The Observation Deck

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.


Two of the many sidewalks the City feels need to be brought up to code.

The quote above was given to me by a friend, when I told him of my sidewalks being
turned either into a tagging frenzy, or a 15-year-olds room in the days of day-glo. I
mentioned how some of the walks are in perfect shape. He laughed and gave me that
quote above, and reminded me of a mutual friend who needed walks done a year ago, and was
upset over the cost, and got even madder when he found out the City had spent $40,000 set
aside to help residents pay for walks on downtown business projects. At the time
I had felt it was piling on to mention the misspent $40,000, but now...

I spoke with my neighbor about the walks and he mentioned he had spoken to the person
tagging the walks, and they said, they don't like them too rough or pitted. That this
sidewalk thing needs to be done right, and fixed ASAP. Really, then I looked down the
street which was just finished by the City, that I was assured was done correctly...

http://www.lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12814&hilit=franklin


New curbs, right up to curbs lower than the road, to new curbs?


No exaggeration, the roadbed is higher than the curbs. "Done right."


The other side of the street where the City showed yet again their attention to detail, and
their need to "get it right."


Yeah still waiting for the treelawn repair too. If you look at the sidewalk behind it, new as
approved by the city, a puddle forms in the middle, and doesn't drain, making it deadly
every winter to anyone walking by.


Farther down, more of the City's "Done right" handiwork. Yet walks within inches that are
not broken, are tagged and tagged again for residents to fix them correctly.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, or commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is sometimes, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance.
(Source Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience)

It seems with rumors of City Hall spending money set aside last year for residents on
businesses, and with City Hall now closing in on a 1/4 million dollars in spin, media bills
that should have never been needed anyway, it might be prudent to just say no to City Hall.

At some point we need to nudge City Hall back to serving the residents and the businesses,
not just the businesses in this city. 2/3rds of walks marked are screwed up by city trees
or the removal of city trees.

When did spin and PR mean more than our safety? This is just another way to "raise taxes"
without us voting on it. Taxation without representation! I guess so much of what
Americans have fought for their entire lives have been thrown into the trash by this
administration. Sunshine, Freedom of Information, Taxation without representation,
separation of Church and Sate, so many things to think about while watching the 4th
of July Freedom Parade in Lakewood this year.

As for me, I spoke with FP Alegra last year about replacing my driveway and walks, so I
will not benefit from this action.


.

I live nearby a relative of a person that works for the city administration. Their sidewalk is much worse than your picture, and guess what? They were not marked. However, their neighbors around them were. Both my son and his friend have fallen on the City Hall Annex sidewalk. It still is not fixed, along with Celeste Park, Fire Station #2, and the south side of Madison Park. Below are some pictures of city sidewalks in poor condition. I seem to recall a police report from last summer regarding an elderly man in a wheelchair riding in the street on Detroit by City Hall Annex. When the police arrived, I believe he told them he did not want to ride on the sidewalk because the bumps hurt his stomach.

Perhaps if City Council were not spending thousands and thousands of dollars to keep hiring law firm after law firm to fight the residents in the hospital deal, we would have money to fix our sidewalks. Don't we have our own law department with three city attorneys working in it? Taxpayer money is paying for these outside attorneys, and their conversations are almost always executive session. Our money, but we're not allowed in. It doesn't seem right.

Perhaps we could get the addresses of current administration and council people, then get a volunteer group together to go and take pictures of their sidewalks to see if they are in compliance with the sidewalk initiative.