The Observation Deck

David Anderson wrote: Again, though, the RFP process was long before this issue came before Council in January of 2015. City Council had no authority or standing to submit an RFP on behalf of LHA.


David W. Anderson
Member of Council, Ward One
216-789-6464
David.anderson@lakewoodoh.net

Mr. Anderson,

1. It has been established that the City owned the hospital in 2015.

2. Despite the startling lack of public records substantiating the claim, you and others somehow claimed in December, 2015 that LHA would file for bankruptcy.

3. Assuming the claim about bankruptcy was made, it would have been a clear breach of both the Lease and Definitive Agreement.

Therefore:

4. There is nothing in the 1996 Lease or Definitive Agreement that prohibited the City from issuing an RFP to sell or lease the City owned hospital in 2015.

5. There is nothing in the record of public meetings throughout 2015 (or ever) that prohibited the City from issuing an RFP to sell or lease the City owned hospital in 2015.

Do you have anything at all to back up your claim that "City Council had no authority or standing to submit an RFP" with respect to the hospital that was owned by the city?

If not, please retract you inaccurate claim.

Mr. Essi -

The LHA had a lease extending to 2026. I guess we could have waited until then.

Perhaps we could have yelled and screamed and somehow threatened the LHA Board members to accept the results of a Council led RFP which Council's consultant (Huron) said would not have yielded different results. Technically you are right, council had the authority to submit but given Huron's report, to what end?

Seriously, Brian, I like you and respect you. But, you were born to argue and you are a successful lawyer and business person. We took action based on a year of study and analysis of all options possible.

David W. Anderson

David Anderson wrote:Mr. Essi -

The LHA had a lease extending to 2026. I guess we could have waited until then.

Perhaps we could have yelled and screamed and somehow threatened the LHA Board members to accept the results of a Council led RFP which Council's consultant (Huron) said would not have yielded different results. Technically you are right, council had the authority to submit but given Huron's report, to what end?

Seriously, Brian, I like you and respect you. But, you were born to argue and you are a successful lawyer and business person. We took action based on a year of study and analysis of all options possible.

David W. Anderson

Is that an apology or an admission?

David Anderson wrote:Mr. Essi -

The LHA had a lease extending to 2026. I guess we could have waited until then.

Perhaps we could have yelled and screamed and somehow threatened the LHA Board members to accept the results of a Council led RFP which Council's consultant (Huron) said would not have yielded different results. Technically you are right, council had the authority to submit but given Huron's report, to what end?

Seriously, Brian, I like you and respect you. But, you were born to argue and you are a successful lawyer and business person. We took action based on a year of study and analysis of all options possible.

David W. Anderson

Is that an apology or an admission?

David

I keep hearing from Council that "we had no choice"...this is a horrible admission of the fact that Council does not know how to do its job. Council had to approve the Master Agreement; Council had to approve any changes in the original lease (such as the Vision of Tomorrow debacle that took Trauma and Pediatrics from Lakewood and shifted it to Fairview).

Each of you had the most perfect opportunity to tell the Clinic and LHA and Summers, if you want something, you need us and we won't give it to you unless we negotiate with other possible healthcare systems. You do not know how to carry out your jobs and it is hurting this city. The power to put a real RFP was right there in front of you, but you did not have the political backbone to challenge those folks. The phony threats about not having an ER and possible bankruptcy made by LHA and others were nothing but smokescreens and you folks took the bait. The Clinic could not walk away without you letting it.

It is eminently clear to me that you do not know how to negotiate anything.

The Clinic has never been a good partner for Lakewood. They breached their contract over and over and the LHA folks sat on their hands and let them do it. That is the basis for the lawsuit and you and your colleagues trash us for wasting money. You gave away a good hospital and allowed the Clinic and LHA to dismantle it and said nothing. And aas Brian Essi has pointed out repeatedly, we got very little in return.

In fact, the Clinic is breaching the present Master Agreement by not deploying their fabled Mobile Stroke Unit at Lakewood. And you and your colleagues are still sitting on your hands.(That's Section 2.6 of the Master Agreement).

I'll repeat myself: You don't know the power invested in you and you allowed this debacle to rip our city apart. If you folks don't understand that Summers, the LHA and Clinic couldn't do anything without Council's approval, then it is plain that we need new members on Council who understand what it means to be a leader and not a follower. You and your colleagues blew it big time, my friend.

David Anderson wrote:Mr. Essi -

Perhaps we could have yelled and screamed and somehow threatened the LHA Board members to accept the results of a Council led RFP which Council's consultant (Huron) said would not have yielded different results. Technically you are right, council had the authority to submit but given Huron's report, to what end?

David W. Anderson

Mr. Anderson,

I'm sorry, but it is not a matter of arguing--it is a matter of the facts.

1. The facts are clear that the LHA Board of Trustees was led by Mike Summers--Summers led and chose the members of the Select Committee and the top secret
Step 2 Committee in a rigged non-bid process. We needed to yell, scream and threaten Mike Summers to issue an RFP? Huh?

2. Huron was working for CCF and Cosgrove, so Council rests its whole case on Huron's "opinion" that we would not get a better result than from the Summers led rigged process? Please note again Mr. Butler's response to my records request in which he admitted that Huron worked for CCF from the beginning of its engagement and he rufused to provide:

BUTLER on July 15, 2016: "At the time Huron was engaged, the issues included in their engagement were directly implicated in the lawsuit filed by Mr. Graham and others, and they remain so.  As such, because these trial preparation records and joint defense communications to or from me and Mr. Colarusso and/or Mr. Bodine are exempted from the Public Records Act or are not records, they will not be provided........Your request is also denied to the extent it seeks communications to or from me and Mr. Colarusso and/or Mr. Bodine, because those communications have been prepared in preparation for trial in Graham v. City of Lakewood, et al. and are therefore not public records pursuant to R.C. 149.43(a)(1)(g).  Additionally, your request for my communications seeks records prepared by the defendants in the same lawsuit.  The defendants, including the city, which is represented by me, have exchanged joint defense information in confidence with the intent and for the purpose of facilitating the rendition of legal services concerning common defense interests, with the expectation that the information will remain privileged and confidential and will not be disclosed without the prior written consent of all of the defense parties.  Those parties include Toby Cosgrove, CCF and CCF Trustee Tom Gable.

So Huron was working with Toby Cosgrove and CCF and Council rested its whole case for flushing the toilet on the hospital by relying of the conflicted Huron Consultant?

You asked: "to what end" would we issue an RFP?

Answer: To obtain fair market value for the city owned assets and keep quality healthcare for Lakewood.

I think you proved the point of the thread.

Vote Against 64

Brian Essi wrote:

David Anderson wrote:Mr. Essi -

Perhaps we could have yelled and screamed and somehow threatened the LHA Board members to accept the results of a Council led RFP which Council's consultant (Huron) said would not have yielded different results. Technically you are right, council had the authority to submit but given Huron's report, to what end?

David W. Anderson

Mr. Anderson,

I'm sorry, but it is not a matter of arguing--it is a matter of the facts.

1. The facts are clear that the LHA Board of Trustees was led by Mike Summers--Summers led and chose the members of the Select Committee and the top secret
Step 2 Committee in a rigged non-bid process. We needed to yell, scream and threaten Mike Summers to issue an RFP? Huh?

2. Huron was working for CCF and Cosgrove, so Council rests its whole case on Huron's "opinion" that we would not get a better result than from the Summers led rigged process? Please note again Mr. Butler's response to my records request in which he admitted that Huron worked for CCF from the beginning of its engagement and he rufused to provide:

BUTLER on July 15, 2016: "At the time Huron was engaged, the issues included in their engagement were directly implicated in the lawsuit filed by Mr. Graham and others, and they remain so.  As such, because these trial preparation records and joint defense communications to or from me and Mr. Colarusso and/or Mr. Bodine are exempted from the Public Records Act or are not records, they will not be provided........Your request is also denied to the extent it seeks communications to or from me and Mr. Colarusso and/or Mr. Bodine, because those communications have been prepared in preparation for trial in Graham v. City of Lakewood, et al. and are therefore not public records pursuant to R.C. 149.43(a)(1)(g).  Additionally, your request for my communications seeks records prepared by the defendants in the same lawsuit.  The defendants, including the city, which is represented by me, have exchanged joint defense information in confidence with the intent and for the purpose of facilitating the rendition of legal services concerning common defense interests, with the expectation that the information will remain privileged and confidential and will not be disclosed without the prior written consent of all of the defense parties.  Those parties include Toby Cosgrove, CCF and CCF Trustee Tom Gable.

So Huron was working with Toby Cosgrove and CCF and Council rested its whole case for flushing the toilet on the hospital by relying of the conflicted Huron Consultant?

You asked: "to what end" would we issue an RFP?

Answer: To obtain fair market value for the city owned assets and keep quality healthcare for Lakewood.

I think you proved the point of the thread.

Vote Against 64

Vote Against 64

Mr. Monahan -

When and where did I ever say what you quoted?

Sorry to inform you that the contract for the mobile stroke lab has been signed by all parties.

You would rather the city have an empty hospital in 2026 with at least $90M in needed repairs and upgrades and no emergency room all while LHA/taxpayer assets shrank to zero. But, you would have sure stuck it to the Clinic.

Those hospital service lines you often speak about left years before this issue came to Council.

David W. Anderson

James, Tom, Brian, all -

Name one health care management entity that wanted to bid/submit an RFP but could not or did not.

Name one entity that wanted to come into this region as a new market entrant and compete with Metro, UH and the Clinic without access to doctors, referrals (patients), a network with other non Metro, UH or Clinic hospitals while doing so in a building that needs $90M to make it competitive and safe.


We are such bad negotiators, Tom? We struck a fair deal. The city will receive more in lease payments than if the previous lease/MA went through to 2026. $128 million in LHA net assets have been properly allocated. The Clinic is investing another $49 million of its money. An up to $90 million liability is off taxpayer shoulders. And we will benefit from a state of the art medical facility and fully accredited ER all while retaining 5.7 acres of developable land for future sale. Another liability, the Medical Office Building, underperforming and not very competitive, is being replaced with the new FHC and ER. The down side, of course, involves the loss of jobs but Lakewood has always had a diverse tax base and increases in other sources of revenue have already made up for that payroll tax loss. Regarding the medical services of the former hospital, two out of every three beds were empty every night for a year prior to January of 2015 and those revenue producing service lines were also already gone and were not coming back.

David Anderson

David Anderson wrote:James, Tom, Brian, all -

Name one health care management entity that wanted to bid/submit an RFP but could not or did not.

Name one entity that wanted to come into this region as a new market entrant and compete with Metro, UH and the Clinic without access to doctors, referrals (patients), a network with other non Metro, UH or Clinic hospitals while doing so in a building that needs $90M to make it competitive and safe.


We are such bad negotiators, Tom? We struck a fair deal. The city will receive more in lease payments than if the previous lease/MA went through to 2026. $128 million in LHA net assets have been properly allocated. The Clinic is investing another $49 million of its money. An up to $90 million liability is off taxpayer shoulders. And we will benefit from a state of the art medical facility and fully accredited ER all while retaining 5.7 acres of developable land for future sale. Another liability, the Medical Office Building, underperforming and not very competitive, is being replaced with the new FHC and ER. The down side, of course, involves the loss of jobs but Lakewood has always had a diverse tax base and increases in other sources of revenue have already made up for that payroll tax loss. Regarding the medical services of the former hospital, two out of every three beds were empty every night for a year prior to January of 2015 and those revenue producing service lines were also already gone and were not coming back.

David Anderson

Mr.Anderson,

You and I spoke nearly a year ago today while I was standing on a field on Pelee Island hunting pheasant and discussed getting Sam O'Leary, Cindy Marx and other together with Frank Sossi of Surgical Development Partners to discuss their stated interest in leasing Lakewood Hospital. I will never forget it--I know exactly where I has standing on the field when you said none of your colleagues were interested in doing any due diligence on SDP. Mr. Sossi wanted an invitation and you were the only one who would consider that and the needed due diligence.

That was before the election and it told me that the deal was baked and done. Your statement you made amounts to but one fact that supports the conclusion that a decision was made by a public body in secret without a public meeting--Mr. Butler documented that in a letter to Mr. Sossi shortly thereafter. You and I also discussed that day that your colleagues wanted to press the "EASY BUTTON"--as I recall, your called it the "Easier Button."

For her part, Cindy Marx has commented that Metro does not feel welcome in Lakewood--she is right. I can verify from numerous sources I worked with regarding Metro, that Metro executives said they "FELT USED" by Mayor Summers in 2014--Despite that fact, I and others encouraged Metro and Dr. Boutros to come forward in 2015.

But Summers, Nowlin, Bullock and others on Council repelled Boutros by acting totally unprofessionally--Boutros referred to those actions as a "maelstrom"--that was a direct reflection of the failure of leadership in our city.

Please recall my Bad Government 8 article in the LO where I wrote "A May 18, 2015 email has recently surfaced where Summers wrote to Budish and Miller concerning Metro’s interest in Lakewood. Miller recently stated that Summers had "an excessive desire to manage the process and keep discussions to insider players," that “they had a distinct agenda” and that Summers "carefully controlled" the process. Miller said he “helped facilitate a change" concerning Metro’s public interest in Lakewood. In other words, County leadership knew what Summers was up to in the backroom with CCF and then assisted in the “distinct agenda” to keep Metro out of Lakewood. To make matters worse, at least one Lakewood City Council member recently claimed that CCF pressured County Executive Budish, and Budish pressured Metro to back down."

So it is clear that Lakewood is "NOT OPEN FOR BUSINESS" when it comes to healthcare, and the players out there know it.