The Observation Deck

I've been a harsh critic of Jen Pae's fake "Lakewood Community" facebook page since its launch.
I believe it is a thinly veiled government attempt to steer public opinion under the guise of a "Community" page.
Unlike normal propaganda like the water bill or mailings you get from the school district (which are clearly labeled as government items) the FB page has no disclaimer to reveal that it was started and is administered by City Hall.

This morning Pae shut down a discussion on the page about the Lakewood ER. I shared this screenshot on another thread, but here is it for those who didn't see it:

Pae's action spurred blowback from a wide range of citizens.
One called her out, and got an interesting response:
She starts by pointing out the group is "private" and that people can choose to be a member or not.
This verbage is very familiar that used during the "Dem Club Purge" story last year. Previous club leadership invoked the "Private Club" excuse when asked about secret meetings to determine who'd get purged.

It becomes more interesting with the follow up. Pae goes on her "I'm just a regular citizen" routine......as if working at City Hall doesn't create a bias.
Imagine if Jeff Sessions came out and said, "I'm just a working grandfather that pays his taxes and really cares about this country".

Pae also throws in the obligatory "nasty" and "vitriol" terms when mentioning "other" pages.
This is somewhat ironic, since later in the thread someone calls an administrator of the other FB page "a d*ck". (Hint: van Dyke)

However, I found the final line to be most indicative of City Hall's attitude: "Take it or leave it"
That's pretty much been their MO over the years.
Drug Mart, McDonalds, Hospital, etc. If you don't like it......leave.
Unfortunately for our census figures, lots of people have been doing just that.....leaving.

Thanks for this. While I am shocked, I am not surprised.

It appears that at least some of these posts were made during working hours, if the clocks in the screenshots are correct. Of course, Ms. Pae could be on vacation, though this seems unlikely. It is in very poor taste for a high-ranking city employee to be on social media arguing with citizens that fund her salary during what appear to be working hours. I would be curious to know how a normal mayor would feel about an employee he appointed arguing with citizens in this manner during what appear to be working hours.

Then again, I believe and it is only my humble opinion that many of Mr. Summers' associates are not the cleanest dishes in the cupboard.

Please feel free to email legal counsel at the Ohio ACLU on this and other free-speech issues related to Lakewood public employees or other Lakewood governmental activity that is adverse to free speech or open access to government.

Her name is Freda Levenson. Her email is flevenson@acluohio.org.

There is no reason that the Lakewood Observer should be banned from city hall or that we should have to file lawsuits to obtain public records from the city.

I see this particular post as generating its own entirely separate set of public records requests, to determine:

1. How the City of Lakewood is using social media and what procedures, rules or limitations have been established;

2. Whether the City of Lakewood has retained a third-party consultant to advise it on its social media practices;

3. Whether City of Lakewood EMS policies have the effect of imposing duplicate costs onto those they serve.

It is also the height of irony for Ms. Pae to complain about someone else's false statements given Ms. Pae's own materially false affidavit filed in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Skindell v. Madigan.

This false affidavit has been previously reviewed and discussed in "Civic Accountability--Honesty in Local Government I" on the Deck in December of 2016. The affidavit has been provided there for review.

I have demonstrated that it is materially false on its face, given the actual text of the Definitive Agreement between the City, LHA and CCF.

The City will face a difficult decision in accepting or disavowing that affidavit in its next CAFR when the funds sworn-to in the affidavit do not show up on the City's books.

Mark Kindt wrote:It is also the height of irony for Ms. Pae to complain about someone else's false statements given Ms. Pae's own materially false affidavit filed in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Skindell v. Madigan.

This false affidavit has been previously reviewed and discussed in "Civic Accountability--Honesty in Local Government I" on the Deck in December of 2016. The affidavit has been provided there for review.

I have demonstrated that it is materially false on its face, given the actual text of the Definitive Agreement between the City, LHA and CCF.

The City will face a difficult decision in accepting or disavowing that affidavit in its next CAFR when the funds sworn-to in the affidavit do not show up on the City's books.

Mark,

You make a very valid argument here. Thanks for the information about the ACLU.

Jen:

Who are the other five people who started this page and are they still posting items on it? I ask this question because I am not on Facebook. Thqnks.

Here's a screen shot of the administrators of the page. I'm not sure how active they are beyond Jenn Pae, who is omnipresent on this page, which is why I rarely visit it.

Note who added 4 of the 5 other admins.

And note the "Creator" of the group.

Jenn Karaffa Pae, Lakewood's very own Kellyanne Conway!

For anyone affected by a City-directed deletion on the City-managed Facebook community page:

I would encourage you to write an email complaint to the ACLU of Ohio.

The legal director is Freda Levenson at flevenson@acluohio.org.

The staff attorney is Elizabeth Bonham at ebonham@acluohio.org.

It will be better if they hear from you directly as an affected citizen.

Additionally, while it may be of little value, you should also make a complaint to your city council representative.

If the City does not have a written policy about citizen posts, it needs to develop one soon. The policy needs to be public and published.

It's good advice, Mr. Kindt. The ACLU may help.

Will City Council or at-Large representatives help the disgruntled?

As an elected public servant, each council member has personally chosen to represent the citizens of Lakewood. While they may not like the message they hear from their constituents, they do need to hear from citizens across the entire array of issues.

Even though we may sometimes feel that our individual opinions are ignored, elected officials need to gain a clear sense of what opinions are out there. Democracy does work. Some days, it hits some rough patches.

All elected and appointed public officials can always be reminded of the need for honesty, accountability, transparency and ethics-in-government.

Officials that ignore these values will soon find themselves back in the private sector.

We can achieve better public outcomes.