The Observation Deck

NOTICE
SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL
In accordance with Article Two, Section 2.4(a) of the Third Amended Charter, I am calling and there will be a Special Meetings of Council

Monday, April 30, 2018 at 6:30 PM.

The agenda is as follows:
Proposed ORDINANCE 27-18 - AN ORDINANCE to take effect immediately provided it receives the affirmative vote of at least two thirds of the members of Council, or otherwise to take effect and be in force after the earliest period allowed by law, authorizing the execution and delivery of an agreement by and between the City of Lakewood, Ohio, a municipal corporation and political subdivision in and of the State of Ohio (the “City” ), and Carnegie Management and Development Corporation, an Ohio corporation (Carnegie”), related to the development of City-owned property at the southwest corner of Detroit Avenue and Belle Avenue, and authorizing and approving related matters. (1st Reading 4/16/18, 2nd Reading 4/23/18)

Sam O’Leary
President
Lakewood City Council

In what has become the single largest nightmare in Lakewood's history, Council President O'Leary is trying to push it through, and the only reason given, as of last night's meeting was, so Carnegie Development could use it at an upcoming convention in Las Vegas.

I am not lying.

They are shoving this thing down our throats for a developer that cannot even pay for this on his own.

WTF!

Something this important, with only one shot, that cost Lakewood our largest asset, our largest employer and over $178 million in taxpayer funds deserves to be looked at carefully. It was recently pointed out by an outside auditor the plan will not pay off in the 4 years the Mayor said, but more like 15 - 20 years.

This entire debacle was hidden from public, p[ushed through with lies and misrepresentation and now Council forced to digest it in weeks.

FOUL!

I am not trying to save the Hospital, I am trying to save Lakewood from making a potential mistake we can never come back from. Do we really need another coffee shop, dry cleaner, and ice cream place so bad that we need to lose $178 million to get it?

The city continues to hide thousands of pages of documents the courts have ordered them to produce. Out of the small handful of documents outside sources have found lies, cover-ups, falsification, misrepresentation, secret agendas, and more.

http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewt ... =7&t=24712

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My simple arithmetic would indicate that letting that acreage serve as pasture land would be more economically beneficial to Lakewood than any of the current deficit subsidy plan that would jeopardize the City's credit.
And, if you ask me for specifics-- I don't have to! They threw out BS so I can throw out my own, too.

Upon reflection I think this is far worse in that offers of subsidies and grants can be an indicative to the market that the City is in financial distress.

Let's review postings to onelakewood.com/downtowndevelopment since October 2, 2017, when Lakewood's mayor spoke of "access to the entire process via the web site."

Three "community update" posts followed, about what was still called "the Carnegie Proposal" in the last of those updates, on Oct. 25, 2017.

Then things went dark for almost six months until the April 13, 2018 "community update," which announced that "The city administration and Carnegie Development Corporation have agreed on a shared vision for the development and now are recommending an approval of a term sheet." Since then, two meeting videos.

Was "the entire process" suspended between October and April?

Let's look.

• How about "Schedule." No, the last entry there is "October 30, 2017: Gather questions and feedback from Council and establish upcoming meetings schedule."
• "Community Discussion?" No, that's just a form and three "Common questions and feedback."
• "Resources?" No, doesn't appear to be anything recent, here.
• How about onelakewood.com/news, even though that's an entirely different part of the site? No, nothing recent there about this.

…there is of course the FAQ, crudely published as a PDF linked from the April 18 "community update." But others have addressed that at length, already.

mjkuhns wrote:Let's review postings to onelakewood.com/downtowndevelopment since October 2, 2017, when Lakewood's mayor spoke of "access to the entire process via the web site."

Three "community update" posts followed, about what was still called "the Carnegie Proposal" in the last of those updates, on Oct. 25, 2017.

Then things went dark for almost six months until the April 13, 2018 "community update," which announced that "The city administration and Carnegie Development Corporation have agreed on a shared vision for the development and now are recommending an approval of a term sheet." Since then, two meeting videos.

Was "the entire process" suspended between October and April?

Let's look.

• How about "Schedule." No, the last entry there is "October 30, 2017: Gather questions and feedback from Council and establish upcoming meetings schedule."
• "Community Discussion?" No, that's just a form and three "Common questions and feedback."
• "Resources?" No, doesn't appear to be anything recent, here.
• How about onelakewood.com/news, even though that's an entirely different part of the site? No, nothing recent there about this.

…there is of course the FAQ, crudely published as a PDF linked from the April 18 "community update." But others have addressed that at length, already.

I hate to say this but our Mayor is a liar. Transparency continues to be an unresolved issue in Lakewood. Even the State of Ohio has not had an impact on this administrations motivation to play fair. There has to be a way to change how Lakewood, Ohio is governed and to instill a system of integrity and fair play. I know that voting for different people will help. Our last election resulting in a turnover of 2 out of 3 Council at Large is a beginning but it is not enough. We must keep the momentum going.

Thank you Matt for the update and to all the Deck writers who keep us informed of the FACTS.

We will also have the opportunity to see if the Third Amended Charter has any meaning.

As I read the Charter, the Master Agreement, and the proposed resolution to enter into the term sheet, it seems to me that each of the former LHA Trustees serving on council (Bullock, Litten) has to evaluate whether or not they have a conflict-of-interest related to one of the parties (LHA) to the Master Agreement under the Third Amended Charter.

It is simply not clear to me on what basis they would be permitted to vote on a matter relating to the implementation of the Master Agreement given their prior relationship as Trustees to a party to that agreement.

We will see whether they recuse themselves from voting, abstain, or provide a legal rationale for why they can vote.

Do the ethics provisions of the new Charter apply or not? We'll see. More on this later.

You know, it would be nice if the powers that be actually knew what they were talking about...!

Sam O'Leary wrote in the "Notice: Special Meeting of Council":

"...development of City-owned property at the southwest corner of Detroit Avenue and Belle Avenue,..."

I'm sorry but isn't the property in question on the SOUTHEAST corner of Detroit Avenue and Belle Avenue???

Good grief Sam, learn your city for crying out loud!

Unless, of course, you are planning on doing something to the Clinic's FHC that's being built. Is that it Sam?

Clueless.
Careless.
Rudderless.