The Observation Deck

Some observations regarding the Feb 25 Joint City Council-Board of Education Meeting:

- First such meeting since 2010 (This Observer is delighted that this type of cooperative effort was put forth)

- Each body cited having been smacked by recent state budget cuts.

- Rather than providing my own narrative, I have included pdf format files of the presentations offer by Jennifer Pae, City Of Lakewood Finance Director:


and by Superintendent Jeff Patterson and various members of his Cabinet:


NOTE* Each file attached here is lengthy. This Observer urges you to take the time to download and read them. Each presenter provided a narrative to accompany his/her PowerPoint presentation, but you should be able to get the gist of the story being offered via the slides.

- Council President Brian Powers suggested that City Hall and The Schools look into further sharing of resources, as well as the possibility of joint funding/operation of recreation services currently solely run by the school district.

- Ed Favre, BOE President, said that he looked forward to further meetings and discussion's between the two bodies.

- Mayor Mike Summers took a few minutes to present the following overview of The City's 2013 objectives.


The primary purpose for this post is to provide the three reports (attached here as pdf files) for your edification rather than trying to give play-by-play coverage or color commentary on the meeting.

I also urge you to to do three things:
1.) read these reports;
2.) attend Council and BOE meetings, and
3.) bring young person along with you.

Peter--- thanks for your persistent and aggressive coverage of this important topic.
Stan

Peter

It would seem that the City of Lakewood still has more of a passing interest in taking over
recreation from the Lakewood City Schools. While many other cities run "Parks and
Recreation" I would have to seriously doubt the city has any ability to do that here. Let's be
honest the public service works director and the head of the Public Works Committee went
out of their way just a year ago to publicly complain about the time and costs of keeping
two of our most important parks open. This would be like a child killing their hamster and
wanting a dog that they promise they will keep fed, healthy and will exercise.

Before any of this conversation goes any farther I would suggest they reopen our parks,
keep them clean, and make additional improvements. Until then let the schools do it as
both a source for our kids and programs and so they can generate some revenue renting
them to LCA, St. Ed's, and other private entities.

Anything else would be insanity.

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Jim - All I care about is basketball. (at least that is what I have been told)

Stan Austin wrote:Peter--- thanks for your persistent and aggressive coverage of this important topic.
Stan

Stan - Thanks. It (being active in our community) is a "calling."

Jim O'Bryan wrote:It would seem that the City of Lakewood still has more of a passing interest in taking over recreation from the Lakewood City Schools. *** This would be like a child killing their hamster and wanting a dog that they promise they will keep fed, healthy and will exercise.

Before any of this conversation goes any farther I would suggest they reopen our parks, keep them clean, and make additional improvements. Until then let the schools do it as both a source for our kids and programs and so they can generate some revenue renting them to LCA, St. Ed's, and other private entities.

Anything else would be insanity.

This is the best quote of 2013, Jim!

It's nice to see the two bodies meeting together.
I hope efforts to stagger BOE and Council meetings are successful so that more folks can participate in both processes.

Given the fact that Lakewood lacks a recreation center, most Lakewood Rec classes and sports take place on school grounds.

Therefore, it seems logical to me that the schools operate the Rec department.

Michael Deneen wrote:I hope efforts to stagger BOE and Council meetings are successful so that more folks can participate in both processes.

Amen, Brother Deneen! Even if folks chose not to attend both bodies' meeting, Our Fellow Lakewoodites at the very least have been afforded the opportunity to make that decision on the own, rather than having no option at all (as is the current situation).


Also ... I will not be quick to judge the merit of a BOE-run Rec Department vs. a City Hall-run Rec Dept vs. a jointly-run Rec Dept. I'l wait for the study to come out and ingest and digest that before making that decision. There has to be an extra $7K laying around for an economic development-driven exploration into that endeavor.

Peter Grossetti wrote:Also ... I will not be quick to judge the merit of a BOE-run Rec Department vs. a City Hall-run Rec Dept vs. a jointly-run Rec Dept. I'l wait for the study to come out and ingest and digest that before making that decision. There has to be an extra $7K laying around for an economic development-driven exploration into that endeavor.

Peter

The city has not only shown an inability to take care of the parks they have now, they have
also shown a reckless disregard for the residents in their parks. Had two of the members of
the committee even shown for a moment that they cared about the parks by walking into
them before closing them for such asinine reasons as, "Nothing good happens in a park
after dusk" then a case could be made for waiting for the study. But let's be honest the
recent "Hotel Feasibility Study" which was not a feasibility study, and the "Visionary
Committee" which was little more than a dog and pony show, with residents outnumbered
by City Officials 2 to 1, would also underline they can not be trusted with studies.

Time to get real about all of this.

Before we throw another $7,000 away to a friend of a councilperson or the city, perhaps
the city could actually build a case where the residents would hope they took over the
programs because of the amazing job they did with the current parks in the form of better
hours, better equipment, and much better enjoyment for the residents.

Until that time, I am sure they have more laws to pass against residents and for business.

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