Council President Brian Powers called the January 17, 2012 Council meeting to order at 7:33 P.M. To start the meeting off, Council invited Lakewood’s reappointed Poet Laureate, Bill Knittle, to read a poem. Mr. Knittle read his poem to Council thanking them again for his title.
Bob Seelie reportedly served longer as Lakewood City Council President than anyone in the City’s history. Sadly, Bob passed away on January 7, 2012. He was 55.
The Lakewood Bock Club Program is alive and well thanks to Mayor Michael Summers, City council and the fifty-nine hard working Block Captains through out the city. Block Captains work hand in hand with Ward Police Officers, City Departments and the members of their clubs. We can thank these dedicated volunteers for helping keep their streets safer, cleaner and a friendlier place to live. They do their best to make the street they live on a "neighborhood" in the truest sense of the word. Criminal activity and nuisance issues can happen on any street. Block Captains keep problems to a minimum by informing all resident when suspicious behavior or nuisance activity is noticed by Club members. The more alert eyes on the block the safer that block will be. Ward Police Officers also help to educate residents about easy ways to prevent you from becoming a victim. Simple actions like: locking your doors, locking cars, keeping valuables out of cars when parked and keeping porch lights on at night will discourage the average criminal from making you his next target.
Council President Mary Louise Madigan called the December 19, 2011 meeting of Council to order at 7:30 P.M. Her first order of business was to recognize Carol Rothgery, the Division Manager for the Division of Refuse and Recycling, on the accomplishments of her career upon her retirement.
Mrs. Rothgary began working for the City in 1981 as a clerk typist. In 1992 she was promoted to Unit Manager in the Division of Refuse and became Division Manager in 2009. Some of her accomplishments include mastering the complexities of automated refuse pick up, mandatory recycling, navigating the everchanging efficiencies in waste management while at the same time working through extensive workforce reduction.
The Lakewood Community Relations Advisory Commission and Lakewood High School’s Race and Diversity (RAD) Club will hold a Community Diversity Potluck on Thursday, January 19, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the Woman's Club Pavilion at Lakewood Park, 14532 Lake Avenue. The theme for the potluck is "The World Lives in Lakewood." Come join your neighbors, young and old, to celebrate living in Lakewood.
Attendees are asked to bring a dish (vegetarian or meat) to serve six that represents your family or cultural tradition(s). Beverages and tableware will be provided. This is a great opportunity to greet neighbors and make new friends. There will be fun activities for all ages.
Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, there will be no refuse or recycling collected on Monday, January 16, 2012. Residents whose refuse is normally collected on Monday will have collection on Tuesday. Residents whose refuse is normally collected on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday should have their refuse and recyclables available for collection on their regular day, and it will be collected either on that day or the day after. Residents whose refuse is normally collected on Friday will have collection on Friday.
The Lakewood Division of Police is offering Lakewood residents a unique opportunity to gain some first-hand information about the role of Lakewood’s safety and law enforcement department. The Lakewood Police Citizens’ Academy is a twelve-week program starting Wednesday, February 1, 2012 and continuing through April 18. The Academy will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Lakewood Police Department on each Wednesday.
Like almost all other cities, Lakewood is chasing dreams. That is not a negative; I’ll take a chance on the pursuit of the extraordinary over the ordinary any day. There are innumerable “best of” lists for cities, and Lakewood has been glowingly recognized in several recently--but if you drill down to what distinguishes the highest-ranked cities, it’s always related to livability and sustainability. Our dreams need to encompass a wide-angle-lens view of sustainability as it applies to community-building. If we desire our dreams to be everlasting and our efforts fruitful, true sustainability can only be achieved if it takes into account economic, social, and environmental aspects. It’s becoming very clear that how our cities are planned, developed and re-developed, how they welcome new residents, how they accommodate all income groups, and how they prioritize human capital and natural resources are becoming more and more crucial to urban sustainability.
We need to look at Lakewood and beyond through the general recognition that we have not always been open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the impossible. This not only applies to Lakewood, but also to the big city next door-- Cleveland. We may at times dream big, but act timidly--when these times demand bold and decisive actions. As Lakewood teeters on the edge of exceptional, we must acknowledge that the world is governed not by the predictable and the average, but by the random, the unknown, the unpredictable--big events or discoveries, or unusual people--that have big consequences. Change, more often than not, comes not uniformly but in unpredictable spurts.
Change is coming to Lakewood, but how much and in what form will often come from outside forces. We need to balance our habit of making predictions in a largely unpredictable world with our perpetual surprise when events not predicted happen. I argue that we can do more to not be caught by surprise, but rather be pleasantly surprised. There is no place else I would rather live in Ohio than Lakewood. As another year draws to a close and a new year beckons, we have much to be grateful for here in the “city of homes”. Scattered here and there, in our fine city, the seeds of a new, more local and durable economy are taking root. But sowing the seeds of change is always a delicate process and the proverbial economic storm clouds are an ever-present menace looming on the near horizon. We need to take stronger measures to buttress ourselves from the worst elements of development and re-development. It will be the fierce preservation of what we already have that will best position our city to capture the growing thirst for Lakewood-model livability sweeping the nation--in particular the younger generations.
Simply put, there has been a profound structural shift--a reversal of what took place when the majority of the baby boomer generation chose to drive more and be at home less, when far-flung and isolated suburbs boomed and flourished as center cities emptied and many inner-ring suburbs withered. Lakewood never withered, in spite of national and state land use policies stacked against us; we have stood the test of time. There is now an ever-growing understanding that for too long, we over-invested in the wrong places. It is time to instead preserve what the market increasingly wants: mixed-income, mixed-use walkable cities and inner-ring suburbs. Yet another survey shows that baby boomers want yet another re-do of their economic misadventures and seek to join with the Gen X and Gen Y generations in a desire by many to live in more pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented, mixed-use environments that de-emphasize auto dependency. Recent surveys show that majority of all age groups are likely to prefer historic inner-ring suburbs as their high-density destination--but not the isolated subdivisions of the 20th century.
I relocated to Lakewood from Oregon in 2008, and I spent ten years in Portland, Oregon from 1992-2002; during the height of its renaissance in which I witnessed many of the intrepid urban planning decisions take shape. People often look to Portland as the “Holy Grail” of high-density urban planning and design. Portland is one of the most-praised cities in contemporary America. Many people ask me--Is the hype real? To some extent, yes it is. The second question I’m always asked is--Why did you leave? At the time, I chose to pursue this life-long romantic notion I had to live in a small-town rural setting--which was both an educational experience and a cultural abyss, but that is a story for another day. But the important point I always make is this: Portland didn't invent bicycles, warehouse districts, fine coffee, good beer, organic and local food, high-density or light rail, but it understood the future implications of them for America's smaller cities first, and put that knowledge to use before anyone else.
The longest journey begins with a step, but you have to take it. Portland did it at a time when nobody else did. In an era when most American cities went one direction--malls and sprawl--Portland went another, either capturing or even creating the energy of a new age. Portland’s old neighborhoods and city center once teetered on the edge of ruin. The inner-city home and neighborhood where I once lived was considered a slum just thirty years ago. Lakewood compares very favorably to Portland. Having a much smaller population (52,131 versus over 500,000 people), it is like a smaller, more condensed version of Portland’s many older neighborhoods. My wife and I often comment on the parallel universe of our Portland/Lakewood experiences--we often refer to Lakewood as being Portland without the annoying ego.
Just like Lakewood, Portland is real. It's not about marketing gimmicks pushing false benefits, rather it's about addressing very real issues regarding how cities change and sustain themselves. Portland's legacy is largely a positive one. It is undeniable that Portland played a major role in making the nation respect cities again, seeing their potential with fresh eyes. Portland was the right city, in the right place, at the right time. Here in Northeast Ohio, I feel that Lakewood teeters on the edge of being the same if we position ourselves accordingly--the right city, in the right place, at the right time. I have that feeling living here--I have felt it before.
But though Portland can't be copied, it can be an inspiration. Many of its ideas can and have been adopted elsewhere. Whether most cities will succeed in reclaiming their urban cores is not yet known, but it's a fight worth fighting. Without Portland, we might not even be trying. Cleveland is trying and may finally be getting it right, as well over 10,000 people now call downtown Cleveland home--that can only benefit Lakewood more and more as those numbers continue to increase. However, there is one way Portland today is very unlike Lakewood. Portland now routinely tops “worst of” lists for being one of the most expensive places to live in America; in particular when you compare wages and home prices. Even though real estate values have plunged by over 20% in Portland, housing still remains prohibitively expensive for too many residents as unemployment there has exceeded 11% for nearly four years and underemployment remains a chronic two-decade-long problem. Today, Portland's performance isn't bad, but given all of its advantages and low degree of difficulty, it should be a lot better. Why is this? I have been thinking that perhaps Portland was a bit too livable. Portland was in the 1990s what San Francisco was in the 1960s: a hip, not-too-expensive place for young slackers to go. Ohio will never be as hip as Oregon--but Northeast Ohio is hip in a more subtle way--we just don’t go around beating our chests about it. Excessive chest-beating can have its disadvantages. When the promo for the cable television series “Portlandia” makes the claim that, “Portland is where the young go to retire,” it is an attempt at humor but also is an absolutely true statement. People, myself included at the time, move to Portland for values and lifestyle; more for personal than professional reasons--just like so many of us here in Lakewood. However, over the course of the past twenty years, Portland has become the “Mecca” for American trust fund youth. In fact, the term “trustafarian” was coined during my time in Portland to describe the preponderance of non-working, free-spending, ultra-wealthy under-forty populations. I don’t foresee that dynamic overtaking Lakewood anytime soon, but I’m sure we all wouldn’t mind a modest level of home value appreciation. It will be forthcoming in random fits and spurts with the cultural shift taking place.
Lakewood, our “city of homes,” remains affordable to diverse income groups. That, in my opinion, makes us stronger than Portland--more real, more grounded and more welcoming. The working class can actually afford to live and enjoy the Lakewood lifestyle. That is something that we must preserve for our long-term sustainability. Lakewood counters the dirty little secret that Portland tries to suppress--the fact that it has become a revolving door of short-term residents, as nearly one-half of the people who have moved to Portland in the past two decades have been recycled every five years. As the people who've had to leave Portland because they couldn't find affordable housing or real employment there can attest, in order to take advantage of its justly famous high quality, sustainable lifestyle, you first need a roof over your head, a mortgage you can afford and a decent job. It's not livable if you can't live there. Thankfully for many of us, Lakewood is and remains livable--like Portland once was when I first moved there nearly twenty years ago.
When I am asked to compare the states of Ohio and Oregon, I don’t think of “the lake” versus “the mountains”; “snow” versus “rain”; “Maple Trees” versus “Douglas Firs”--no, I think of the year 1979. That was the year that the Portland metro area adopted an Urban Growth Boundary (it became a statewide mandate for all cities and towns by 1990), thereby restricting development in rural and open land while targeting development, preservation and re-development in denser, urban, and older parts of the metropolitan area. This, in effect, was the birth of the Portland story--proof that good policy solutions offer lasting benefits, in particular the prevention of sprawl. If there were to be a policy solution to the Ohio sprawl problem, this would be a great place to start. Sprawl, in my opinion, is the biggest environmental problem for the Northeastern Ohio region. The fact that we have basically flat-lined as a regional population-base the past two decades while at the same time paved over 25% more land is both a tragedy and a blow to our regional sustainability. This dynamic greatly impacts Lakewood and hinders our efforts to enhance, preserve and build upon our cities assets. Sprawl is one thing when the regional population is growing. When population is stagnant, as it is in our region, sprawl simply means more miles of roads to maintain for the same number of commuters, more schools for the same number of students, and more sewer lines for the same amount of…well, you know what I mean.
So where do we go from here? We are already there. People are looking at us and looking for us. We teeter on the edge of everything people desire in a more livable and sustainable future. We also teeter on the edge of economic challenges as the rest of society catches up to places like Lakewood. Public attitudes and desires are dramatically shifting and we need to capture the energy of a new age. Lakewood is the right city, in the right place, at the right time.
The December 5, 2011 Council meeting was called to order at 7:30 P.M. by Council President Mary Louise Madigan. She then gave the floor to Councilman Tom Bullock (Ward II) to discuss the first item on the agenda.
The holiday shopping season is upon us! To make it easier for people to buy local and support area businesses, many of the shops along Madison Avenue will be extending their hours until at least 7 p.m. on Thursdays. From restaurants to unique shops, Madison Avenue has something for everyone on your list! More information can be found on the Madison Avenue Merchant's Association Facebook page.
Specials include:
Acenda Yoga
17305 Madison
8:15 p.m. relaxation class, $5 off!
Carabel Salon
15309 Madison
Open until 9 p.m.
Enter to win a mani/pedi party for 4!
Carol Lynn's Salon
15410 Madison
Open until 8 p.m.
Stocking stuffers & more!
Two issues ago I took a look at LakewoodAlive’s Housing Program in order to update LO readers about all of the hard work done by LA throughout the summer. While the Housing Program is an impressive list of options offered by Hilary J. Schickler, Housing Outreach Director, from a group known more for parades, I wanted to see if LA was making a difference. I asked for, and was given, a list of names of people that have gone through the program, as well as a few names of those that ultimately did not get any help. I called them to see for myself if these programs are really working on the ground.
Council President, Mary Louise Madigan, called the November 21, 2011 Council meeting to order at 7:35 P.M. to a fairly full audience. She then gave the floor to Police Chief Malley to discuss the first order of business. The Chief announced that the Lakewood City Schools were awarded a grant of $511,832 from the U.S Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, Supporting Teens Through Education and Protection Program. The grant was applied for in conjunction with the City of Lakewood, Lakewood Police Department, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center and the Domestic Violence and Child Advocacy Center. The funding is to help create a response task force that will address sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking, by developing a comprehensive prevention and education program for the community, parents, students and staff. He continued saying that under-reported sexual assaults by teens is a nationally-recognized problem and prevention and education are keys to fighting it.
Council President, Mary Louise Madigan called the November 7, 2011 Council meeting to order. She then turned the floor over to Councilwoman Monique Smith (At-Large) who asked Council to pass a resolution commending the Lakewood City Schools for achieving an “Excellent” rating from the Ohio Department of Education. She said the rating is a testament of the hard work and dedication of the students, teachers and administrators in Lakewood. She also recognized the extra financial support the schools receive for attaining such a rating and the impact this would have on making Lakewood a great place to raise a family and property values.
I recently went to hear what ‘the smartest guys in the room’ had to say about the future prospects of Lakewood. No, I did not go to a screening of "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," the documentary about the collapse of a mammoth corporation in which the top executives of America’s seventh largest company walked away with over one billion dollars while investors and employees lost everything – a chronicle that plays out like a drama with the emotional power of Greek tragedy. On November 16, I attended the LakewoodAlive forum, “Ensuring a Vibrant Future: A Community Conversation,” in which a panel of some very smart individuals assembled for a conversation on what is impacting Lakewood in the present and what measures Lakewood should take to prevent our future from unfolding like a Greek tragedy.
The holiday shopping season is upon us! To make it easier for people to buy local and support area businesses, many of the shops along Madison Avenue will be extending their hours until at least 8 p.m. on Thursdays. From restauraunts to unique shops, Madison Avenue has something for everyone on your list! More information can be found on the Madison Avenue Merchant's Association Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MAMALakewood.
Join Lakewood High’s Race & Diversity Club and the organization, "Facing History & Ourselves," on Wednesday, December 6, for a Community Conversation featuring Luma Mufleh, the inspirational coach of a soccer team called the Fugees—short for refugees.
Players on the team come from Congo, Burundi, Sudan, Liberia, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, among other countries. They are boys whose families were selected for resettlement in a small town outside Atlanta called Clarkston. The boys on the Fugees, while from many different countries and cultures, share the experience of being caught between worlds, and something else—a love of soccer, a game many of the boys learned to play in refugee camps, using a bundle of plastic bags and twine for a ball. Their passion for the game and the bonds they form across cultural barriers help them compete against some of the league’s best teams, even as they struggle off the field to find a sense of security and belonging in their new home.
Yes, it is true that the McDonald’s proposal to demolish the Detroit Theater has been hyper-focused upon the intersection of Woodward and Detroit Avenues. But what this saga really boils down to is a struggle for our commons. Our commercial corridors are our commons--an asset that belongs to all of us. Its function links us together. As our many residential streets intersect with our commercial corridors, they are much more than intersections of asphalt and curbs, they are intersections that bring us together as a community and work to solidify many of the reasons we call Lakewood our home. For many of us, our common bond is formed by what is not here.
Saint John said, Jesus “pitched his tent among us” (John 1:14).
While the eyes of the nation were attempting to fathom the civic mysteries beneath the caring and rebellious demos camped in tents at Zuccotti Park— a 33,000 square foot hybrid space spawned originally from a public/private partnership between New York City government and United States Steel—a micro posse of Lakewood homies and out of town day-trippers assembled at Post-Sinagra Park on October 29th to protest the corporate takeover of living things and to express support for the humane harmonic of the Occupation Movement.
In the most densely populated city between New York and Chicago, the only tent on site was one made from ether and conversations about cheerful giving that honored Saint Paul, whose church on Detroit Avenue was recently demolished to make way for a CVS Pharmacy.
The demolition of Saint Paul Lutheran Church and the closing of Saint James Roman Catholic Church have precariously put the Bread of Angels in short supply on Lakewood’s Detroit Avenue Chow Line, where the relocation of McDonald’s from Sloane Avenue compelled a neighborhood protest on November 2. In truth, the protest against McDonald’s was far larger than the one assembled for Occupy Lakewood on October 29.
There are eight issues on this November’s ballot related to amendments to the Lakewood City Charter. A thoughtful City Council, the Law Director, resident charter expert Dr. Larry Keller, a few talented outside resources, and I, helped draft these amendments.
I have had the great pleasure and challenge of working on charter issues for twelve years. It is my goal, along with the others, to make sure that our charter serves our city now, and into the future. As the highest body of law specific to Lakewood, the charter should guarantee our home rule, define our form of government, guard the city and citizens against jeopardy, be amendable for changes in culture, law, and technology, and very clearly express the expectations and will of the voters.
From a citizen’s perspective, I endorse a yes vote on these charter amendments.
The City of Lakewood will begin collecting loose leaves on Monday, November 7, 2011 and will continue until approximately Friday, December 16, 2011, weather permitting. Prior to November 7 and after December 16, leaves will be collected only when they are placed in paper yard/leaf bags and set out along with regular refuse and recycling.
Due to the excessive amount of leaves on Clifton Boulevard and Lake Avenue, these streets will be collected separately. Collection crews will start working at the east end of Clifton Boulevard and Lake Avenue and work west until completed. Collection pick-up for these streets is scheduled to begin on November 7 with additional pick-ups beginning November 21 and December 5.
Just over seven years ago, my wife and I moved from Toledo to Lakewood. Today, I fondly tell family and friends that we stumbled on a gem. When we left Toledo for Northeast Ohio, we both thought it would be a quick interlude to an otherwise happy life in our hometown of Toledo. At that time, it is safe to say, neither one of us could imagine calling anywhere but Toledo home. Today, I could not imagine living anywhere but Lakewood.
Council President, Mary Louise Madigan called the October 17, 2011, Council meeting to order at 7:36 P.M. The first order of business was to excuses Councilman Powers (At-Large) who was absent due to “being called out of town.” Council agreed and passed the motion.
Council President, Mary Louise Madigan, called the October 3, 2011 Council Meeting to order at 7:32 P.M. She then recognized the presence of former Lakewood Councilwoman and current Sate Representative Nickie Antonio, who was in the audience.
The first agenda item discussed was a resolution presented by Mayor Mike Summers, Councilwoman Madigan (Ward IV) and Councilman Brian Powers (At-Large) opposing the State of Ohio seeking to take control of Municipal Tax Collection. Councilman Powers stated that Governor John Kasich has indicated interest in, and possible intent to centralize all municipal tax collection throughout Ohio within the State Department of Taxation. Powers, along with the Mayor and Madigan, believe that if the state were to do this it would have devastating effects on Lakewood’s ability to function financially. The resolution cites several issues and concerns with the idea of centralized tax collection. One of the main issues is how the state will effectively track down delinquent tax payers for each municipality. Lakewood has a pretty good system for doing this which is fairly successful. The City is also worried about how often the revenues would be distributed to cities and what impact that would have on their ability to function. There is also local customer service and ease of filing locally to be considered.
State Representative Nickie Antonio was recognized by Council to speak on this issue. She stated that it was important for municipalities like Lakewood to show their opposition to this move by that state and applauded the Council for taking this step. She also said she would take the resolution to Columbus and support it, and try to encourage as many of her colleagues as possible to support it as well. She continued, saying that she is very concerned with whether Lakewood’s tax dollars will stay in Lakewood.
Council passed the resolution and will be submitting a copy to the Governor's office and the State Legislature.
The next item was deferred from a previous meeting. Fire Chief Gilman asked Council to pass a resolution thanking businesses and individuals for their donations of goods, time and services towards the creation of the new Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial. He said it was a collaborative effort and could not have been done without their generosity.
The City of Lakewood Community Relations Advisory Commission serves as a general advisory liaison between residents of the city and city officials. The commission also works on projects and sponsors events that focus on community empowerment and involvement. The Commission consists of thirteen members all appointed by either the Mayor or a Member of Lakewood City Council. The Commission meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm in the Jury Room at Lakewood City Hall. We invite and encourage the public to attend!
A school board needs to possess good business sense, a vested interest in education, excellent leadership skills, and the ability to manage conflict effectively. One candidate, Tom Einhouse, has a combination of all these strengths that will make him a successful choice for the Lakewood City School Board.
As our district continues through the final phases of our long-term school design project, Tom has already demonstrated his outstanding business savvy, having served as a co-chair of the “Designing Our Next 50 Years” Committee. Tom has spent thirty years in real estate development. He has proven talent and experience with major redevelopment projects, including ideastream and the theaters at Playhouse Square. From these roles, he brings knowledge of long-term planning and experience, making tough financial decisions that will serve him, and our community, well on the school board.
An empty building on Madison Avenue in Lakewood caught the attention of Maryann Hanson, founder and president of Hanson Services Inc. The building sat empty for years, but in an instant, Maryann knew it would be the perfect home for her 16-year-old home healthcare agency.
I’m excited to be on the ballot for the November 8th election as a candidate for Lakewood City Council Ward 1! This is a great opportunity to take on a leadership role with the community at a level that - in many ways, matters more than most.
My wife, Melissa and I moved to Lakewood in 1997. At the time I’d accepted a graduate assistanceship in the CSU Center for Economic Development while I began a PhD program in public administration and Urban Studies.
Subsequently I’ve gone on to work for many agencies and cities as a community development and economic development practitioner. Some of my experience includes several years providing leadership as the executive director of a CDC focused on housing, encouraging commercial development and working to establish relationships in the neighborhoods to bring these goals to fruition. Presently I’m helping to direct economic development for a local county.
Council Vice-President Brian Powers called the September 19, 2011 Council meeting to order at 7:34 P.M. The first order of business was to excuse the absence of Council President Mary Louise Madigan, who was absent due to a prior work commitment. Council did so unanimously.
THE VOTERS’ GUIDE 2011
Ward 2 Councilman Tom Bullock said today he is running for a second term to continue his work to keep Lakewood safe, clean, and family friendly, improve housing quality, and make Lakewood the leading walking, green city in Ohio. Bullock is unopposed.
Bullock said as he approaches the end of his first term, he’s as energized as ever to work for the community.
“After four years, I still believe in Lakewood. I am still excited to work for this vibrant community,” said Bullock. “I am still energized by this job and the honor of serving residents.”
Fall is here and nothing from last fall still fits the kids. But don’t worry because fall means it’s time for the Lakewood Early Childhood PTA’s Bargain Baby Bonanza. Don’t miss this opportunity to buy gently used baby and youth clothing, accessories, toys, furniture, maternity clothes and more and save a fortune by kitting out your kids without paying store prices.
On September 6, 2011, Lakewood City Council reconvened in the City Hall Auditorium to a modest crowd of about 30, for its first meeting after the summer holiday. The meeting was called to order at 7:32 P.M. by Council President Mary Louise Madigan.
The City of Lakewood will hold its annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial Ceremony on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 9:11 AM at Fire Station #1, 14601 Madison Avenue. At this special ceremony, a new memorial created using two steel beams from the World Trade Center will be unveiled.
“We are honored to have a piece of the World Trade Center serve as the centerpiece for our new memorial,” stated Mayor Mike Summers. “As we honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, we pay tribute to the heroes who lost their lives ten years ago in the September 11 attacks. This memorial stands as a permanent remembrance of those who gave their lives for our country.”
The Lakewood Community Festival takes place on Saturday, September 10, 2011 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Madison Park, 13029 Madison Avenue. The festival celebrates community, cultural heritage and families. It is a day of fun and activities for everyone.
On Thursday, September 8 at 5:30 p.m., an Ohio Historical Marker commemorating the history of Lakewood Park will be dedicated in Lakewood Park in Lakewood, Ohio. A small reception will immediately follow the dedication. The public is invited to both events.
Any current resident of Lakewood, Ohio is familiar with the spacious park on Lake Erie which is the site of so many family and community events each year. Fewer, however, are aware of the various roles this piece of land has played in the history and development of the city. Lakewood Park has a rich history. First owned by a noteworthy early settler family, the parcel later became the home for a member of a renowned Cleveland family who hosted celebrated guests on this grand estate. Then it entered an extended period of civic use as a hospital annex, the center of Lakewood’s government, an educational asset and a public park.
Lakewood has just received another nod from the national media. The City is featured in the article How To Save The Housing Market: Destroy Homes which appears in the September 5, 2011 issue of Time. “If you close your eyes and try to imagine Middle America, you might picture Lakewood, Ohio, a working-class suburb of Cleveland whose orderly residential streets, tidy houses with postage-stamp lawns and median household income of $44,000 are the very foundation of the American Century. With good public schools, an economically diverse population, multiple parks and 33 churches, it’s been home to generations of families in the Cleveland area,” states the magazine.
The article focuses on the national housing market and uses Lakewood as an example of a community trying to improve the market by demolishing nuisance properties. The article discusses the recent demolition of 1549 Lakewood Avenue and how it had jumped from absentee landlord to absentee landlord and had become a criminal nuisance property. Lakewood has demolished 12 of these types of homes in recent years with another 11 scheduled to be taken down soon.
The article goes on to explain that the intention is not only to eliminate nuisance homes but it is hoped that the elimination of these homes will actually help the economy. “Razing houses, officials say, will increase competition for the remaining homes, driving up real estate values. That in turn, will make it easier for homeowners to refinance to cheaper loans, freeing up spending and boosting consumer confidence,” states Time.
“We are excited that Time Magazine chose to feature Lakewood and what we are doing with our Housing Initiative. We are effectively implementing a comprehensive plan for dealing with these difficult properties and it is starting to show results,” stated Mayor Mike Summers. “Our first goal is to stabilize a neighborhood by removing a nuisance. Secondly, we hope to improve the value of our housing stock.”
The City of Lakewood is proud to announce its new, discounted applicant screening service. The City has partnered with CoreLogic SafeRent to offer a full line of resident screening services utilizing SafeRent’s vast databases of landlord-tenant and criminal records.
CoreLogic SafeRent is a comprehensive suite of screening services designed especially for the smaller landlord. SafeRent DIRECT includes the same vital leasing-decision services used by the nation's largest real estate investment companies and property managers, including the only statistically validated tenant score.
The 24th annual Lakewood Community Festival is scheduled for Saturday, September 10, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Madison Park, 13029 Madison Avenue. The festival celebrates community, cultural heritage and families. It is a day of fun and activities for everyone.
There will be a Flag Raising Ceremony at 11:00 a.m. by various military organizations. Entertainment for the day will include Silhouette Dance Studio, Edelweiss 5, The Polka Pirates, The Pop Tarts, Riley Brothers Band and more.
The Lakewood Division of Refuse and Recycling will host a Composting Seminar conducted by the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. in the Woman’s Club Pavilion at Lakewood Park, 14532 Lake Avenue. Participants will learn how to compost household yard waste and food scraps. Compost bins will be available for sale after the seminar.
Composting is an inexpensive way of adding nutrients back into the soil to improve its texture, structure, aeration ability and water holding capacity and can save time and money spent on yard waste bags.
I wanted to update our residents on the recent power outage situation in Lakewood and let you know we are working with the electric company to try to resolve the issues we are having. I met with Trent Smith, President of The Illuminating Company, on July 27 to discuss the situation. The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) is a First Energy subsidiary and delivers the electical power to the entire city of Lakewood. We had a frank discussion about the condition of our power supply and the outages Lakewood experienced last week. Mr. Smith was very interested in understanding what our specific experiences were. I was able to relay this experience thanks to the many, many calls and messages received from our affected citizens. It was very helpful to know the frequency and duration of the outages which were reported in many of the messages. Mr. Smith reported that CEI used thermoscan technology to identify five critical circuits that need serious attention. An additional 18 circuits are being reviewed. Additionally, a review of the substations, including Lauderdale, is being conducted.