The Fork In The Road

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Stan Austin
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Stan Austin » Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:47 am

The purchase of Trinity Lutheran Church seems to be a smaller version of the Hospital debacle. Councilperson Meghan George cast a no vote to the proposed purchase citing a lack of information needed to make a good decision.
If only that simple standard had been applied to the dissolution and destruction of Lakewood Hospital.
Stan Austin


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:02 pm

Why has Lakewood adopted economic development policies that structurally exclude the majority of residents from new luxury housing supported with major public assets, public funds, and public land?


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:09 pm

Why has Lakewood adopted economic development policies that structurally exclude the majority of residents from the benefit of $70,000,000 in local hospital charity care?


Kate McCarthy
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Location: Lakewood

Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Kate McCarthy » Thu Aug 15, 2019 9:44 pm

Mark Kindt wrote:Why has Lakewood adopted economic development policies that structurally exclude the majority of residents from new luxury housing supported with major public assets, public funds, and public land?

Years ago I was invited to join Lakewood Alive. This was a very early incarnation. I joined. Then the person who invited me made what I thought were racists comments about how the students attending Lakewood High School were "changing". When I asked to be removed from the group, I received a call from one of the founders who assured me that it wasn't a racist organization. I stayed.

Funny how you posted this today, because I was reflecting on how people I know are being pushed out of Lakewood due to the cost of housing. The people who, in my opinion, make Lakewood a great place to live. I realized it's not racism, but antipathy toward persons of less means that may have been what that early incarnation of Lakewood Alive was about .. to make more of Lakewood like themselves.

This city is fast on a path to destroying everything that made it interesting and a great place to live by making it unaffordable to those persons who made it interesting and a great place to live.


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Fri Aug 16, 2019 8:29 am

Kate McCarthy wrote:
This city is fast on a path to destroying everything that made it interesting and a great place to live by making it unaffordable to those persons who made it interesting and a great place to live.



Ms. McCarthy has summed this up perfectly! Thank you for your thoughtful comments.


Richard Baker
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Richard Baker » Sun Aug 18, 2019 1:49 pm

Can we assume the company using the fire hoses from fire hydrants was metered and they were charged the full rate for both sewer and water?

Spraying water on construction demolition reduces the air born dust but it also has an environmental impact on the bodies of water it runs into. Can we assume the contractor/City of Lakewood filed for a impact permit to dump polluted water in the storm sewer that flows into Lake Erie or was the water treated before released ?


Dan Alaimo
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Dan Alaimo » Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:50 pm

Richard Baker wrote:Can we assume the company using the fire hoses from fire hydrants was metered and they were charged the full rate for both sewer and water?

Spraying water on construction demolition reduces the air born dust but it also has an environmental impact on the bodies of water it runs into. Can we assume the contractor/City of Lakewood filed for a impact permit to dump polluted water in the storm sewer that flows into Lake Erie or was the water treated before released ?


Good point. I'm inclined to assume nothing with this gang.


“Never let a good crisis go to waste." - Winston Churchill (Quote later appropriated by Rahm Emanuel)
Mark Kindt
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:42 am

A Little More on the Topic of Affordability

I would be interested in hearing from elected officials or our candidates for local office about their ideas and plans to ensure that Lakewood has affordable housing.

As I look at the available public information, it seems to me that the only housing being planned for Lakewood in the coming years is for the affluent or the well-compensated professional classes.

Should this be the priority for the city? --Ensuring a ready supply of half-a-million dollar town homes like Clifton Pointe or McKinley Place?

-- With its the diversion of public assets, public real estate, public funds, and the efforts of our public employees?


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Sep 03, 2019 12:22 pm

Living to see the day when...

I never expected to live to see the day when unions would be endorsing Democratic candidates committed to public-subsidies for housing for the affluent.


Mark Kindt
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Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:21 pm

Poor Policy Choice -- Using Public Real Estate Subsidized Housing for the Affluent
Public Subsidies Create Unaffordable Housing in Lakewood - Example 1.jpg
Public Subsidies Create Unaffordable Housing in Lakewood - Example 1.jpg (137.83 KiB) Viewed 16243 times


Mark Kindt
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Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 11:06 am

Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:24 pm

Poor Policy Choice -- Using Future Public Tax Revenues to Subsidize Housing for the Affluent

Public Subsidies Create Unaffordable Housing in Lakewood - Example 2.jpg
Public Subsidies Create Unaffordable Housing in Lakewood - Example 2.jpg (135.2 KiB) Viewed 16243 times


Mark Kindt
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Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 11:06 am

Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Tue Sep 03, 2019 1:27 pm

Proposed New Developments Are Beyond The Reach Of Ordinary Workers

Structural Exclusion of Seniors, Veterans, Union Members, Teachers and Average Families -- Apartments.jpg
Structural Exclusion of Seniors, Veterans, Union Members, Teachers and Average Families -- Apartments.jpg (205.7 KiB) Viewed 16242 times


Mark Kindt
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Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 11:06 am

Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Fri Sep 06, 2019 9:24 am

Stan Austin wrote:The purchase of Trinity Lutheran Church seems to be a smaller version of the Hospital debacle. Councilperson Meghan George cast a no vote to the proposed purchase citing a lack of information needed to make a good decision.
If only that simple standard had been applied to the dissolution and destruction of Lakewood Hospital.
Stan Austin


Here We Can Each Witness A Real Life Test In Real Time

You don't have to believe me or share any of my opinions, let's all of us just wait and see whether any affordable housing is ever built upon the Trinity Lutheran Church site.


Mark Kindt
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Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 11:06 am

Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Sun Oct 06, 2019 10:18 am

Mark Kindt wrote:Developers Will Transform Lakewood

Various candidates for elective office in Lakewood have dropped-off their literature to my home. I commend each of them for committing themselves to public service.

Not unexpectedly, their campaign literature has the usual kinds of well-written fluff -- much of it about maintaining various community values that we celebrate as residents of Lakewood.

In this Deck essay, I am going to attempt to quantify and evaluate the impending development that Lakewood is experiencing and will continue to experience.

If you are a resident who supports wide-scale economic development for Lakewood as an overall improvement to the City, you will be gratified by the likely events of 2019.

If you are a resident who, like me, has a healthy skepticism about wide-scale "canned" economic development for Lakewood, you will be disappointed by these events.


The Lakewood that we enjoy and celebrate is in the midst of serious changes that affect a broad range of quality of life issues for its residents.

In this Deck essay, I will try to bring some of those issues into focus for broader community discussion.


If you question whether wide-scale impending development using public subsidies is the appropriate course for the future of Lakewood, I encourage you to study the alternative "reform" ticket:

Meghan George
Laura Rodriquez-Carbone
Brad Presutto
Jeff Wise

If you generally support wide-scale impending development with public subsidies as the appropriate course for the future of Lakewood, I encourage you to study the "non-reform" ticket:

Sam O'Leary
Tess Neff
Jason Shachner
John Litten
Dan O'Malley

This is my personal sense of the difference between the two tickets.

Each ticket has varying flavors of endorsements and the endorsement processes still seem to be incomplete.

If you support the construction of One Lakewood Place on the former hospital site, then you would likely find the "non-reform" ticket closer to your civic interests.

Meghan George did not vote in favor of One Lakewood Place; O'Leary, Litten and O'Malley voted in favor of it.

I also believe that the "reform" ticket is likely to be more supportive of the Rader reform legislation.

These characterizations of "tickets" are entirely my own. I believe that they are reasonably reflective, though some candidates may be undecided about these issues. They can post here.

Obviously, you understand that I have written in support of reform and against One Lakewood Place. My bias is express, not hidden.


Mark Kindt
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Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 11:06 am

Re: The Fork In The Road

Postby Mark Kindt » Sun Oct 20, 2019 4:49 pm

Mark Kindt wrote:Why has Lakewood adopted economic development policies that exclude the majority of residents from new luxury housing supported with major public assets, public funds, and public land?


I pose this question for those elected officials and candidates for Lakewood public office who run as Democrats or who run under Democratic Party or labor union endorsements.

Since Mr. Baker has previously responded to this question, I am not addressing this question to those who identify as either Republicans or Independents.

How and why did we cannibalize public health care assets for commercial development that no ordinary citizen of Lakewood can afford?

I'd really like to get some sense of how actual Democrats in office or running for office can explain this public policy goal and public policy outcome.



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