The Observation Deck

As I recall, as of yesterday, Dru Siley is no longer employed by the city.

I wish Mr. Siley and his family all the best in the future.

So what will Dru Siley's legacy be?

What were his accomplishments on behalf of the city?

Brian Essi wrote:As I recall, as of yesterday, Dru Siley is no longer employed by the city.

I wish Mr. Siley and his family all the best in the future.

So what will Dru Siley's legacy be?

What were his accomplishments on behalf of the city?

Dru working it at The Root Cafe, he never stopped.


Councilman Ward 1 David Anderson talking with Dru.


Dru with son at the dedication for the 9-11 monument.


Mayor Michael P. Summers, President and CEO of Lakewood Chamber of Commerce Patty Ryan, Director of Cornicopia/Nature's Bin Scott Duennes, and Director of Planning City of Lakewood Dru Siley.

Dru will do well in the private sector.

My biggest issue with Dru, was lack of respect for the neighborhoods near developments, that and he was a workaholic, with a gift of self promotion.

That makes him a star in the private sector. Speaking with a member of the building department last week, I said, "Dru never let the dust settle. While that is good for a Director of Planning, for many that consider history, neighborhoods, etc. it make it a logistical nightmare to get in front of his wall of new development."

After the year he had, he deserves an easy road for awhile, he has his hands full.

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His legacy will be bringing countless bars with outdoor drinking patios, e-cig juice, and vape shops to Lakewood. He can also be credited for making it easy on Lakewood's drug-addicted population. Thanks to the opening of LycaMobile, addicts can now call their drug lord in Colombia or Honduras for less, eliminating the middleman.

With that being said, I do wish him well and hope that he gets on a straight path.

Lori Allen _ wrote:His legacy will be bringing countless bars with outdoor drinking patios, e-cig juice, and vape shops to Lakewood. He can also be credited for making it easy on Lakewood's drug-addicted population. Thanks to the opening of LycaMobile, addicts can now call their drug lord in Colombia or Honduras for less, eliminating the middleman.

With that being said, I do wish him well and hope that he gets on a straight path.

Lori

I understand you have issues with Dru. I used to argue with him often, and was not a fan of many of his developments, but... There are less bars in Lakewood now, than in the past, More restaurants, many serving alcohol, but less bars.

I had some renters, that were also very close friends of Christine Siley, Dru and the kids. My renters were some fo the nicest people I have ever known in Lakewood, The Stalbaums. The amount of love and respect they had for Dru, Chistine and the entire family, gave me insight into the fact that, sometimes "public moments" mean little in the private world.

FWIW.

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Dating mainly to his early days as an assistant, Dru was largely responsible for getting the parks master plan process underway, and we worked with him at Kauffman. Mayor Summers later badmouthed the Kauffman Master Plan. The problems/complaints with Dru over other developments were something i heard from afar and of course he was aligned with the Mayor on the hospital plan. On balance my experience with Dru was positive and I wish him the best in the future.

He'll be remembered as part of the City Hall that destroyed the hospital, and thereby put the city into a downward spiral.
Same thing goes for Jen Pae, Kevin Butler, and the seven members of last year's council.

Compared to that, nothing else matters....

Regardless if they are called "bars, restaurants, eating establishments, liquor establishments, etc", they all hold one thing in common: if they serve alcohol, people can get drunk.

When people get drunk, regardless if it's at a bar or restaurant, there is a risk that they will:

- Get in their car and drive
- Stumble out into the street and get hit by a car because they are crossing against a green light (try the Detroit Extension curve, where there appears to be no police presence, possibly at the orders of Summers).
- Stumble into neigborhoods and vandalize or trespass on private property.

Many of these bars should be public nuisances, meaning that the owner gets charged for every police call. Bar fights, loud music, and people on the sidewalk vomiting all over themselves are a common occurrence almost every weekend (and even weeknights now). I think we can surmise why bars appear to be exempt from nuisance declaration if we think about it.

Some facts for City Hall: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-fit ... 10680.html

- Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes. (CDC)

- Long-term alcohol use can cause serious health complications affecting every organ in your body, including your brain. Additionally, it can damage your emotional stability, finances, career, impact your family, friends and the people you work with. (NCAAD)

- Excessive alcohol consumption increases aggression and, as a result, can increase the risk of physically assaulting another person. (CDC)

- Of the 3.9 million Americans who received treatment for a substance abuse problem in 2005, 2.5 million of them were treated for alcohol use. (Drug Free World)

- Because of the astounding 80,000 deaths that are related to alcohol abuse every year, alcohol abuse is the third highest cause of death in the U.S. (CDC)

- Approximately 7,000 children in the U.S. under the age of 16 take their first drink every day, which is a major problem because those who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin at age 21. (Rehabs.com)

Our friends at the CDC have taken the time to make an alcohol fact sheet here: http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm. Maybe they could hang some of these on the walls at City Hall.

I am still waiting for a specific, fact-based answer from City Hall as to how bars and alcohol contribute to making Lakewood a healthy community. Also, how can one make a living wage being a bartender? Sure, it's good as supplemental income, but you can't really raise a family on it.

According to https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-healt ... statistics:

- In 2013, of the 72,559 liver disease deaths among individuals aged 12 and older, 45.8 percent involved alcohol. Among males, 48.5 percent of the 46,568 liver disease deaths involved alcohol. Among females, 41.8 percent of the 25,991 liver disease deaths involved alcohol.

- Among all cirrhosis deaths in 2011, 48.0 percent were alcohol related. The proportion of alcohol-related cirrhosis was highest (72.7 percent) among decedents ages 25–34, followed by decedents aged 35–44, at 70.3 percent.

- In 2009, alcohol-related liver disease was the primary cause of almost 1 in 3 liver transplants in the United States.

- Drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, esophagus, pharynx, larynx, liver, and breast.

From what I have seen up at Lakewood's out-of-control west end bar scene, not very many people appear to drink in moderation. If you are slurring your words, stumbling into the street, shouting at the top of your lungs, and vomiting on the sidewalk, chances are, you've had too much and have been over-served.

If anyone wants to see all of the police calls that are alcohol-related, let me know.

With all of this being said, I do wish Dru the best and hope that he can distance himself from City Hall and get on a good life path.

Michael Deneen wrote:He'll be remembered as part of the City Hall that destroyed the hospital, and thereby put the city into a downward spiral.
Same thing goes for Jen Pae, Kevin Butler, and the seven members of last year's council.

Compared to that, nothing else matters....

We need to keep in mind the distinction between the employees who were hired mainly to serve the elected officials, and the elected officials who were elected to serve our interests - all of our interests.

In a recent post in the FB "Lakewood Community" page, Cindy Marx offered to tell Alex Belisle the "truth" about the Metro offer privately. If this is so convincing, why not explain it to all? A city employee would have no obligation to do so, but we should expect a different level of candor from those who we elected.

In a recent post in the FB "Lakewood Community" page, Cindy Marx offered to tell Alex Belisle the "truth" about the Metro offer privately. If this is so convincing, why not explain it to all? A city employee would have no obligation to do so, but we should expect a different level of candor from those who we elected.

That is appalling. Someone needs to call her on that.

Ms Marx, please, tell ALL your constituents the "truth" right here and now.

What do you know that we don't and why is it a "secret?"

Bridget:

You are 100% correct in calling our Cindy Marx on this matter. This type of so-called "I've got a secret" is so childish and pathetic.
If what she has is so honest and forthright, why not try a little transparency in our city government? It begs of the same old garbage coming out of city hall by the various surrogates---Butler, Pae, Bullock, McEwin, Gillman, Madigan, O'Leary, et al.

It smacks of Summers' comment to people that "it's too complicated for you to understand" when some of the issues surrounding his sellout on the hospital issue are brought up. He and Cindy pride themselves as so-called experts in the medical field. They know better than anyone else how we don't deserve a community hospital and only their friends at the Clinic can provide healthy
health care to us. I am still waiting for those hordes of people from all over the world to inundate our city to see how healthy we are because of the Clinic's so-called world class care.

I also have an idea that if she knows something and is not disclosing it, maybe the SLH lawyers ought to depose her. Just a thought.

Bridget Conant wrote:

In a recent post in the FB "Lakewood Community" page, Cindy Marx offered to tell Alex Belisle the "truth" about the Metro offer privately. If this is so convincing, why not explain it to all? A city employee would have no obligation to do so, but we should expect a different level of candor from those who we elected.

That is appalling. Someone needs to call her on that.

Ms Marx, please, tell ALL your constituents the "truth" right here and now.

What do you know that we don't and why is it a "secret?"

Hey Cindy Marx I'd be glad to tell you privately or publicly "the truth" about a group of gutless wonders who conduct city business in some broom closet at city hall. Who collectively need a GPS system to find their way back to transparency, to the truth. Whose idea of democracy is to parcel out information in a private setting instead of a public forum. Forever the insiders, forever dealing in the shadows.

So to my understanding...Mr. Siley showed up, worked hard, established relationships, disrespected the neighborhoods, harmed the economic future of the city, and escaped to the very private sector in which he acted "on behalf" of the city and its citizens. A higher bar would not applaud a person who harms the city. Find that higher bar.