The Observation Deck

In a normal environment it is best to allow council and the Mayor to manage the City and judge them on the whole result and not on any particular issue. However, we are not in a normal environment.

The Mayor has secretly negotiated a deal that will destroy the Hospital.

He kept the deal secret from members of Council.

He kept the deal secret from the public.

He planned to announce the deal after filing deadlines had passed to avoid public scrutiny and public debate.

He misled the public about the existence of other offers.

He misled the Council about the existence of other offers.

He failed in his duty to maintain City property for the benefit of the people of Lakewood.

And he has allowed a small clique on the LHA and Foundation Boards to make decisions about the future of Lakewood that should be made by the people Lakewood.

He has allowed and encouraged conflicts of interest on the Board that have clouded the judgement of Board members.

The Lakewood Hospital Foundation engaged in secret negotiations to demolish the Hospital.

They have failed in their fiduciary duties to the Hospital.

They have failed in their fiduciary duties to the people of Lakewood.

They have failed to pursue other offers that would have preserved the jobs and economic activity the Hospital brings to Lakewood.

Both the Mayor and the LHA have engaged in secret negotiations with numerous individuals and organizations to allocate Hospital and Foundation money.

The Mayor and Foundation have been so focused on dividing the spoils they have forgotten their duties to the people of Lakewood.

These are not normal times. The Council should allow the political process to run its course.

To provide some background on this post, Council has called an Emergency meeting tonight at 6pm regarding the "Right to Vote" charter amendment.
The meeting will be at City Hall...I encourage anyone and everyone to attend.

See link:

http://www.onelakewood.com/wp-content/u ... -26-15.pdf


Friendly note to regular Deck posters: Please keep in mind that many folks are new to the Deck. When you post fragmentary or incomplete information, many readers have NO IDEA what you are talking about.
It's important to ALWAYS give background, even if it might seem redundant to you.

Hi Bill and Mike,

I agree with the fact that some of our council members were not given all of the information with regards to the hospital. However, I feel that by this time the council members should be well aware of the situation. Some members of council are not bad people, but, they still will not issue any statements to claim their support to keep Lakewood Hospital open or to close it.

I would like to let people know that I feel that the Mayor has put his "people" in to run for council in every ward, except for ward four. Do some research. Some individuals will tell you whatever they think you want to hear!

From City Hall:

From: Hagan, Mary [mailto:Mary.Hagan@lakewoodoh.net]
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 1:37 PM
To: Hagan, Mary <Mary.Hagan@lakewoodoh.net>
Subject: Special Meeting of Council 8/31/15

Issued 8-26-15

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING — PLEASE POST

In accordance with Article III, Section 4 of the Second Amended Charter of the City of Lakewood, you are hereby notified that I am calling and there will be a Special Meeting of Council Monday, August 31, 2015 at 6:00 PM in the auditorium Lakewood City Hall, 12650 Detroit Avenue; Lakewood, Ohio. The agenda is as follows:

ORDINANCE NO. 27-15 — AN ORDINANCE to take effect immediately provided it receives the affirmative vote of at least five members of Council, or otherwise to take effect at the earliest period allowed by law, providing for the submission to the registered voters of the City of Lakewood a proposed amendment to the Second Amended Charter of the City of Lakewood.

Mary Louise Madigan
President
LAKEWOOD CITY COUNCIL

You are spot on Bill Call!

The Mayor is a dishonest failure.

The supporters of the Summers plan repeatedly tout the 1986 vote of the people that created LHA.

The people have the right to be heard if LHA is to be dissolved.

Anything shy of that is TREASON!

It that happens, the gloves come off.

OK, I agree that the Mayor appears to be a big part of this mess, however, he is not the only one involved. There are others who are a part of this mess also!

Where can I find the wording of the charter amendment?

Dan Alaimo wrote:Where can I find the wording of the charter amendment?

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentclo ... nguage.pdf

Lakewood Charter Amendment
New Section: Lakewood Hospital Voter Approval

No ordinance passed by Council, exercising any legislative authority with respect to
Lakewood Hospital, that would cause Lakewood Hospital, in whole or in part, to no longer be a
full time and full service hospital and medical facility including without limitation providing
inpatient diagnostic, medical, surgical, and psychiatric care for a continuous period longer than
twenty-four hours, shall take effect until such ordinance is approved by a majority vote of the
electors of the City of Lakewood at a general election. Said general election shall be held not
less than ninety (90) days and not more than one hundred fifty (150) days after the ordinance is
passed by Council.

If there is no such general election within that time frame, then such

ordinance shall be presented to the voters for their approval at a special election to be held within
such time frame.
Such ordinances shall include, without limitation, any and all actions for the sale, lease,
lease extension or renewal, sublease, management, closure, abandonment, demolition, or
definitive agreement, contract, or agreement, that would cause Lakewood Hospital, in whole or
in part, to no longer be a full time and full service hospital and medical facility including without
limitation providing inpatient diagnostic, medical, surgical, and psychiatric care for a continuous
period longer than twenty-four hours.
This charter amendment provision shall be liberally construed to protect, preserve, and
safeguard Lakewood Hospital as a full time and full service hospital and medical facility
including without limitation providing inpatient diagnostic, medical, surgical, and psychiatric
care for a continuous period longer than twenty-four hours, through the elective process by
means of a vote of the electors of the City of Lakewood.
The provisions of this Section to the extent that it conflicts with or is inconsistent with
any other provisions of the City Charter, shall supersede and control over any and all such other
provisions of the City Charter.

1

I've never been good at understanding legalese. Is this simplistic understanding correct: council will never be able to take action regarding any major change in the hospital's status without holding a public vote?

(I've found it necessary to put a disclaimer on certain posts regarding the hospital: I'm not pushing a position, just asking a question.)

Basically, yes. This amendment says that Council can not close the full-service inpatient hospital, on their own. They would have to put it on the ballot, and get a majority vote of Lakewood voters agreeing to close the hospital.

This is the Right to Vote amendment. It will give us the RIGHT to vote if Council at some time passes an ordinance that would close the hospital (or do other actions that would essentially equate with closing it.)

Reminds me of Issue 3.

So council would not be forced to go to the voters unless the action would result in the closure, or what would be, in effect, a closure.

Therefore, it does not micromanage the hospital, it just insures that in the event of such a drastic action, the residents have some sort of input.

Had the entire "deal" not been conducted in secret, including keeping council members in the dark, this might not be an issue.

Here is a response I got on Nextdoor to a similar question that makes sense to me. I won't mention the person's name because some on Nextdoor expect a degree of privacy there while using their real names. Suffice to say: former council person and a supporter of the CCF plan. If I get a go ahead, I'll reveal the name (note I'm avoiding a gender reference), but for now I'm interested in hearing the SLH response. Again, this is not a trolling endeavor, I really want to understand.

"This amendment does not "save" Lakewood Hospital. It sets in place a plan that would frighten away potential partners and lead to bankruptcy after all the money that could be used for a better purpose is spent. The language of the proposed amendment says that any change, even to a different management, has to be approved by a majority of the registered voters. We never have an election where this majority would be reached. For example, if there are 30,000 registered voters in Lakewood, you would need 15.001 to approve of any changes (and you might want to have some change!) Alas, even in a Presidential Election year, less than 15,000 voters come to the polls. So, any potential change would not be allowed. It would be municipal suicide to vote for this."

First of all, there is no better use for the money--Dru Siley has no viable plan and Huron said the new foundation would not move the needle. So the "big dream" is up in smoke


Secondly. The Build Lakeweod people don't want a hospital and don't want to consider any alternative hospital managers. So their belated concern is bogus

Finally, the amendment refers to a majority of voters not all registered voters. So this is just another scare tactic.

These people will say and do anything to force their will on the people and destroy the hospital.

Dan, thanks for asking.

Using semantics, it is SO EASY to confuse and mislead people.

Typical of Build Lakewood, Pam Smith, Jenn Pae, and "the others", they are CHANGING THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE SOMETHING SINISTER. "SPIN", in other words.

(I'm naming Pam and Jenn because their names are the ones that wrote the panicked letter on Build Lakewood to their fans. I don't know who changed their words, yet again, and then wrote to you.)

The Right to Vote Charter Amendment says, "No ordinance ... shall take effect until such ordinance is approved by a MAJORITY VOTE OF THE ELECTORS of the City of Lakewood at a general election."

SPIN the words around, REMOVE THE WORD "VOTE", put them in a different order, change a word or two . . . PRESTO CHANGE-O!

NOWHERE, does the Charter Amendment say, "by a MAJORITY OF THE REGISTERED VOTERS."

A "majority VOTE" means, you hold an election, people ("electors") vote ("elect"), they vote yes or they vote no, you count the vote, the majority prevails. Just like normal.

The "electors" are the registered voters who vote in that election. ELECT-OR comes from the word: ELECT-ION. See how that goes? ELECT is the verb, from which the nouns ELECTOR and ELECTION derive.

Writer is probably Pam Smith. She was on the Charter Review Commission that wants to change the word "elector" to "registered voter". THAT word replacement would REALLY cause havoc. NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!!!