The Observation Deck

One would have thought that "City Hall & Friends" would have invited residents and ... other city council members ... to attend their puppet theater performances before they already announced their plans to tear down the Lakewood Hospital and waste our tax dollars on a needless "Michael P. Summers Recreation Center & Natatorium" ...

... nonetheless ...

From: Hagan, Mary [mailto:Mary.Hagan@lakewoodoh.net]
Sent: Friday, April 03, 2015 3:02 PM
To: Hagan, Mary
Subject: C.O.W. Notice 4/6/15

Issued 4/3/15
NOTICE
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

The Committee of the Whole will meet Monday, April 6, 2015, at 6:00 PM. in the Council Conference Room (2ND Floor) of Lakewood City Hall, 12650 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio. The agenda is as follows:

General conversation about the "Letter of Intent: submitted to Council by the Lakewood Hospital Association (LHA), the Lakewood Hospital Foundation (LHF), and Cleveland Clinic. (Referred 1/20/15)

April 6, 2015 Regular Meeting of Council Agenda Review (Procedural)

Mary Louise Madigan, Chair
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

This is tonight. While I don't think there is a "public communication" portion allowed at Committee of the Whole meetings, I'm hoping that they will address the new re-purposed non-profit that if this Letter of Intent were to be followed, would be getting 75 million dollars left after the destruction of the hospital.

Will this new "wellness group" in any way, be composed of the same people who presided over the dismantling of our hospital as members of the Lakewood Hospital Association?

Another question: What qualifications do the people on this new group have to have to be given all of this money?

Another question: will this new "wellness" group vet the spending of the money through City Council, or will they too be protected from having to share their activities with the public until it's almost too late. (It is not too late.)

Another question:Why would any resident of Lakewood want that?

Another question: Will City Council represent its constituents in this discussion and in this decision?

Betsy Voinovich

Last week, I contacted Mike Summer's office to inquire about nuisance properties and why it appears that there is some favoritism shown by the city administration.

During this conversation, I asked about the Lakewood Hospital situation and was told that all other possible healthcare systems had been informed and the city was supposedly told by these healthcare systems that they were not interested in running a hospital in Lakewood. Seeing as it has been nearly impossible in the past to obtain records of these dealings with other healthcare entities, I asked if the city administration was now making these records available to the citizens of Lakewood. There was dead silence at the other end of the line. I assumed that the silence meant that there was no comment.

I voiced my concerns and disappointment in what appears to be the mayor and city administration's back-door deals and how I felt that the taxpayers were being fed a bunch of lies. Then, the silence was broken and the mayor's assistant told me that he was an honest man. Really? Were they trying to humor me?

Kind of reminds me of that 80's song "Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, they're gonna getcha"!

P.S. The mayor's assistant asked me if I would like a call back from him when he was done on the other line. I said "yes." It has been almost a week, and I am still awaiting that call.