The Observation Deck

Since I'm a newbie from NYC and lived there all my life, forgive me for asking questions that on their surface sound foolish. In NYC I was surrounded by diversity and as a recent member of the NYC press corps I was made well aware of the importance of inclusion rather than exclusion in city politics.

I've noticed that Lakewood is getting more diverse yet there are no minorities represented on the City Council.

Has that always been that way? If so, why?

I've been following City Hall since 1991....unless I'm mistaken, there has never been a racial minority on the Council.

Historically, most new ethnic groups enter a community as renters.
Like in most suburbs, Lakewood renters tend not to vote in local elections.

For example, my family moved here as renters in 1983. My dad was very politically active at the state and national level, but our family would not have known Tony Sinagra (Lakewood's mayor during the 80s) from Tony Soprano.
We still thought of ourselves as "Clevelanders".
We knew George Voinovich, Kucinich, Mary Rose, Metzenbaum, and Glenn...but we wouldn't have been able to name a single Lakewood council member.

Another factor: odd number elections tended to go unnoticed by us, since there were no obnoxious TV ads.
I think our experience is common among renters.

I only got involved with Lakewood politics because one of my high school classmates (Bryan Flannery) ran for mayor in 1991. Most of our fellow 20-somethings at the time didn't care...which Bryan found very frustrating , since it cost him votes!

When our fellow 20 somethings bought houses, they started paying attention to local issues. I think this is relatively typical.

Thanks Mike for this explanation but I also heard/read that Lakewood has a high concentration of LBGT citizens for its size. Have they been represented?

With all due respect Michael, the fact is Lakewood politics is run by a self perpetuating politically inbred clique, all owing each other their success, all of them white, most of them white males. Alex raises a very good question and until this particular clique is broken up, until organizations like the Democratic Club of Lakewood start grooming and endorsing candidates who reflect our diverse population, politics in Lakewood will continue to resemble an exclusive club rather than an open democracy.

Alex,

Nickie Antonio, our state rep, is LGBT and was formally an at large Lakewood city council member. She is very active locally and has always been open about her life with her wonderful partner Jean. I really feel the community is open to all who are ready to serve regardless of race, creed and sexual orientation.

Kate, What about the Race part? Or for that matter how diverse is City Council when it comes to creed?

m buckley wrote:With all due respect Michael, the fact is Lakewood politics is run by a self perpetuating politically inbred clique, all owing each other their success, all of them white, most of them white males. Alex raises a very good question and until this particular clique is broken up, until organizations like the Democratic Club of Lakewood start grooming and endorsing candidates who reflect our diverse population, politics in Lakewood will continue to resemble an exclusive club rather than an open democracy.

Mr. Buckley is correct that there has been a dearth of candidates in recent years, and that there have been many appointments due to council members (and Mayor Fitz) moving to higher office. This has resulted in the current clique.

I believe the recent dearth of candidates is due to a separate problem, which is money. The cost of campaigns has increased over the past couple decades, and I think that discourages "regular citizens" from seeking office. In order to be competitive you need to either have money, or be willing to beg strangers for money.

However, even back when there were numerous candidates for various offices, they were always white. For example, when Bryan ran for Mayor in 1991, he was in an all-white field of five Democrats (in addition to incumbent Republican Mayor Harbarger).

Mr. Deneen, I was not aware that City Council was comprised solely of wealthy residents or in your parlance "non-regular citizens", they look and act pretty regular to me. Again what a difference it would make if The Democratic Club of Lakewood would take the lead in finding candidates who reflect the growing diversity of Lakewood.

m buckley wrote:With all due respect Michael, the fact is Lakewood politics is run by a self perpetuating politically inbred clique, all owing each other their success, all of them white, most of them white males. Alex raises a very good question and until this particular clique is broken up, until organizations like the Democratic Club of Lakewood start grooming and endorsing candidates who reflect our diverse population, politics in Lakewood will continue to resemble an exclusive club rather than an open democracy.

God Bless you citizen!

Something I have been saying since we, started this project.

Standing Ovation

.

What is the "Democratic Club of Lakewood"? When was it started? Who are the current members? Do you have contact info for that organization?

Wow, You got me, the correct name is The Lakewood Democrats Club. I'm assuming you know that and I'm also assuming you know that they endorse candidates and that every candidate they endorsed for City Council last time around was White. We're fairly diverse here in Ward 4. I would suggest it's time to reflect that. If you're not being disingenuous you can always google to find out more about them.

Oh, I see. Its a "Democrats Club" not a "democratic club" I thought you might be referring to something new.

Nothing new in Lakewood politics , Brian. I'll leave you the last word.

I am new to the political scene, so maybe I think that there is hope for real change--- due to the Hospital debate exposing a lot that is wrong with City Hall--a lot of folks are fired up and will be OBSERVING for a while. There is an old saying "you bend metal when it is hot." There is a lot of heat right now. The LHA trustee composition also lacks diversity, including diversity of ideas and the right mix of doctors, lawyers and business people who really understand and care about medicine and the community. With an open slot on the Board of LHA that will need to be filled soon perhaps we can find a candidate for a first step in the right direction--or at least get a critical thinker in place.

BTW, Jim O'Bryan always has the last word...LOL

I just posted this on the Lakewood Democratic Club Facebook page:


Alex Belisle
· Lakewood, OH

"As a new citizen of Lakewood (from NYC), I notice there are no minorities (and never was) on the City Council. Are you or will be be grooming any to reflect the multi-ethnic demographic of Lakewood?"
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Eric Deamer

"I moved here from NYC as well about 3 years ago and had the exact same question, and I still have it. The answer is no and there seems to be no concern about it at Lakewood Democratic Club or anywhere else. And it's actually even worse. Besides all local government I don't think the school board, other community boards, or any local civic organization includes a single person of color."