The Observation Deck

One Lakewood - Zero Hoops at Kauffman Park!





It looks like City Council may be looking into whether Mayor Mike Summers properly exercised his powers by declaring this one neighbor to be a "credible concern for public safety near the park" and then unilaterally closing the Kauffman Park basketball hoops.

According to Law Director Kevin Butler:

Lakewood Law Director Kevin Butler told Northeast Ohio Media Group reporter Bruce Geiselman that City Council will take up the issue in the coming weeks.

http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... _cour.html

It also appears that the Lakewood Police Department didn't even know about Mayor Mike Summers' fear that this one neighbor is a "credible concern for public safety near the park:"

Lakewood police said Wednesday that they've only received noise complaints recently from basketball and tennis courts shuttered May 21 by Mayor Mike Summers.

***

Capt. Ed Hassing of the Lakewood police department said he had to call Summers when he found out the courts were closed to ask why.

He said Wednesday that he will let the mayor address the closure.

http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... _cour.html

We may find out very soon whether City Council represents our residents or simply rubber stamps the decisions of Mayor Mike Summers and his administration.

From what I've read, the park closes at 8. One particular neighbor calls the police when someone is using the park after 8, and has made many calls, apparently without much response from the city. Has he ever made a complaint call because someone is using the park before 8? On one occasion, at least, he has yelled at the kids who were using the park after 8, and once, or more, there has been a physical response, and it is not clear who provoked that.

Now a mob is gathering, calling him, dare I say, mentally ill, and demanding that he be locked up and his phone taken away.

It seems to me that the persistent misbehaviour in this case is that of the people, kids or not, who use the park after 8. If the city were effective in preventing this, the problem would not have arisen. Calling the police is the civilized response. When we have a rash of speeders on my block, I call the police, they establish a presence, and the speeding stops.

I don't buy the attitude that kids apparently can't tell time, and should be free to ignore rules. Capable parents act to teach their kids self control; it is the defective parents who let their kids run wild.

I grew up playing at what was then called Andrews Field, and the 8 o'clock closing seems a bit draconian to me, but it is possible that this was a compromise between the neighbors and the city.

What if everyone is right including, the resident?

I have had the opportunity to talk with many, many, many people about this. Not the mayor, but
other city officials, who have tried to make the case for what the Mayor has done. I have to
say all of them are very convincing.

I have spent hours and hours with LOBC people, before, during and after the closings. They
have very valid points, and it is hard to argue that this is an active city, and ever since the
bonehead idea to remove all the courts, kids, adults, people have been looking for a place to
get together and play basketball. As hard as LOBC has worked to get 4 1/2 courts installed,
even raising their own money to do it, I am sure we can all understand the frustration in
losing half their courts, over something that should never be tolerated.

Then the resident, who has been living on a tennis court and park that has been sorely
neglected by the city for over a decade, preferring to make it less friendly and less open
to residents which potentially makes the park pointless and yippeeeeee more bars. No
matter, he has lived a peaceful life until the courts came. There is no doubt the constant
dribbling of basketballs has become a nightmare to him, far worse than it really is. We all
remember the sound of "Big Wheels" from the neighbor kids. Within minutes it became
intolerable, but you generally gritted your teeth and turned up the music. Well this guy calls
the police, and they come running. For the record this is what we want police to do
as they will they try to calm the situation. Well 3 years into this guy's personal hell, and
a couple citations later, it has to be hell for him hearing bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce,
bounce bounce, hahahahah, yeahhhhhhhh, bounce, bounce bounce, bounce, bounce. Every
bounce makes him madder and makes the kids sound happier. I empathize with him.

This entire debacle has been mishandled for over a decade, so...

How about the mayor, who seems really fat with cash right now, with all of these great
park ideas, and improvements, builds LOBC 2 full courts, in two locations, with lights?
One maybe by to police station, another on the Left side of Lakewood, with good fences,
sound barriers, whatever. Bring in LOBC, and get it set. Open Madison and Kauffman to
full hours. Then sit down with disgruntled resident, explaining the courts are moving, and
so is he. Sell the house, find him a comparable home in a quiet location, as we know him
next to the park is not a winner. Promise to continue to make Kauffman Park a showcase
park in Downtown Lakewood, working with, if not for, Friends of Kauffman Park on their vision.

Let's get this off national news, which has reported: "City of Lakewood parks in shutdown."
We need neighborhood parks, not a single center, we need hoops, courts, swings, etc.

FWIW

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Will Brown wrote:From what I've read, the park closes at 8.

Kauffman Park closes one hour after sunset. Last evening, that would have been 9:45pm.

The courts formerly know as Kauffman Park Hoops were shut at 8PM.

So basically, I could legally stand in the middle of Kauffman Park dribbling my basketball until nearly 10PM!

Bravo, Jim.

Dan Alaimo wrote:Bravo, Jim.

Yes, Bravo, Jim!

You are indeed, "The People's Mayor of Lakewood."





I know that you don't want to run for mayor and don't see yourself as a politician.

And that's why our residents and families need you at City Hall.

I hope that the "Jim O'Bryan for Mayor" grassroots movement becomes more than just a fun Facebook page.

Matt

My understanding of the noise ordinance is that it goes into effect at 9pm. If my neighbors need to turn down their volume of play, be it basketball or music etc. at 9, why not make that the standard? Seems consistency would make life a lot easier for everyone.

Christina McCallum wrote:My understanding of the noise ordinance is that it goes into effect at 9pm. If my neighbors need to turn down their volume of play, be it basketball or music etc. at 9, why not make that the standard? Seems consistency would make life a lot easier for everyone.

I agree with Christina.

And I respectfully disagree with my good friend, Jim O’Bryan, as well as Mayor Mike Summers and the folks on City Hall, with respect to the ongoing conclusion that this neighbor is a "credible concern for public safety.”

No evidence has been presented by anyone that this neighbor is a "credible concern for public safety.”

The police didn’t even know why the basketball hoops were closed at Kauffman Park.

I want basketball at Kauffman Park ... today.

I want the kids playing basketball at Kauffman Park to follow the rules ... today.

I don’t believe that a neighbor making complaints about kids not following the rules makes him a "credible concern for public safety.”

Again, this is a very, very slippery slope some folks are tumbling down.

In all seriousness, do you want a mayor who can simply declare you to be a "credible concern for public safety” for complaining about noise?

Matt

Christina,

I agree that consistency generally makes life easier.

Seems consistency would make life a lot easier for everyone

Couple thoughts on consistency.

1. The mayor seems to consistently make poor decisions seemingly without the insight from those that may know more about the situations.
2. The mayor seems to consistently fail to communicate to the citizens when issues directly impact them (fireworks, snow plows, ordering salt, RTA sidewalk, traffic patterns on detroit, bball hoops, etc)
3. The mayor seems to consistently come up with others to blame for his mistakes (3rd party provider, new drivers, lack of supply, rta contractors, technology, mental health issue neighbor, etc)
4. City council seems to consistently fall in line behind their leader (by position only)

Consistency in regards to the hoops hours would further enrage this neighbor only making things worse.

If the mayor does cave to this neighbor and move the courts he will basically be telling everyone in Lakewood that if you consistently call the police 10+ times a month you will eventually get what you want.

IF this all happens, I am looking forward to consistently calling the police about those doing 50mph during rush hour on my street.

From this issue of the Lakewood Observer.



Masek hit another one out of the park, so to speak.


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Update (answers to my initial email received just a little bit ago - no reply yet to my follow up which was sent Tuesday):

Q. Why was part of Kaufman park closed and locked this weekend?

A. It was closed Wednesday May 21st, 2014. It was closed at my Direction to prevent the possibility of injury to users of the court.

Q. Why was no notice provided? (Not even to the friends group nor the basketball group)

A. Notice was provided via a sign on the court. I did notify Art Gold , Lakewood Outdoor Basketball via phone on May 21st.

Q. Why was no explanation provided?

A. Explanation was provided. What is not provided are details which are protected by privacy issues.

Q. Why has the city not responded to questions, comments and concerns when someone was clearly online and monitoring and liking things?

A. I made my decision Wednesday, May 21st. LOBC was notified Wednesday, May 21st. Because of privacy concerns, and the relatively small number of citizens directly affected, The sign was the most effective communication tool to those directly affected.

As to indirect Social media communication, I was unavailable this past weekend. My Daughter graduated from an out of state university this past weekend. Apparently Colin McKewen was responding as a citizen, but apparently was inadvertently logged in under his city account.

FWIW

Ironically, one of Mayor Mike Summers' first actions as mayor was having someone arrested who Mike considered to be a credible concern for his own safety.

In his December 2, 2010 article entitled, Mike Summers, New Lakewood Mayor, Gets Interesting Welcome to the Job, Vince Grzegorek wrote:

A hotheaded resident dropped in to have a word with the freshly minted mayor. It seems the man was unhappy with the way Summers had handled an earlier dispute between him and a neighbor. Summers, as councilman at the time, asked police to remind both parties to play nice.

The cops were needed again last week when the man started shouting that Summers “would pay” for his actions, according to the police report. He was arrested for aggravated menacing.

“After the meeting, as you can imagine, I went home to talk to my wife with exciting news, and also interesting news,” says Summers, still glad he took the job.

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-hea ... to-the-job

You see, folks, Mayor Mike Summers knows how to have folks arrested when they are a credible concern for his own safety.

The same should be true for Mike's alleged "credible concern for public safety" ... and ... any individual for that matter.

Jeff Dreger wrote:As to indirect Social media communication, I was unavailable this past weekend. My Daughter graduated from an out of state university this past weekend. Apparently Colin McKewen was responding as a citizen, but apparently was inadvertently logged in under his city account.

FWIW

WTF?

Why would an open government for the people, have trolls working the websites with false
information anyway? Big WTF moment.

It is bad enough I carry the garbage to the curb to pay for the spin machine, but a plan of
misinformation to diffuse and lie to the people.

A ministry of misinformation.

Why would anyone be anywhere representing the city with a fictious faux name!

At a council meeting we are forced to enter our name, address, phone number, reason for
requesting to talk to council, and then wait till the end of the evening.

The city has people trolling with misinformation on bulletin boards!

WTF

This is Chris Christy bullshit.

WTF


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Jim O'Bryan wrote:

[In reporting Mayor Mike Summers' responses to his questions,] Jeff Dreger wrote:As to indirect Social media communication, I was unavailable this past weekend. My Daughter graduated from an out of state university this past weekend. Apparently Colin McKewen was responding as a citizen, but apparently was inadvertently logged in under his city account.

FWIW

WTF?

Why would an open government for the people, have trolls working the websites with false information anyway? Big WTF moment.

It is bad enough I carry the garbage to the curb to pay for the spin machine, but a plan of misinformation to diffuse and lie to the people.

A ministry of misinformation.

Why would anyone be anywhere representing the city with a fictious faux name!

At a council meeting we are forced to enter our name, address, phone number, reason for requesting to talk to council, and then wait till the end of the evening.

The city has people trolling with misinformation on bulletin boards!

WTF

Jim,

This was initially addressed on page two of this thread as follows:

Matthew John Markling wrote:It appears that - around midnight - Mayor Mike Summers may have instructed his minion(s) running City Hall’s Facebook page to start trolling the web in an attempt to “control the message.”

Based upon a simple “like,” it would also appear that the “renovation” and “holiday” excuses may be the next “spins” – some would call them lies – to explain away Mike Summers’ most recent attack on our residents.

Read it for yourself:








Hey, Mike, George Washington was right, “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”

I never understood why City Hall pays folks to troll Facebook, Twitter, and the like under faux names.

But, in this case, City Hall appears to have attempted to misinform our residents as to the reason behind Mayor Mike Summers closing the basketball hoops at Kauffman Park.

And, as Ryan points out above, Mayor Mike Summers consistently finds someone else to blame when "issues" are discovered.

Okay, I'm off to City Hall's Facebook page to read what "Michelle Winters" has to say about what a great job Michael Summers is doing as mayor.

Matt

This is total amateurish bullshit. Stupidity, followed by more and more stupidity.

Courtgate? This was almost laughable, then they had to get tricky.

This should be a total embarrassment to the Mayor.

Paid city hall workers posting as "City of Lakewood" and who knows what other names
to further something that was not just a complete lie, but a known danger to children.

Fake names, really?

Really?

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