From Essi Doc Dump: Summers Requesting Change to Master Agreement

[Jared Denman]

Apologies if someone has already posted this little nugget but I found it interesting- certainly not a groundbreaking revelation. This is an email between Summers and Mike Meehan who is a lawyer for the Clinic and at the time of this email was LHA's counsel. Summers is requesting a revision to the Master Agreement to ensure that the Hospital Foundation was kept separate from the newly christened Healthy Lakewood non-profit. Interested to see what other's take on this is...

LHA New Foundation.jpg (152.64 KiB) Viewed 5691 times

[Mark Kindt]

Mr. Denman, this is fascinating. Please continue your thoughtful search of these documents. I have a couple of initial comments.

This email establishes the fact that a full-form detailed draft of the Master Agreement existed as early as March 15, 2015 (!)

Therefore, when the city council president testified in December 2015 that no Master Agreement existed, his testimony to the court was disingenuous at best. As an attorney, he had an ethical duty of candor to the court and, as an elected official, he had a fundamental ethical duty of honesty under his oath of office.

This email and others establish that had the City of Lakewood complied with Ohio law on public records requests, documents would have been available to those litigating to save the hospital that would have changed the outcome of those cases. The City of Lakewood had a fundamental duty to comply with Ohio law on open records and made an intentional decision to violate those laws.

This is consistent with my previous analysis that the City of Lakewood intentionally misled both the trial court and the appellate court in Skindell v. Madigan with questionable testimony, a materially false affidavit, and a motion to dismiss that relied upon the false affidavit.

I will have additional comments on this document.

[Jared Denman]

Mr. Kindt...
Your tenacious persistence in doggedly ferreting out the objective facts in this debacle and your words of encouragment to keep slogging away have been a keystone for me.

This email also broaches the question as to why the Mayor is suggesting changes to a document regarding where public money is going. We now know that the LHF money is at Three Arches and the bulk of the sale of the Hospital will end up at "Healthy Lakewood." It sounds like the Mayor was following a course of action already formulated by March that was separate from the Clinic's plan.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Mr. Kindt...
Your tenacious persistence in doggedly ferreting out the objective facts in this debacle and your words of encouragment to keep slogging away have been a keystone for me.

This email also broaches the question as to why the Mayor is suggesting changes to a document regarding where public money is going. We now know that the LHF money is at Three Arches and the bulk of the sale of the Hospital will end up at "Healthy Lakewood." It sounds like the Mayor was following a course of action already formulated by March that was separate from the Clinic's plan.

Jared

The Mayor was following a course of action set forth in 2010, when he was put on the LHA Board by his mentor Ed FitzGerald, and the process began.

We should also never forget that the bulk of the assets disappeared into thin air. The next largest group of money went to buy Lakewood Hospital out of a contract bringing in millions of dollars a year and thousands of customers into Lakewood. The next largest pile of money was kept by LHF/Three Arches compiled of a group of Lakewoodites DESPERATE to develop something anything in Lakewood especially DowntowN and had failed for over a decade. Then the next largest, hardly "large" pile of money was fed out over a decade to Healthy Lakewood. While some belive this was done to benefit the Clinic, I personally think it might have been the Clinic saving us from the druken saliors at City Hall and LHF spending every penny they could find on shiny objects and new offices for themselves.

But what do I know, I have only been right about every aspect of this scam from day one.

We got played by some underwhelming thinkers that love to plan in secret because their plans are so underwhelming most people laugh.

.

[Bill Call]

Nice catcher Jared.

One reason the Mayor was so keen to sabotage the Hospital was to enable the transfer of the $36 million in the Lakewood Hospital Foundation to the Three Arches Foundation. That sleight of hand allowed he and his accomplices to convert public dollars into a private slush fund.

The panicked email you discovered hints that it was always possible to save the LHF and salvage something for the people of Lakewood. That's not what the Mayor had in mind.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Nice catcher Jared.

One reason the Mayor was so keen to sabotage the Hospital was to enable the transfer of the $36 million in the Lakewood Hospital Foundation to the Three Arches Foundation. That sleight of hand allowed he and his accomplices to convert public dollars into a private slush fund.

The panicked email you discovered hints that it was always possible to save the LHF and salvage something for the people of Lakewood. That's not what the Mayor had in mind.

Bill, Jared, Others

This fact should never be forgotten. In 2010 Cleveland Clinic was basically given a green light, and promises of riches and exclusivity to shut down Lakewood Hospital by City Hall and those on Council at the time. The Cleveland Clinic did not instigate this fire sale and looting of Lakewood's largest asset. Those that did start this had failed repeatedly to develop something anything, were the driving force in us getting screwed royally. By the very people we elected to protect us and this once great city.

A small handful of people desperate to make their repeated failures seem slightly more than the massive failures they were had one vision, loot the hospital and develop something spectacular? No, yet another underwhelming multi-use strip mall where they could have offices to spend our assets as they seemed fit.

The Mayor, Council and others helped them at every turn. Every time something sprung up to save the hospital, the jobs, the tax base it was the Mayor, City Council and their gang they went into overdrive to shut it down, and any intelligent discussion of those options including lies, SLAPP lawsuits, false police reports, intimidation, stalking and cover-ups and destruction of public records and assets.

As I said in 2014, we are about to be played, and we were.

.

[Jared Denman]

Jim,

I think the email supports the hypothesis that the Clinic was not the driving force behind this mess. Summers is emailing Meehan with this concern- not the other way round- and the tone of Meehan's reply seems to convey that he is confirming an unimportant detail.

Regarding the overall narrative, in any ongoing investigation there is often gaps or contradictions between what is gathered via human intel and what is confirmed by primary documents (government documents, emails, video/photographic evidence). Corroboration of the human intel and rigorous yet charitable interpretation of intel are the bedrock of serious journalism which has been laid at the feet of citizens by mainstream journalism.

With that said, nothing can be ruled out regarding the primary objective of the hospital sale. A cursory search of the interwebs with give you story after story of economic development corporations that were found to be slush funds (as Mr. Call has pointed out) for a self-appointed elite in county after county or city after city. I would not be surprised if the 'Wood Fat Cats aren't squeezing the taxpayer teat to pad their retirement funds with federal and state dollars. But that is just a gut feeling...

[Jared Denman]

Here's another interesting email. Isn't Clinic employees and lawyers discussing the merits of the Surgical Partners proposal a huge violation of conflict of interest? Especially when the Clinic had a LOI already being considered? Again, not like this is a groundbreaking revelation...

LHA Rules on Surgical Partners.jpg (196.06 KiB) Viewed 4964 times

[Jared Denman]

May work your gag reflex...

Summers Celebratory.jpg (201.73 KiB) Viewed 4956 times

[Stan Austin]

That has got to be the most sickeningly condescending statement I have ever seen from a public official.

[Mark Kindt]

Today, we can see that they succeeded beyond their wildest expectations.

An invaluable public and community asset was liquidated to the financial and economic benefit of private non-profit foundations.

The empty hospital building was tainted with a non-compete covenant and has been appraised at $0.00.

The former hospital property worth at least $5.2 million will be donated to another private party as an "investment".

Demolition of the hospital building is next.

Mayor Summers and the City Council make a tremendously strong argument in favor of citizens "voting" with their feet.

Especially, when we all have read the written proposals from Metro Health System to re-position and operate Lakewood Hospital as a going-concern and invest $100 million over ten years.

Most excellent job, Mayor, Council and LHA trustees !!!