The Observation Deck

[quote="Sean Koran"]Good news!

The City of Lakewood plans to close and tear down the Lakewood Public Library and replace it with a bookmobile run by the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

The CCPL bookmobile will provide Lakewood residents with access to a limited number of printed books and magazines, as well as access to the CCPL's entire digital library of books and magazines.

"This is good news for our community and a great first step in transforming the literacy services available in our city," Mayor Mike Summers said. "We are delighted to maintain this important hub in our downtown and know it will be an important asset to the city's continued revitalization."

Under the terms proposed in an agreement with the city, the city will continue to own a portion of the current library site, with the remainder of the property, including all of the Lakewood Public Library's books, magazines, videos, music, and all other personal property and financial assets being transferred to the CCPL.

Summer's further explained that "the way we read is changing" because "no one actually reads books anymore, everyone is always on their iPad or Kindle."

The new bookmobile will provide Lakewood residents "with a brand new state of the art library while at the same time freeing up valuable downtown real estate for development," explained Summers. "This is absolutely a library," he made sure to reiterate.

When asked who was interested in developing the library property Summers was unable to provide a response, but did state that he is encouraging people to "think big!" about what can be done at the site.

A preliminary drawing of the new Lakewood library is below:



Ed Fitzgerald has produced a drivers license and has been presented with Keys to the "New Literacy-Mobile" which will be equipped with a "cutting edge" breathalyzed starter and "special" LED flashing plates so Tom Bullock can "drive the technology" when Fitzgerald is tending to his related "Neighborhood News" literacy project. Summers said "A small percentage of Lakewood residents were actually using the Lakewood Library---this new technology with be able to reach all Lakewoodites"

Build Lakewood Spokesman, Jay Carson, said "The books in the library are just too OLD!"

Jenn Pae added "bricks and mortar libraries are just too costly to maintain."

Summers: "This will make Lakewood the Most Literate City in America." This is really GOOD NEWS!

so mayor summers is gonna close the library?

issue 3 hasn't passed yet however you seem high.

don't be afraid of the bookmobile.

btw, have you google searched issue 64?

kate e parker wrote:so mayor summers is gonna close the library?

issue 3 hasn't passed yet however you seem high.

don't be afraid of the bookmobile.

btw, have you google searched issue 64?

Why not close Lakewood Library? The millions in tax payer subsidies can be used for development, the land can be used for development and Avon has a very fine library and it is just a few minutes away!

Bill Call wrote:Why not close Lakewood Library? The millions in tax payer subsidies can be used for development, the land can be used for development and Avon has a very fine library and it is just a few minutes away!

Although this thread is satirical, there is a serious side note.

There are a lot of powerful people -- including the Mayor's friends at the PD -- that would like to see it absorbed into the county system. They prioritize "regionalization" over citizens' opinion.
That's why they want to close Lakewood Hospital.

Maybe I'm stupid, but this is clearly a joke/satire right? If it is, it's wholly inappropriate. Brian, I have no doubt you have very passionate beliefs about what is best for this city - and specifically that you have extreme vitriol for the mayor - but I can't wait for the day your misleading posts on the deck stop. We are all complaining about the fake newspaper that team Summers put out, but you place several posts a day on the deck with subject lines that are highly crafted with the intent to deceive us into thinking they are headlines from legitimate news articles. I thinks it's really ugly.

I think you should thoughtfully consider how damaging these posts and constant sensationalist headlines are to the message you are trying to relay to us - it totally undermines the information you are providing. I am really unable to believe anything you post here. It's hard to even believe the context and validity of legal documents that you've reproduced on the site. At least the silly campaign fact sheets the mayor is putting in my mailbox and such are obviously campaign material which I (and the rest of america) know will be biased and truth stretching, as all campaign material is. I think you've also done a huge disservice to Jim O Bryan and the Lakewood Observer (though JOB will no doubt defend your right to use his platform in this way) as it's easy to misconstrue from where and from whom these headlines come. I think you know the average Lakewoodite perusing the site will think they are headlines from legitimate articles in the Observer or some other journalistic enterprise.

You seem to have plenty of valid information that can be used to arm the populace with the truth, but instead you engage in this deception and come across as a ridiculous scarecrow that just wants to sling mud and pick on the mayor. Why not place some trust in your fellow citizens and present your facts and findings unadorned with the spin and let Lakewood do the right thing?

If this seems like a personal attack, I guess it is. I'm just trying to let you know how you come across when you do this stuff.

todd vainisi wrote:Maybe I'm stupid, but this is clearly a joke/satire right? If it is, it's wholly inappropriate.

Satire is a dangerous tool. I happen to like it and think it serves a purpose but there is always the chance that someone misinterpret it.

I used a similar post about the Mayor of Avon criticizing the Cleveland Clinic for building hospitals and surgery centers. Doesn't everyone know that the future is small medical office buildings?

Seriously, why not tear down the Library? Think of the development potential!

Again, a little sarcasm and satire to illustrate the absurdity of the Mayors argument about health care.

A little is fun. That's not what Brian has been doing the past 6 months (or whatever time period it's been). It's been a constant barrage of click-bait subject lines designed to deceive. Also there has been a lot of rumor and talk of changing the library or giving the library to someone else. In my opinion the library is a more important city resource than the hospital that we just spent a truckload of money on. I don't know anyone with kids who doesn't/hasn't used the library but I know plenty of people that need medical care that would never choose Lakewood Hospital (I'm not arguing that it should go though). And yes I know the hospital makes Lakewood money with the income taxes. So I think misinformation like the subject line of this post is very irresponsible.

Michael Deneen wrote:

Bill Call wrote:Why not close Lakewood Library? The millions in tax payer subsidies can be used for development, the land can be used for development and Avon has a very fine library and it is just a few minutes away!

Although this thread is satirical, there is a serious side note.

There are a lot of powerful people -- including the Mayor's friends at the PD -- that would like to see it absorbed into the county system. They prioritize "regionalization" over citizens' opinion.
That's why they want to close Lakewood Hospital.

For many years I thought that the Regional Institutions and media outlets had it in for Lakewood.

Lakewood is doing better than most inner ring suburbs, has its own library, its own water department, its own sewer department, its own hospital, its own arts district and a good school system. In a sane political environment the regional institutions and the media outlets would be coming to town to see what works and why it works.

We do not live in a sane political environment.

Instead of trying to learn from the success of Lakewood regional institutions seek to tear it down.

Brent Larkin of the Plain Dealer once wrote that the City of Cleveland should extend to the Rocky River. A revealing comment.

Todd V.

I'm sorry. I was trying to be whimsical about a serious subject which was apparently taken as "deception". I guess we've reached a point where people might actually believe this thread because Summers and others have lied to us about so much--the hospital, the recreation center, the Metro proposal, the silly claim that the Summers plan will somehow "transform" Lakewood into the "Healthiest City in America" etc. etc. etc. That is sad that even you are confused and somehow believe that I, as a lone citizen, am being deceptive since those in charge of the information have guarded and manipulated the information in a manner to purposely deceive the public:

The most serious of these lies is the "Healthiest City In America" claim---please recall the following:

"In the first analysis of its kind, UC San Francisco research shows that emergency department closures can have a ripple effect on patient outcomes at nearby hospitals."

"In a study of more than 16 million emergency admissions to California hospitals between 1999 and 2010, researchers found that patients who were admitted to facilities located in the vicinity of an emergency department (ED) that had recently closed experienced 5 percent higher odds of dying than patients admitted to hospitals that were not near a recently closed ED."

"The odds of dying were even higher for patients with certain time-sensitive conditions, especially heart attack (15 percent higher odds), stroke (10 percent) and sepsis (8 percent). The findings are of particular concern nationwide, said the authors, because the annual number of ED visits increased by 51 percent between 1996 and 2009, while the number of available emergency departments dropped by 6 percent."

“Our findings indicate that disproportionate numbers of ED closures may be driving up inpatient mortality in communities and hospitals with more minority, Medicaid and low-income patients, and contributing to existing disparities in health outcomes,” said Hsia. “These results suggest that health systems and policy makers should consider the ripple effect on communities when they regulate ED closures.”

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/07/11646 ... ave-closed

The full study can be found at:

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/33/8/1323.full

This exposes the most dangerous deception of all---that Summers is heading us off a cliff with his reckless indifference for human life in pursuit of MONEY and THINGS.

The FACT is More people will die under the Summers Plan, not less. Dead is not "healthier".

Todd, as for your general claims that I have been "deceptive", I can only respond with a general denial as there are no specifics Please understand that I am a lone citizen---and you are mistaken about my target audience--it is not at all who you claim it to be.

Thanks Brian for the humor to brighten up such a sad sad state of affairs. I laughed my rear end off. The sad thing is, the underlying story is more fact than fiction.

Brian - I think I was overly critical of your posts. I apologize. I feel like you have placed a lot of these headline looking posts here, but looking through a few pages of deck posts, I think maybe I am overestimating. Though in just the past couple days you've suggested money laundering and a the biggest corruption scandal ever - those types of accusations are pretty serious and shouldn't be just thrown around unless he is convicted in a court of law. There have been many other subject lines in the past that momentarily fooled me as well.

I just wish that I could get facts that aren't sensationalized. Everything about this hospital deal is short of facts from every angle. I caught myself suggesting on here that the mayor was cutting deals to better his political future with absolutely no evidence, pure conjecture. I have discontinued making those kind of comments.

You are very good at disseminating information that the community deserves to be alerted too. So, I thank you for that. But I wish you would just stick to the facts.

Tod and Brian-- I salute both of you for vigorous and intensive discussions. That's what we're all about. Stan

Sean Koran Winner of the Best Humor & Irony Deck Post of 2015!