The Observation Deck

Congratulations to Lakewood's newest appointed council members

Ryan Nowlin- At Large

Shawn Juris- Ward 3

And many thanks to all of those dedicated citizens who put their names in to represent their City. The pool council had to choose from had an astounding amount of talent and I was told by multiple current council members how difficult this made their final decision. I look forward to seeing great things from both Ryan and Shawn, but also have high hopes for those who were not selected. You all have so much to give this City and in the end, I hope seeing the descriptions of all of these extraordinary individuals will motivate all of us to give of ourselves for the city we all know and love- Lakewood!

Congrats to Shawn & Ryan. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Ryan before but I'm sure Shawn will do a great job on council.

Good luck to both of you!

Ryan Salo wrote:Congrats to Shawn & Ryan. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Ryan before but I'm sure Shawn will do a great job on council.

Good luck to both of you!

Ryan

Absolutely right. We want all of them to be successful.

I would also like to thank Council for the way they handled this. While some may have
some gripes. The mayor's selection was fair, as were the council selections. Not an easy
task why figuring out budgets and other issues.

What I appreciated was the depth of quality that finally stepped forward. It was also nice
to hear that Mike Summers sat through the process, looking for good people to join on
committees or in study groups. This sounds like an administrator that is ready to get up
and going from day one.

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Should we be shocked? I would have loved to have seen Bill Call and Stephen Davis sitting there for Lakewood.

I would also like to thank Council for the way they handled this

I am glad to hear you say that, but I am wondering if the verdict is still out on this. I will just say that I wish they would have contacted the people who interviewed first to let them know their decision before the word got out. Someone I know who interviewed called me tonight to tell me they were still waiting to hear--I let this person know the decision came out this afternoon on The Deck. As someone who advocates for job seekers I would liked to see this part of the process handled better.

Justine Cooper wrote:Should we be shocked? I would have loved to have seen Bill Call and Stephen Davis sitting there for Lakewood.

Are you kidding? We are all shocked. Never before have Bill Call's and my name even appeared in the same sentence.

Just crazy!


Steve

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Congratulations to Shawn and Ryan. You have your work cut out for you.

Justine Cooper wrote:Should we be shocked? I would have loved to have seen Bill Call and Stephen Davis sitting there for Lakewood.

That would have been a wonderful choice! City council meetings would certainly have been more exciting.

I too, extend my congratulations to Shawn, Ryan, and Mike as well!

You know, gee, I COULD have decided to put my name into the hat.

Wow...council meetings might have become virtual campfire sing-a-longs; with those cool marshmallow and chocolate sandwiches...

Well, perhaps everyone COULD meet ANYWAY in the parking lot before every council meeting, for a sing-a-long....

'Course, as we can't have REAL campfires around here, those "cool" sandwiches might have to be eaten real COLD, once in awhile, but I digress...

Hope springs, well, you know...

Ah, the bliss....

Back to the banjo before I get in trouble here...

It looks as if we have a good team for our city for the new year.

Now, where were those marshmallows?

Bill Call wrote:Congratulations to Shawn and Ryan. You have your work cut out for you.

Justine Cooper wrote:Should we be shocked? I would have loved to have seen Bill Call and Stephen Davis sitting there for Lakewood.

That would have been a wonderful choice! City council meetings would certainly have been more exciting.

Congrats to the two selected appointees - but I do agree that Bill and Stephen would have provided the ability for strong and vigorous debate and, more importantly, viable final decisions.

Maybe now Shawn can figure out how to buy pants in Lakewood.

Bill Call wrote:Congratulations to Shawn and Ryan. You have your work cut out for you.

Justine Cooper wrote:Should we be shocked? I would have loved to have seen Bill Call and Stephen Davis sitting there for Lakewood.

That would have been a wonderful choice! City council meetings would certainly have been more exciting.

I think the diversity but dedication to the best for all of Lakewood would have been a true blessing to the city. Maybe during elections?

As long as Lakewood Alive people keep rubbing each others' backs and "voting for" each other in this town, it will no different than the nightmare that spiraled out of control in Cleveland with Russo and Dimora, just a smaller scale. There won't be people who oppose thier vision, a single vision for this city and many tax dollars that go into projects here. I read the resumes posted and wonder what stood out on certain resumes that didn't seem as qualified as others. I don't expect answers. Snide arrogant comments for me actually posting an opinion, yes, but no real answers.

I hope when election time comes there will be as many viable candidates that threw their hat in this time, people with visions the reflect the majority of the people living here, volunteering here, paying taxes here, and raising children here. The voice that should matter over a small group.

Justine Cooper wrote:I hope when election time comes there will be as many viable candidates that threw their hat in this time, people with visions the reflect the majority of the people living here, volunteering here, paying taxes here, and raising children here. The voice that should matter over a small group.

Differing opinions , points of view and visions and questions are as unwanted on council as they are on the Lakewood School Board. A guy like Matt Markling is going to pay a heavy price for supporting Grant and supporting an open process and questioning the vision of other school board members.

The council wants to speak with one voice and to think with one mind. I think the council needs to hear what it doesn't want to hear. I think there should be at least on person on council who will say, "What a minute, is that a good use of development dollars?" or "Can we do better?"

I'm actaully impressed with much of the work done by this council to date but those steps are just baby steps. The hard part is yet to come.

There won't be 30 people running for council because it costs a lot of money and because the history of these council races is that the appointee always wins the next election.

Of course there might be some damm fool out there who plunges stark naked into cold, icy water with the firm belief that it must be warmer than it looks.

History can change. We do have a black president you know.

There are a LOT of people talking about this Bill, who won't post here, but who care about the whole of the city and do not want one group's agenda pushed onto the whole city.

Some may think these people don't matter, but when it comes time to buy insurance or sell a house, these people will definitely take into account who to give their business/money to as the one with transparency, honesty and integrity.

Matt Markling is the best thing to happen to Lakewood schools. We are fortunate to have him for many reasons, but the fact that he is willing to go against the grain and not be a sell out speaks volumes. It is easy and mindless to follow a crowd, but Matt is a leader and has the best of all of Lakewood in his vision.

I can't believe I am agreeing with you more and more Bill!