city.

Are you saying the budget hearings are a dog and pony show?

What truth do you want them to find?

Shelley Hurd wrote:I see the handicapped, the elderly, the frail, the disenfranchised many of whom walk, yes walk to these meetings, to plea to for their causes and needs. I cringe as I watch them being forced to humbly beg this Mayor and his Council, to have some shred of that which was taken from them be restored. Plead for this Mayor and his Council to leave them some measure of dignity in their daily lives. One ride more to Giant Eagle for food and prescriptions. These are their needs.

Are you talking about Office on Aging cuts?

In 2006 Lakewood spent over 6 times the amount spent per senior citizen than Parma, 4 times more than Shaker, 2.5 times more than Fairview Park and close to 6 times more than Euclid. Look it up – page 81 in the structural balance report.

With the recent cuts, Lakewood still outspends these cities on their seniors. You make it sound like the Mayor and Council are uncaring scrooges.

Are you saying the budget hearings are a dog and pony show? (Charlie Page)

Yes

What truth do you want them to find? (Charlie Page)

Calls For Police Service 86,169

Those call numbers are NOT a per incident number. If five officers respond to/show up at ONE call.. all five are being counted in the over all number (86,169) call for service numbers. The true number for 2007 was 50,316. Insightful information for those seeking truth.

Crime has been on the decline since 2005
Crime rates peaked in 2005 and have been on the decline ever since. And even more telling of crime in Lakewood , calls for service have also been declining and haven’t been this low since 1999. Also, according to the Chief of Police in the 2007 SBTFR, even then the police force was adequately staffed. Yet, despite this expert opinion from the Chief himself, Fitzgerald and his Council added a million more a year to the police budget (and thus our budget crisis) compared to the budget for the police in 2007.

Truth

Lakewood is 5.5-5.6 miles. Lakewood is NOT 6.7 miles.

City of Lakewood website 5.6 miles

Auditor of State of Ohio 1999-2007 and 2009 5.6 miles

Lakewood Public Library Reference Staff - Lakewood is “5.57 miles.

Cleveland Ohio Howard Hanna Ohio Real-estate, Cecilia Sherrard - “5.56 square miles”… “I went by Lakewood's website. If you work for Lakewood, please have them correct it on their site and I will change the information right away. Thanks for visiting.”

WILLIAM C. BARROW
Special Collections Librarian
Michael Schwartz Library
Cleveland State University
- 5.6 miles - ““We used the information in the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History's article on Lakewood (with the author's permission) for the web site. It appears there is a conflict and we need to find another independent source of information. Where did you get the figure you cited?”

Needs further investigation
- If memory serves, there were questions raised as to the truth of the statement you quote as to Lakewood providing more services to our seniors. Not sure if it was ever substantiated either way. I will find out

Truth

The 2 million dollars a year + in overtime for our police and fire departments 5 police car, 2 ambulance and one engine truck (15 personnel) response’s to call for an ambulance would more then pay for Lakewood to continue to give our seniors dignity, compassion and much needed and depended upon services. Services which are paid for in part by federal and other grants. And speak loads to the nature and encompasses the character of this City (pre Fitzgerald) and her residents.

Untruth

In his address to the city video 2 ,Mr. Ed Fitzgerald, Mayor of Lakewood speaks solemnly of “hard choices” he had to make. Mr. Fitzgerald speaks of how departments had to “justify why vehicles are necessary“. Mr. Fitzgerald spoke of how he “got rid of repetitive and redundant vehicles“ Proudly proclaims he was interviewed by a local paper because he hired police officers who were laid off in other cities. Proudly recounts how he had to “cut things so that we could invest in things. “We chose, even under difficult circumstances, to cut things so we could invest in things. …”We didn’t just add bodies to the police department“….

Truth is, yes, yes Mr. Fitzgerald and his Council did only “add bodies” to the police department.
And did so at one hell of a cost to this city.


Truth, Mr. Fitzgeralds quest for cuts only apply to departments he wants to decimate and or ulitmately eliminate.

Again

Mr. Fitzgerald and Members of Council, why does an engine truck accompany every call for an ambulance? Why do two police cars normally accompany every ambulance and the afore mentioned engine truck? Or, 5 police cars, 2 ambulances and engine truck to a call for A AMBULANCE? Does this not fit your view of “repetitive and redundant” vehicle use? Are these just not "add(ed) bodies" to a call for an ambulance? How do you “justify” this Mr. Fitzgerald and Members of Council?