Ryan Demro

As far as I am concern this race for Ryan started two years ago. Others may say it started many years ago, what ever time you want to use he is in it and has forced George to really defend his record and it forced Fitzgerald to really hone is message of change. This has been good for the voters!

Let's get to the issues!

Streets - "we need to get back to the old way of paying for our streets using assessments". Now some people will say that he is raising taxes and they would be correct, but the idea of assessments can make that tax a short term payment over ten or 20 years, whereas an across the board income tax or property tax levy may be 30 years or longer.

With respect to crime, Demro would fully implement CitiStat and Real Time data to aid the Police and other safety forces identify problem areas. Ryan believes that the City should adopt a zero tolerance policy on crime.


Housing, Demro is for enforcement of the CMHA and HUD Housing Rules, where a City can provide a list to the CHMA on chronic problems for the Section 8 housing and get the County and Feds to pull the vouchers for that landlord.
Of course he would build up the staffing levels within the building department to be better able to handle the upgrades if the Building codes. Also, another interesting idea is the development of incentives for current homeowners to maintain the historic features.

Taxes - Ryan would love to be able to roll back the property taxes for everyone, however, I don't think that would be feasible unless we develop some great corporate tax base in which to add to the income tax rolls. However, if he can develop new business and get those already here to expand, then the tax burden may be lifted.

The knock on Demro, is several
1) He is too young to lead this city;
2) He is brash or confrontational for anything to get done;
3) He is a Republican;

For Ryan to move on to the general election he needs to capitalize on two factors,
1) Tap into the voter discontent with Tom George, especially in Ward 1;
2) Get the Republican voters and the conservative minded Independents to the polls and to vote his way.


Coming up in the next post, how the Primary on Tuesday will end up.

Edward Fitzgerald

For both Ed Fitzgerald and Ryan Demro I am going to use my notes from the debate to have them explain their ideas for a Better Lakewood, since the Mayor wasn't there and has not graced my door to explain his platform I was forced to use his website.

I would also like to keep to the main themes of this campaign for very reason that we may consider it an apples to apples scenario.

Ed is running a somewhat similar campaign do what George did four years ago, that is I am not the Mayor, but I definitely wanted to be one for a while.

Let's see what Ed has to say or what I found to be interesting little nuggets of information:

Before I go on, I will state that not only was I at the debate, but I also attended one the many coffee get togethers that was very popular amongst the candidates. So the coffee talk and the debate answers for Ed were fairly close.

On the streets, Ed has stated the obvious "that politics have been played with fixing the streets" and that we are competing for own residents.

On crime, Ed clearly states that there is a "perception vs. reality" with the current Mayor, but what is his plan for the crime and safety: Its 15 Points, I am not going to go into all 15 because your time and mine is short.

The Big three are:

1) Shifting resources so that more safety forces can be added;

2) Create a Neighborhood Policing Strategy, (similar to enhanced Block
Watches - I will bet if he moves on to the General Election there may be the
theory of sub stations coming out.)

3) Cracking down on Section 8 Housing, being the tenants or the Landlords.

On Housing, Ed is all about the crack down on the Section 8 housing by having Building Inspectors dedicated to handle just the Section 8 housing problems. Don't forget he is also going to go after the abandoned buildings. Good solid plans there!

The next is Taxes and Fiscal Responsibility, Ed has a 10 point plan solving the city financial woes.

With taxes, Ed has stated fairly clearly that increasing taxes is "not your first line of defense", he believes that implementing CitiStat fully will help in identifying inefficiencies to save the City money, also the city must be able to stimulate economic growth through the use of Economic Development funds to fill the empty storefronts.

If you remember one of my issues two years ago was to turn multi-family properties into Single family usage, well low and behold its back under a different wrapper called "gaining title to foreclosed and dilapidated properties and convert them to single family home, recreation space or parking".

Here is the knock on Ed, he just doesn't instill a lot of confidence in some people as a singular leader, he has been a good councilman and somewhat responsive to a majority of the citizens, but at times he can drop the ball and then it becomes similar to Tom George's issue, lack of communication.

In order for him to win in November he must two things, communicate his message much better with a little more passion and steal all the George votes to him, which may be a tall order to fill.

If you want to see the multi-point plans for turning around Lakewood, just click on the header.

Tom George

Tom George has the slogan of "building a better Lakewood"

His website and his platform are saying the same thing:

• We’ve made safety first.

• There have been more new developments than anyone can remember, much of it focused on the East End.

• We’ve put more into our streets, sewers and water lines than we have in decades.

• We’ve brought the award-winning Main Street Program to downtown Lakewood.

For the first time in a long time, the major institutions in the City are all working together. Being Mayor is a tough job that requires making tough decisions. It’s hard to make everyone happy. I have no agendas, no ulterior motives, other than making the best decisions for Lakewood. I eagerly look forward to the coming campaign, meeting new people, rekindling old friendships, hearing your thoughts and joining together in “Building a Better Lakewood.”

One of the biggest knocks on the George and his administration is the lack of communication. He often found to be making comments or announcements via the Lakewood Observer or Lakewood Buzz, but many residents are dismayed at the lack of communication when they seek help or guidance on myriad of issues with the City.
The other knock on Tom George is the lack of a plan or a perception of a plan.

Granted perhaps the city has so many different issues in which to deal with an immediate basis it may be hard to implement a strategic plan due to lack of proper resources.


For George to win this race, these two issues must be addressed fairly quickly in the next term.
George can be heartened by the fact that Council may be a bit more pliable to his desires since the possible new Ward Council members beginning in January may be quiet supporters of the Mayor.

The major question remains for after the election, Will Thomas George raise taxes to pay for streets, new police and all the other laundry list of things this city needs?

Want to see more of his platform and see who has endorsed him (basically every typical democratic leaning endorsement out there) go here

Six Years Ago

It was a beautiful sunny day, until:






Remember to fly the Flag today!

Mayoral Debates Initial Impressions

Went to the Mayoral Debate at Harrison Elementary.

First, I must say to the Lakewood Board of Education, well done on the new school, its beautiful and hopefully it will be around for a long time.

I will write more later about the questions and answers, but my initial impression is that both candidates did very well.

The glaring absence of the Mayor was noticeable and based on conversations I had with various different people this is the political strategy for Mayor- Stay away from public forums until necessary to defend your record.

Rose Garden politics have proven not be a winning strategy, ask Jimmy Carter!

Once the Mayor does come out to defend his record, it just maybe too late!

I must say the Mayor appears to be confident since I received in the mail today from his campaign, two absentee ballot applications, one for the primary and one for the general election. Unfortunately, he sent one to my wife, but she has already submitted her application and has voted!

The politics in this city and county just make me scratch my head sometimes.

Back to the debate, all the major issues were brought up and asked and answered some more forcefully than others.

The true loaded question during the debate, was "What in your opinion was the real reason the Mayor was not available for this debate?" Both candidates had very respectful answers and gave their opinions.

The crowd was much larger than I had anticipated, some 75 - 100 people, not a great showing, but a good one.

While I am away!

If you want to know what is happening in Iraq, visit Michel Yon

or

Mudville Gazette
Greyhawk also covers Afghanistan and other parts of the world where are Armed Forces are located.


For a heart warming story and listening pleasure, I give you Paul Potts




For other places to visit hit the links on the left!

100 Days

On June 25, 2007, that day marked the 100 days until the October 2nd Primary for Mayor. We are still a little more than three weeks away from the filing deadline for the race.

The three presumptive candidates are out already trying to drum up support, both financial and by getting the voter support.

The question remains, where is the City of Lakewood headed?

It appears the topics for this campaign are going to be crime, housing and taxes. These issues are interchangeable as to the importance level area based on what the Candidates are saying.

Ryan Demro and Ed Fitzgerald seem to think crime maybe the number 1 issue and although I can't find anything to support my theory, it would appear Mayor Tom George's issue may be either fiscal or housing.

There are going to be some subplots to this race,

1) Is Ryan Demro too young and brash to manage the City?

2) Is Ed Fitzgerald going to be a full time Mayor or is this just another step up
the political ladder?

3) Can Tom George continue to effectively manage the City on what appears to most citizens as by the "seat of his pants"?

4) Will the Business community step up for one candidate or will it play the field
and cover all bets on each candidate?

5) Will the Lakewood Observer, Lakewood Buzz and the Sun Post, will they sit out the race or will they be active in getting the stories out on the issues and the candidates?

6) Where will the Lakewood Hospitality Association, the Chamber of Commerce and Lakewood Alive sit on the race?


The biggest issue that I see, that no one talks about is stirring enough interest in the voting citizens to get them out and vote. I would view that if there is not more than 20 - 25% of the registered voters casting their ballots in October, than I view that as a sad state of affairs for the City.

Where do you think Lakewood is headed?

Lakewood Library Gala

Attended the Library Gala Saturday night, if you were a political junkie, you had the three Mayoral candidates, a Council candidate and a few former Mayors.

Also, Congressman Hobson from Springfield, OH, Senator Voinovich and even Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher was there. Kucinich was no where to be seen (at least from my vantage point). About half of City Council was there. Member of the school board and the Superintendant of Schools Dr. Estop.

Not to mention a whole lot of movers and shakers of Lakewood.

What was interesting, is that the crowd was mostly Lakewood Citizens, usually you go to these fundraisers and its a lot of out of towners. It made for interesting viewing and some interesting conversations.

As for the new wing of the Library, its beautiful inside, I especially liked the Grand Reading room on the second floor.

I am looking forward to when the Library is totally finished, it should be great to visit and peruse the collections.

GOP PRESIDENTIAL POLL

Mayoral Debates

There is a debate going on over at the discussion baord for the Lakewood Observer regarding what is a better way to handle the Mayoral Debates. Should it be just filling in a questionniare or sitting down for a debate, as is the case with most of Observation Deck discussions it has gotten down to petty bickering.

So I decided to jump in with the following response:

As a former candidate for office here in Lakewood, I would like to offer my opinion on the "white paper" vs open debate question.

To me this is equivalent to the old lite beer commercial about less filling or taste great.

Ladies & Gentleman what we have here is a very large job interview, at least that is how I approached things in 2005.

Now, when we apply for job what is the first thing we do, we submit an application or send a resume, then we hope for interview.

With the questionnaire, I took two approaches to it.

First, if I already knew that there was not going to be an interview (for example the Plain Dealer), I tended to give the boilerplate answers to the questions. For the questionnaire that had a follow up interview, I tended to give some pat answers, but like a resume I tried to get something in or leave something out to be asked at the interview. I felt much more comfortable about defending or advocating a position, because I felt the interviewers were at least paying attention to what I wrote.

As for the debate only situation, tendency is to give the stump speech perhaps with a flourish because you are hearing what the opponent is saying or not saying. Yes, you are getting a test of the Candidate's ability to think on their feet, but in the long run unless someone videotapes the message, very few people will remember everything a Candidate says at a debate when they are standing at the voting machine.

I go back to my message of earlier, it is simplistic one, but we the citizens of Lakewood are trying hire someone for a job, I am not going to hire someone based on just writing samples or just a 30 minute discussion I want both.

How do you want to handle the hiring procedures?

Let's see how badly I get hammered!