The Observation Deck

http://media.lakewoodobserver.com/issue_pdfs/Observer_Vol_10_Issue_08.pdf

All
I have heard that some thought the last letter was a little down on Lakewood. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I love Lakewood, ask any of the other cities I have papers in, I like them, I LOVE Lakewood. Coming back from working in other cities, west, south or east of us, I always love coming home where the chuckholes are not as bad, and things like safety and convenience rule.

What I do fear, and I have watched for over a decade, is a City Hall that went from catering to residents to a City Hall that caters to business, and the larger the chain, it would seem the more they bend over backwards to help.

This week we saw in the Wall Street Journal where Family Dollar is closing over half of their stores and laying off more than half their staff. They admit to losing the battle for being "the dollar store." And here we are, with a new Family Dollar that remains mostly empty, sitting at the end of our Victorian House district, having demanded that they build back into the neighborhood, invading the neighborhood, changing the neighborhood forever, for what?

Drive around some night and look at the number of signs that now look not out onto Detroit Avenue, but up the side streets into quiet nice neighborhoods that used to be GREAT places to live and raise a family. Now those quiet nights, where you used to look up into the skies to see Orion, Mars, and the skies, are blotted out by the commercial lights and signage that has no business being in residential neighborhoods. While the quiet is pierced with, "Do you want fries with that?" blaring out of speakers that are turned towards the backyards.

It has been a subtle but constant swing from caring about residents to cracking down on residents and letting, or even helping the business areas flourish. I am not anti-business, I am very pro business in Lakewood. I have had offers to move my business to Rocky River of Cleveland Heights, but I find Lakewood to be perfect for my needs. All my employees live in Lakewood and most walk or bike to work. They love living in Lakewood, but they also live a block away from Detroit and Madison, so are somewhat shielded from the attack.

I really do not care if the bars get together and create a party bus, to get drunks from bar to bar. Far better than having them stumble and puke everywhere. In front of my house I have had three trees pulled out by drunks, my neighbors have had their gardens and patios ruined by drunks on Friday and Saturday night. So maybe busing them from bar to bar makes sense to those that prey on drunks, and those who think it is a proper brand for a community that used to be proud of their trees, parks and families.

But you have to admit, it is a drastic change in direction.
Eight years ago, I was covering Councilmen Butler and Dever talking to residents at McCarthys's who were ready to take policing bars into their own hands. One 70-year-old talked about sitting on his porch night after night with a baseball bat, to stop drunks from messing up his yard. Kevin Butler now our law director correctly begged him to leave it to the police. At that time it was Councilman Butler who told the bar owners, "Ward 1 could vote itself a dry ward and end it all," and he would push for that if trouble continued. Now as Law Director, he is spending his time not just working on city issues, but also looking at should we bus the drunks around town?!

Likewise we have the next big attack coming from the bars and restaurants. The manager of Dewey's openly talks about the need for more parking. I completely understand the need for businesses to have enough parking. But which came here first, the residents or the bars? Well, Dewey's placed a 120 person restaurant/bar into a tight area that has 6 of the most popular bars and restaurants in the city. To my knowledge they had about 10 parking places when they moved in. At no time did anyone every promise them more parking. They have not lost parking, nope. They have become popular.

Well in the past the number of dedicated parking spots regulated your occupancy permit. Angelos pizza found this out. After rebuilding Meilander Hardware and building an approved rebuild, they were told to get rid of half of their seating as parking did not exist, It was only the intervention of a neighbor with parking that allowed them to open with seating for 25!

Perhaps the city should look at a moratorium on restaurants / bars and big box stores until we can actually look at what we have, what we need for where the residents aka the voters would like to see the city stand for and become in the future. How many more millions are we making off taxes off the last big boom in businesses? Is it paying off, how much?

Maybe Dewey's occupancy should have been questioned. When Barroco opened their back room, it was shut down. One reason not enough parking, so they were given the same parking as Mahall's, Madison Park, the same family park that a pro-business anti-resident councilman Juris shut down at dusk as the city was unable to keep it safe and clean. Really? If they are closed, then chain the lots.

So as we cater more and more to business especially the bar business, we can expect them to want bigger and bigger parking lots, and the only place they will come from is the nice, quiet, peaceful, neighborly residential neighborhoods. We are a built out community. This is why we lost parking at Kauffman Park to Quaker Steak and Lube, another park declared unclean and unsafe by councilman Juris and Mayor Summers.

Which brings us to the hottest rumor on the streets of Lakewood. "THE NEW REC CENTER" which will be the reason for a tax raise that will be asked for as soon as next spring when no one shows up to vote. This will be seen as a big feather to the residents of Lakewood, a Rec Center we neither need nor can ever afford and will compete with many of the businesses we currently have in Lakewood. Oh politicians will make a good argument for a Rec Center, after all it is another place that will get a brass plaque with council and mayor's names on it. But NO CITY WITH A REC CENTER can currently afford it. Call Westlake, Solon, Cleveland Heights and others, and ask how big the deficit is, it is staggering.

But the real questions is, if a city cannot keep small parks like Madison and Kauffman clean and safe and OPEN, how could they possibly be trusted with taking over the Rec Department from the schools that have maintained them perfectly for decades? If you are a parent, I am sure you are familiar with, "We will get you a goldfish, if you do well, maybe a hamster, then if you do real well maybe, maybe a dog." Well City Hall, prove to us, the residents, that you are capable of keeping our parks clean and OPEN for a term or two, then and only then should you even consider taking Recreation from the Schools.

Damn, I love this city, and I really love the residents and businesses, but City Hall has a lot to prove to residents before we should trust them too much with our future, the future of our family and community. Trust, respect and love is earned.

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