The Observation Deck

There was a news item this week that Methuen, Massachusetts, a city of similar size to Lakewood with a similar-sized police force is laying off half of its police officers over a budget dispute.

Mark Kindt has written that Lakewood is effectively broke because of recent machinations and malfeasance. Is this what we have to look forward to?

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/24 ... icers/amp/

Clarification

My opinions on the finances of the City of Lakewood have several prongs:

1. Formal public fund accounting is so loosely structured that a city like Lakewood can have both off-book assets (a hospital) and off-book liabilities (unfunded federal mandates) each with amounts in excess of a hundred million dollars in value;

2. Given that premise, an Ohio city, like Lakewood, could be functionally bankrupt and that condition would not be apparent on the basis of its annual public reporting;

3. We can document previous public statements intentionally made by Lakewood public officials that have misrepresented the financial benefits (or detriments) of its policies; and,

4. The City of Lakewood has simultaneously abandoned valuable revenue streams and embarked upon a major initiative to subsidize various private non-profit institutions as well as a private developer; all related to the liquidation of its off-book hospital assets and its seriously misguided economic development agenda.

In summary, if the City of Lakewood was in a dire financial condition, the public would be the last to know until the tax and/or rate increases began.

The rate increase legislation has already begun.

To underscore: it has begun.

Post thread title is definitely misleading. Yes, "a" city laid off half of police force but it wasn't Lakewood.

Matthew Lee wrote:Post thread title is definitely misleading. Yes, "a" city laid off half of police force but it wasn't Lakewood.

I agree.

How about "Similar sized city lays off half of police force?"

See the post about 6 or 7 down at this writing. People have been using this type of headline often enough that I know to read on to find out where.

Who was misled for more than a couple of seconds? Not the intention, but really.

Now about the main point of the post...? That this could, and very well might, happen here.

Dan Alaimo wrote:See the post about 6 or 7 down at this writing. People have been using this type of headline often enough that I know to read on to find out where.

Dan,

Actually, you are correct. This is definitely a frustrating aspect of the board. Why intentionally mislead with a post title? What does it gain?

I agree that others do it but it doesn't make it any more frustrating. Not everyone might click on the topic and people might walk away thinking "Lakewood is laying off half of it's police force?". And don't forget the print Observer actually shows the top 15 or so threads in the paper. So someone might read the topic thread and think that Lakewood is laying off half of it's police force because in the physical paper, you can't click on a thread to read the "gotcha" inside of it.

Anyways, just my two cents. Thanks,

Matt

There won't be any mass layoffs anytime soon....if ever.
Lakewood has passed a financial tipping point.....but the city's decline is very gradual.

It's not like when the Youngstown steel mills closed in 1979, the economic equivalent of an asteroid hitting earth.
Lakewood's decline is a long, slow bleed...more akin to cancer slowly killing a patient.

Dan Alaimo wrote:See the post about 6 or 7 down at this writing. People have been using this type of headline often enough that I know to read on to find out where.

Who was misled for more than a couple of seconds? Not the intention, but really.

Now about the main point of the post...? That this could, and very well might, happen here.

I've used the same gambit. I don't see anything wrong with it.

Some cities and school districts are using almost 50% of their revenue to fund retiree benefits. When the voters are asked for a tax increase the campaign will always contain the phrase "to maintain current services". What they really mean is to continue increasing wages and benefits. Which is more misleading?

Another Democratic run city like Detroit. Wait chase off the population and business with laws and high taxes and wonder what happened as the city employees seek positions in the home towns that is not Lakewood. Dumber than a box of rocks comes in mind with Democratic run cites that kill the golden goose call business enterprise and reasonable taxes. The worthless school district will wonder what happens when their bonds go into default. T