Union Wants Councilman Bullock's Over The Top Behavior Addressed

[Jim O'Bryan]

October 19th, 2020

Dear Honorable Council President O'Malley:

I am reaching out to you to bring to your attention to the unwarranted and unacceptable behavior of Councilman Tom Bullock. I have copied this letter to Lakewood Mayor Meghan George as well as all members of Council.

On the afternoon of October 15th, Mr. Bullock approached and confronted a City of Lakewood Public Works crew and demanded that they cease the work they were performing on behalf of the City of Lakewood and its residents. The Crew, members of AFSCME Local 1043, were performing their duties at the direction of the City of Lakewood Department of Public Works. As the Staff Representative from AFSCME Ohio Council 8 responsible for representing approximately one-hundred and fifty members of AFSCME Local 1043, I am appalled with this behavior and am writing to ask you and your fellow council members to hold Mr. Bullock accountable. My President of Local 1043, Michael Satink, joins me in asking for your assistance to assure that actions such as these are not tolerated.

Mr. Bullock, upon approaching the crew, immediately began to confront them over what he felt was work being completed in violation of a City of Lakewood agreement. He (Bullock) took it upon himself to lambaste the workforce, using profanity while ignoring all social distancing and mask requirements. I am both disappointed and horrified that a sitting Council member would take unilateral and unprofessional action against a City Service crew performing their jobs. Ignoring safety protocols related to Covid-19 further exacerbates the unfortunate action.

My Local President has met with and taken statements from the members of the Public Works crew who were present during the incident. We are willing to share them should Council wish to investigate further. Actions such as these cannot be tolerated, and should face consequences.

On behalf of the men and women that I am proud to represent, I respectfully request that you look into this incident and take any action that you feel is appropriate and necessary.

Sincerely,

Mike Piepsny
Staff Representative
AFSCME, Ohio Council 8
1603 East 27th Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
(216)241-4554 x17


CC: Mayor Meghan George
Council President O'Malley
Council member Tess Neff, Ward 1
Council member Jason Shachner, Ward 2
Council member John Litten, Ward 3
Council member Tom Bullock, At-Large
Council member Sarah Kepple, At-Large
Council member Tristan Rader, At-Large


Photos from our files...


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[Amy Martin]

I have absolutely no faith that anything will be done by either the Mayor or Council.

[Dan Alaimo]

I have absolutely no faith that anything will be done by either the Mayor or Council.

Okay, Mayor and Council. Prove Amy wrong. It's your turn to show that times have changed in Lakewood.

To be a progessive, you must make progress.

[Stan Austin]

Mayor and Council members-- step up to the plate

[Bridget Conant]

Is Tom Bullock ANTI-UNION?

[Dan Alaimo]

Is Tom Bullock ANTI-UNION?

Don't be silly, he's just pro-Bullock..

[Dan Alaimo]

It looks like this is going to be the primary thread on this topic, so I'm going to bring in an idea I introduced in the other thread. Not to dismiss Tom Bullock's behavior, but City Hall's communications with various stakeholders in town is an underlying cause of the situation.
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The real ongoing problem as I see it is one of communication. It's been better under Mayor George, but still needs improvement. The mayor said a letter went out to businesses about the trees, but questioned whether it reached the right people. It's a long-standing problem with such variable city services as refuse collection and leaf collection, COVID changes, meeting topics, and other programs, like the trees.

The multiplicity of comunication media only makes this more challenging. There are some people who can be reached electronically, some by mail, some by a sign, some by a press release, and some by phone. Don't rely on the website to reach everybody. I'm pretty savvy about this stuff but I only check the City website a couple of times a year. A committee isn't needed, but somebody at City Hall needs to focus on this.

[Jim O'Bryan]

It looks like this is going to be the primary thread on this topic, so I'm going to bring in an idea I introduced in the other thread. Not to dismiss Tom Bullock's behavior, but City Hall's communications with various stakeholders in town is an underlying cause of the situation.
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The real ongoing problem as I see it is one of communication. It's been better under Mayor George, but still needs improvement. The mayor said a letter went out to businesses about the trees, but questioned whether it reached the right people. It's a long-standing problem with such variable city services as refuse collection and leaf collection, COVID changes, meeting topics, and other programs, like the trees.

The multiplicity of comunication media only makes this more challenging. There are some people who can be reached electronically, some by mail, some by a sign, some by a press release, and some by phone. Don't rely on the website to reach everybody. I'm pretty savvy about this stuff but I only check the City website a couple of times a year. A committee isn't needed, but somebody at City Hall needs to focus on this.

Dan

I would say another part of this thread and answers are expectations, promises, and that nasty old SID (Special Interest District)

As a resident of this city I normally and expect notifications, when it costs me money, is outside of the norm, and causes hardship like street closed. Outside of that the city rarely notifies. Look no farther than the Solstice Steps, $2 million in expenditures for political capital. No public discussion.

While this seems like normal maintenance to me, perhaps some see this as the essence of Detroit Avenue. Let's be honest it is not, and was not. All big trees and cover on Lakewood came from private property that has slowly been thinned out. So what we have is the city of Lakewood, maintaining and fixing a public hazard. There is no way anyone could look at those trees and say, it had gotten out of control, and between the sidewalks and the bricks, was long overdue for a change.

So with your questions leading into the SID part. How much did these businesses pay for these trees? Did they maintain them? No every business owner I have ever spoken to about it have said the same thing, "They are the city's trees." "They are the city's sidewalks..." So during an era of every day being a different issue, the city took matters into their own hands, announced thought the past couple years. The cutting of the trees, and the interaction with business, was not this thread. This story has always been about Tom "Don't you know who I am! Bullock," grandstanding by abusing more people. This time not over 70-year-olds which did seem odd. But people that worked for the city, you and I and yes "Don't you know who I Am Bullock." Which takes it to abusing employees which is never right. This time "Don't you know who I am! Bullock," picked on union workers. Hard working Union Workers that have done more with less than Council has done.

The duty of City Hall from day one has been to make the information available to residents. From there it is up to the 50 or social Lakewood Social Groups to spread it or not. You cannot expect any entity to contact all the groups that come and go. That is absurd. I get how 3% of Lakewood posts everywhere and are very important in their own minds, but that does not mean City Hall owes that. To be honest, I would advise the opposite, post once on City Hall site and let it filter out. Diffusion is the enemy of a community. It always has been, always will be. Just read the story on Bullying Parents the LO just received. People getting bullied in this town and kangaroo courted out of their jobs, lives, neighborhoods and homes. This was not the Lakewood I loved, the Lakewood I loved had compassion for friends and neighbors.

Could Meghan have done a better job? Not even a question, everyone can do better. Could "Don't you know who I am! Bullock," bothered to call the service department? Could he have called the Mayor? Could he have called Councilman Shachner who is Ward 2 Councilman? "Don't you know who I am! Bullock," had a ton of options, but instead he chose to grandstand, shout and spit on people that deserved so much more.

Communication issue, no, Council issue, we have a lot of work to do in the next couple elections.

PS - Just drove by the block in question. Looks better than it has in decades.

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