The Observation Deck

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You really should offer more background to this post.
What bid did he lose? When?

Most people don't follow the backroom shenanigans of City Hall.

He sought and lost a hard fought battle for Council President.

He did not even make Council VP.

Lost to younger leaders with less tenure on Council.

His friends say that he no longer listens--not a good trait for someone who wants to be a career politician.

So is his political career effectively over if he can't get any leadership role at the local level?

Brian:

I am told that this is the third time for Bullock to try and capture the top banana spot on Council What's that old baseball adage: "Three strikes and you're out".

He has been a tireless servant of Republican Mike Summers and the Cleveland Clinic.



I have no doubt that Team Summers will reward his loyalty by bankrolling his council re-election this year.

I think he'll have a tougher time with his longer term ambitions.
As support for hospital demolition declines in the coming years (a la Iraq War support in the 2000s), his chances of achieving higher office will depend how short the voters' memories are.
I expect him to start shifting to a "I was working with faulty intelligence" defense in the next few years.

Also, the more that people get to know him, the more they mistrust and dislike him.
With each passing year, more and more people get to know him.

Not to be antagonistic, but I feel that it needs to be clarified that Mike Summers is a Democrat, not a Republican. Mike Summers has not voted republican in a primary election since 2002, almost fourteen years ago. See http://voters.findthedata.com/l/6415792 ... -P-Summers

Furthermore, Mike Summers has donated to several political campaigns recently. It appears that all of the candidates he donated to were Democratic.

He donated to Connie Pillich, a Democrat.
He donated to Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.
He donates to Nickie Antonio, a Decmocrat.
He donated to Ed Fitzgerald, a Democrat.
He donated to Ed Jerse for State Senate District 25 (not Lakewood's district). Jerse is a Democrat.

Summers also appeared as a endorsement on Armond Budish's website. Budish is a Democrat.

Summers was endorsed by Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat.

It should also be noted that Mike Summers was endorsed by the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party. See http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... rs_16.html

Furthermore, almost all of Mike Summers' close associates are registered Democrats, according to voter registration data. Some examples:

Tim Laskey, Summer's Campaign Treasurer is a Democrat.
Curt Brosky is a Democrat.
John Litten is a Democrat.
MaryAnne Crampton is a Democrat.
Mary Brzytwa is a Democrat.
Our entire City Council is Democratic.
Our entire school board is Democratic.

Mike Summers went along with the majority of Democrats and spoke out against Senate Bill 5, which limited collective bargaining for public employees. I also recall Mike Summers going into somewhat of a mini-rant at a City Council meeting about all of the people from rural Ohio and Republicans that "don't understand."

The Mayor also posted to his Twitter account back in June about how great it was that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage and that he stood ready to perform any marriage for all. This is a Democratic value.

I see little to no evidence that Summers is a Republican. The majority of his actions and words seem Democratic to me.

Lori Allen _ wrote:Not to be antagonistic, but I feel that it needs to be clarified that Mike Summers is a Democrat, not a Republican. Mike Summers has not voted republican in a primary election since 2002, almost fourteen years ago. See http://voters.findthedata.com/l/6415792 ... -P-Summers

Furthermore, Mike Summers has donated to several political campaigns recently. It appears that all of the candidates he donated to were Democratic.

He donated to Connie Pillich, a Democrat.
He donated to Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.
He donates to Nickie Antonio, a Decmocrat.
He donated to Ed Fitzgerald, a Democrat.
He donated to Ed Jerse for State Senate District 25 (not Lakewood's district). Jerse is a Democrat.

Summers also appeared as a endorsement on Armond Budish's website. Budish is a Democrat.

Summers was endorsed by Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat.

It should also be noted that Mike Summers was endorsed by the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party. See http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... rs_16.html

Furthermore, almost all of Mike Summers' close associates are registered Democrats, according to voter registration data. Some examples:

Tim Laskey, Summer's Campaign Treasurer is a Democrat.
Curt Brosky is a Democrat.
John Litten is a Democrat.
MaryAnne Crampton is a Democrat.
Mary Brzytwa is a Democrat.
Our entire City Council is Democratic.
Our entire school board is Democratic.

Mike Summers went along with the majority of Democrats and spoke out against Senate Bill 5, which limited collective bargaining for public employees. I also recall Mike Summers going into somewhat of a mini-rant at a City Council meeting about all of the people from rural Ohio and Republicans that "don't understand."

The Mayor also posted to his Twitter account back in June about how great it was that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage and that he stood ready to perform any marriage for all. This is a Democratic value.

I see little to no evidence that Summers is a Republican. The majority of his actions and words seem Democratic to me.

D's and R's mean squat politically at the municipal level.

Lori Allen _ wrote:I see little to no evidence that Summers is a Republican. The majority of his actions and words seem Democratic to me.

He voted Republican his entire life until political expediency forced to pretend to be a Democrat.
He donates to Democrats today in order to promote his agenda -- which is largely Republican at heart.
As Mr. Trump says, Summers buys access with his contributions.
(as a side note, Trump is actually much more of a Democrat than Summers, but that's a whole other story).

Peter Grossetti wrote:D's and R's mean squat politically at the municipal level.

Theoretically speaking, it means nothing at the municipal level.
However, Mr. Bullock obviously dreams of much grander things......countywide, statewide, or perhaps federal office.
In his quest for power, he masquerades as a progressive Democrat.
However, when the chips are down, he toes the line for Republicans like Summers, Foran, and Carson.
Democrats outside Lakewood will take a look at that track record.

Not every member of a political party is always going to conform 100% with the party's stated values, ideals, and beliefs. If an individual member of a political party does not always conform 100% to the party's stated values, ideals, and beliefs, that does not isolate them from the party nor does it no longer make that person a member of said party. If this were the case, there would likely be thousands, if not millions of political parties and more than likely, very little wold be accomplished.

In other words, since Mike Summers does things that not everyone in the Democratic Party agress with, that does not make him a Republican. If a Republican doesn't like Kasich as a presidential candidate, does that make Kasich a Democrat?

Technically, Mike Summers is a Democrat and is registered as such. I just don't feel that anyone should be referring to Mike Summers as a Republican. In my opinion, it is rather misleading to those that may not be fully "in the loop" and it is not technically accurate. Referring to him as a Democrat that was formerly Republican would probably be more accurate, although he has not been Republican for almost fourteen years.

Just my opinion. FWIW.

Michael Deneen wrote: I have no doubt that Team Summers will reward his loyalty by bankrolling his council re-election this year.

Like they rewarded Madigan?

My, oh my! Sounds just like the stuff I covered back in NYC but there it was on a grander scale with actual criminal convictions some of which I was indirectly connected as a news photographer taking pictures of very nervous people (I could never figure why? LOL) before they were convicted.

Sorry Alex. It just gets tiresome here on the Deck sometimes when some people attempt to make everything Democratic or Republican and then attempt to say that Summers is a Republican. I tried to explain it here a couple of times, but, I believe it is above their realm of understanding.

Back to Bullock and the "leadership" issue. Former Councilman Bria Powers told me that Bullock really wanted the "leadership" position on LHA, so he got it.

What did he do with it?

The dismantling of Lakewood Hospital is objectively the most corrupt and largest financial failure in the history Lakewood--a 100 year old charitable institution was destroyed.

So what did Bullock do when entrusted with "leadership"?

In the past year, I never saw or heard him defend or fight to save the asset.

Did he pander to the power of CCF for his own self-interest in pursuing higher office at the expense of squandering his political base in Lakewood?

One Councilmember told me "I could never support him for Council President after what he did at LHA."

What "leadership" skills does Bullock possess?

Brian,
This information is old. If anybody assumed that Bullock was going to vote to keep Lakewood Hospital open, I can only assume that perhaps they had too much to drink!

It is worth noting that the only political casualties from the fallout surrounding Lakewood Hospital are Madigan and Bullock. They were made to pay a price. Meanwhile, Mayor Summers, the elected official most responsible for the destruction of Lakewood Hospital and the resulting divisiveness in Lakewood, apparently gets to skate.

Does anyone know if "His Honor" has yet consented to schedule his deposition?