"Beirut Hilton"?

[Donald Farris]

Hi,
I was out of town during the debates for candidates, so I heard this second hand and want the matter straightened out. Is this true?

What I heard was that Mr. Butler referred to the West End apartment buildings as the "Beirut Hilton". Is this true?

Why?

Mr. Butler when was the last time you were in these apartments?

When was the last time you were in the Beirut Hilton?

Hasn't the City of Lakewood harrassed these property owners enough?

Any idea how much these property owners pay in property taxes?

Have you seen the improvements made to their properties since they had the bogus blight removed?

These structures are among the few handicapped accessible places to live in Lakewood.

Please tell me what I heard was said was wrong.

We need uniters not dividers in Lakewood politics. And we certainly don't need to beatup on those that have chosen to invest in Lakewood, again.

[Kevin Butler]

Don,

My comment was more tongue-in-cheek than anything else. I was speaking in response to a question about how to improve the visual image of Lakewood at that Detroit Road entrance. The western-side balconies of the building I referred to often overflow with items that can make it appear neglected.

I certainly wasn't taking a stab at anyone personally. My firm represents one of the owners of the West End buildings, and I sympathize with what those owners went through in 2003 and continue to go through today. That said, one of the most important positions on my platform is and will be improving Lakewood's commercial and residential allure.

I hope you'll see by the political mail circulating I'm not the divider in this race, Don. I think my many other endorsements and supporters demonstrate as much, and I think that's what led to my success in the primary. Perhaps you've read more into my comment than was intended by it.

Thanks for the inquiry.

Kevin Butler

butler@butlerforlakewood.com

[Donald Farris]

Hi,
Thanks for the response. It sounded to me like more than a tongue-in-cheek comment. It sounded to me more like a proposal for a retail development.

Mr. Butler, will you sign our pledge? The pledge is to not support any actions to take peoples property for private development via eminent domain. You can click on this link ( Pledge ) print it out, sign it and either fax it to 216-226-0913 or drop it off at our office during normal business hours.

By signing the pledge, you will be assuring me and many others in Lakewood that you can represent us and respect our right to own property in Lakewood, OH.

I hope you will be able to make such a commitment.

While this post is directed specifically to Mr. Butler, I ask anyone who is running for Lakewood City Council to read and sign the Pledge.

[Stephen Calhoun]

Kevin, your comment, tongue-in-cheek though it may have been, should not have been made. imo

You might consider an apology given that your comment unfortunately sets up a pictoral stereotype having to do with both the building, its occupants, and, a cosmopolitan city in Lebanon and its citizens.

[Kevin Butler]

... your comment unfortunately sets up a pictoral stereotype having to do with both the building, its occupants, and, a cosmopolitan city in Lebanon and its citizens.

Stephen, a very fair assessment. I certainly didn't intend that; I apologize if that's the message I conveyed. Don, I don't believe in eminent domain for private development. That's why I voted against 47. I have made my position clear, in several private and public forums, and now in writing.

[Ryan Patrick Demro]

To me "tongue in cheek" sounds a lot like "bogus blight." So much for the campaign promise to be "responsible and respectful." I wonder what he thinks about some other neighborhoods.

[dl meckes]

To me "tongue in cheek" sounds a lot like "bogus blight." So much for the campaign promise to be "responsible and respectful." I wonder what he thinks about some other neighborhoods.

Having Republicans compare another Republican (although this is in question as to whether Mr. Butler has simply - and legally - registered as a Republican, Democrat or Indie at one time or another) in a seemingly negative manner to our Governor didn't seem responsible or respectful to me. I didn't understand the linkage from Butler to Taft and I didn't understand why Mr. Salo's picture wasn't in that piece. It represented a version of twisted logic that made me wonder if the candidate feels that voters would swallow this type of balderdash and feel positive about someone who would use it.

In what way does this positively promote the candidacy of Mr. Salo?

Also, if Mr. Farris wishes to, he can hear the League of Women Voters presentation that he missed on the Cox Lakewood channel (74). This information has been running regularly and, should he wish to form his own opinions, this would be a great place to start.

And just for the record, I'm not in Ward 1 and I have registered for primaries as Republican, Democrat or Independent depending on my interest at the time.

Mr. Demro is my council rep and he supported the Shops at West End at the time.

[Stan Austin]

Observation Decky's-------

Why is Mr. Salo conspicuously absent from this discussion here and on other boards regarding HIS campaign hit piece?

Is he so ashamed of it that he scuttles away from defending it and leaves its explanation to someone who doesn't even live in his ward?

Stan Austin

[Ryan Salo]

Hello everyone,

The goal of the piece was not to get votes for me, we have other pieces designed for that. The goal was just to raise concern as to why or how someone could claim to have the same deep liberal thoughts that a true Democrat has, but have never voted as one.

For his entire life Kevin has been a registered Republican (anyone can go to the board of elections and verify it) It is very convenient that just months prior to running for an elected office in a predominantly Democrat city he decides that he is one.

We wanted to alarm the voters so they did research rather than just voting the party line.

As far as why to vote for me? I think that answer is very clear. I have all of the ideas and I am willing and able to invest the time to get things changed. My sales/management background educated me as to the importance of customer service (returning calls, doing what I say I am going to do), and my mortgage background has taught me about the complexity of market values and the key areas that need to be fixed to keep our home values growing.

Let us remember the challenges that Pat Corrigan had as a Councilman. Because of his profession as an attorney, he was not able to properly respond to the needs of the citizens.

I have walked the entire ward a couple of times and I was amazed at the number of people that were frustrated with that fact that they could not get answers from Pat. My intention is not to put down Pat, I don't think he had any idea the time commitment it took when he got appointed, my point is that I can fix that problem that the citizens are having.

I work a lot of hours per week, and I am very busy running our new Kiwanis Club, but I am free to work when and how I would like. I have the ability to block out time to talk and meet with citizens when others cannot. This ability will allow me to invest much more time into this job than others can. I am very passionate about changing this city, I am also realistic enough to see that if we continually elect officials that are not physically able to invest the time, our city will suffer.

Please feel free to call me for more specific information on me or any of the ideas that I have. 216-288-9163

Thank you for your consideration.

[dl meckes]

Hello everyone,

The goal was just to raise concern as to why or how someone could claim to have the same deep liberal thoughts that a true Democrat has, but have never voted as one.

How in the world can you assert this statement as a truth?

As I mentioned, I have voted in Republican and Democtratic primaries, but that didn't mean that I actually voted for either Republicans or Democrats.

In fact, I have voted for Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and Independents.

It is pretzel logic to assert that all Democrats have "the same deep liberal thoughts." Evidently there is no philosophical difference between any candidate who belongs to one party. What you are saying, taken to its logical end, is that Bob Taft, Ken Blackwell, Ryan Salo and Tom Delay all share the same "deep thoughts."

Balderdash.

This is, after all, a non-partisan election.

[Stan Austin]

Mr. Salo---

Perhaps you should have left the response to Mr. Demro. He seems to be weaving an intricate legal argument based on the Ohio election law and how it relates to the Governor and local candidate for council and reemphasizing the lack of morals and integrity of his party in order to justify ----------------I can't even follow his convoluted spin anymore!!!!!!!

But really, you shouldn't try to alarm the voters. A good and responsible candidate should try to educate and persuade voters to his side, not scare them. That's the only way to bring a community together.

And if the purpose of the piece was not to add votes for you what was its purpose? A bookmark?

Finally, you ought to tell your Karl Rove wannabe there that next time he gets your literature printed to use your colors, not your opponent's colors. While I'm sure Mr. Butler is pleased to see his colors used I would be a tad upset knowing that my paid manager blundered and sabotaged my campaign by not maintaining the format.

Stan Austin

[Ryan Salo]

dl meckes

I guess that you do not know how our current system works.

If you go to vote in a primary you only get one ballot, either a republican or a democrat. If you ask for the republican ballot you cannot vote for a democrat, they won't even be listed.

The board of election tracks which ballot you took and lists is for public record. Kevin has NEVER taken the democrat ballot during a primary. He may have voted democrat during the general elections, it is just odd that he never supported ANY democrat candidate during a primary.

I hope this information helps you understand how our political system works.

[dl meckes]

dl meckes

I guess that you do not know how our current system works.

If you go to vote in a primary you only get one ballot, either a republican or a democrat. If you ask for the republican ballot you cannot vote for a democrat, they won't even be listed.

The board of election tracks which ballot you took and lists is for public record. Kevin has NEVER taken the democrat ballot during a primary. He may have voted democrat during the general elections, it is just odd that he never supported ANY democrat candidate during a primary.

I hope this information helps you understand how our political system works.

Mr. Salo, I am a chronic voter. I understand how the process works.

Whenever we have a primary, we may declare a party affiliation. We are free to choose whether or not we will participate in the Republican or Democratic primary or whether we will choose to be an Independent voter, which limits our voting to issues only.

If you were to only be eligible to vote in one primary in your life, then yes, you would only have one chance to declare your affiliation.

Since I graduated from LHS with your father, I think it might be a safe bet to say that I have voted in nearly every election that has ever been held for as long as you have drawn breath on this earth.

I am unable to understand why you cannot glean that voters may choose a different party affiliation with each primary.

This is why, depending on the primary race, I may switch affiliations to vote in whichever primary I see fit.

While I might choose a Democratic ticket in the primary, I am not obligated to vote Democratic in the general election. This is the same concept as choosing a Republican ballot in the primary and then choosing not to vote for Republicans in the general election.

Whether or not Kevin Butler has ever chosen a Democratic primary ballot means very little to me in a non-partisan election.

Mr. Demro (your potential colleague whom you have paid to advise you on your campaign) wrote on July 6th, 2005,

I really like the discussion that is going on about non-partisan elections and candidates lack of party identification on their literature. I never put my affiliation on my literature because I believe it is misleading and irrelevant to local politics. My perspective is contrary to what some have posted. My stance on the smoking issue is not exactly considered "Republican," nor were there conservatives knocking down my door with support for the skatepark. These are both progressive issues that I believe in and they fall outside my party line. I am not going to jeopardize support as a candidate by putting a litmus test on my literature. I have been door to door enough times to know that some voters ask your affiliation and then the discussion quickly ends or goes in the right direction. Non-partisan elections ask voters to look beyond party and at the qualifications of the candidate and the issues they stand for. I believe that this encourages more candidates to run and I hope it will mean that voters will start to pay closer attention to races. Term limits is a concept that has also been terrible for democracy. Why pay attention when the bum is going to be thrown out automatically? It puts a disincentive on participation. Just a few thoughts on the process.

Non-partisan elections isn't going away anytime soon. It was approved by 71% of Lakewood voters. That is a landslide in electoral terms.

Evidently neither you nor he believes this.

[Ryan Patrick Demro]

DL-

Partisanship would not be an issue in this race had circumstances been normal. The Dems would run their candidate and the GOP would run theirs. In this case we had two Republicans running and one attempting to portray himself as a Democrat. Therefore, party became an issue because it speaks to the issue of honesty and integrity.

Kevin is a Republican. He can slice and dice it anyway he wants, but he is an R. In fact, he even sought information as to how to obtain the Cuyahoga County Republican Party endorsement. Once he figured out who controlled that he decided that he had to be a D, or another member of council told him to attempt to become one.

This is the most partisan race Lakewood has seen since voters overwhelmingly (71%) approved nonpartisan races in '02. It's all because someone is trying to play both sides. Did we see partisanship during the George/Cain contest? Not to my knowledge. So why now? Someone must have been getting the feeling that if voters compared the records and ideas of the candidates that Salo and Carroll would get the seats. You don't attack people in a race when it is unnecessary, that is Poli/Sci 101.

On top of it, you wanna talk about the underlying tones of homophobia. Let's discuss the piece that Brennan sent out that included himself, Dever, Fitzgerald, and Butler. Where was Nickie?? She is an endorsed Democrat. Convenient to leave her off now isn't it. They did their best to make it look like Brennan was endorsed, which he is not. They couldn't have the only slate card go out with Nickie on it and not Brennan. PS- Butler was not endorsed by the Lakewood Dems the first time because he was revealed to be a Republican. He is still not endorsed by the Cuyahoga County Democrats, because they like to endorse people in their own party also.

So to sum it up, nonpartisan races don't mean that the parties will simply disappear. As much as we might like them to, myself included, they will probably never go away. Therefore, some races will still reek with partisanship while others will simply reek

PS- For anyone who didn't know, here is a little disclaimer: STAN AUSTIN helped manage Tom George's campaign. Tom George has endorsed Kevin Butler. That was probably done in exchange for a vote against Fitzgerald for president of council. I am going to love watching Butler and Brennan try to figure out where they stand on that one. Go with the Mayor or the President of the Democratic Club? You owe favors to both, whatcya gonna do? POINT BEING: Stan, no matter how hard you try you are BIASED. This includes your political writing for the Observer which I and others on council have had just about enough of.

[Kevin Butler]

In fact, he even sought information as to how to obtain the Cuyahoga County Republican Party endorsement. Once he figured out who controlled that he decided that he had to be a D, or another member of council told him to attempt to become one. ...

Tom George has endorsed Kevin Butler. That was probably done in exchange for a vote against Fitzgerald for president of council.

False, and false. County Republican chair Rob Frost called me and asked if I was interested in seeking the Republican endorsement. I returned his phone call and politely declined, leaving a recorded message. I have never been active in Republican Party politics.

I have never promised any person or group a vote on anything. Ask Ed FitzGerald and ask Mayor George. Despite this, I have obtained their endorsements. I believe this is because they understand I have integrity.

I joined the Lakewood Democratic Club in July 2004, just after the last partisan primary. I had no idea I would be running for council a year later. I feel much more closely aligned with the tenets of the Democratic Party, which is why I joined the club. Mr. Salo and his paid campaign manager knew this prior to paying for the attack piece.

Mr. Salo's piece accuses me of never having supported a Democratic candidate in my adult life. Also untrue. Just an example: When I first met Mr. Salo in November 2004, I had just finished a tenure as the staff attorney to the Democratic judge, Daniel Gaul, a friend of our family. Mr. Salo was holding a Bush-Cheney sign at a polling place that November morning. We had a very enjoyable conversation. I later went home and happily voted for Bush's opponent (as well as county judges from both sides of the aisle). Apparently, Mr. Salo is now concerned with my honesty and integrity.

Because it cannot possibly detail my Democratic voting history, the attack piece is woefully misleading. Nevertheless, I have responded not by being negative, but simply by clarifying in our local online forums when asked to clarify.

Thanks to all posters for bringing the issue to the fore. Mr. Demro, if I have an opportunity to work with you in the future, I look forward to it.

Kevin Butler