Lakewood City Council Meeting Minutes

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF
LAKEWOOD CITY COUNCIL
HELD IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS
12650 DETROIT AVENUE
APRIL 4, 2005
7:30 P.M.

Regular Meeting of the Lakewood City Council called to order at 7:34 P.M. by President Seelie.
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Present: Councilmembers Patrick S. Corrigan, Ryan Patrick Demro, Michael W. Dever, Denis P. Dunn, Edward FitzGerald, Mary Louise Madigan, Robert M. Seelie.

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Also Present: Mayor George, Law Director Corrigan, Finance Director Nogalo, Police Chief Malley, Fire Representative, Public Works Director Beno, Planning & Development Director Jordan, Building Representative Fitzgerald, Gerry Murphy, Mayor's Executive Assistant Novak;

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to excuse the absence of Mr. Dever (temporarily delayed - arrives 7:37 PM).
Motion adopted. All members present voting yea.
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Reading and disposal of the Minutes of the Special Meeting of Council held February 22, 2005 and March 7, 2005.

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to approve the minutes without the necessity of a reading.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
Mr. Demro abstains.

****OLD BUSINESS****

1. Committee of the Whole Verbal Report regarding Human Resources.

Mr. Seelie submitted the following report:

The Committee of the Whole met earlier this evening regarding creating the Department of Human Resources. Today it is a division. There are two basic reasons; one, there is increased sophistication within that department that deals with various state, local, federal laws, PERS, workers comp., employees benefits, employee relations, evaluation, and an increased emphasis on training and development within the workforce; number two, the directors within the Administration are held to what I believe a much higher standard of accountability and it is in my opinion and in the opinion of all the members of City Council who voted unanimously that this position, it should be a position not classified by Civil Service and not having the protection of Civil Service but rather it should be under the appointing authority of the mayor. If he or she is not doing the job the mayor wishes that person to do then that person can be fired and not go through the regular Civil Service procedures. That's how important that position, we believe, is. The Committee of the Whole recommended unanimously that we adopt and create the Department of Human Resources.

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to receive and file the verbal report.
Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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2. ORDINANCE NO. 18-05 - AN ORDINANCE creating the Department of Human Resources and position of Director of Human Resources. (PLACED ON 1ST READING & REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE 3/7/05, 2nd Read 3/21/05) (Pg 4.)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Dever, to adopt Ordinance No. 18-05.
Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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3. Finance Committee Verbal Report regarding ATM Machine.

Mr. FitzGerald submitted the following report.

The Finance Committee met briefly this evening and we moved unanimously to defer this item until the next Council Meeting to allow additional participation from potential vendors.

Motion by Mr FitzGerald, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to receive and file the verbal report.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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4. ORDINANCE NO. 17-05 - AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE requesting Council's specific approval of and authorizing the Mayor to enter into a Lease Agreement with National City Bank for approximately twenty-five (25) square feet of real property located at 12650 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio for use by National City Bank for the placement of an Automated Teller Machine for the convenience of residents and employees in accordance with Lakewood Codified Ordinance §111.04(a)(4). (PLACED ON 1ST READING & REFERRED TO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE 2/22/05, 2ND READING 3/7/05, REFERRED BACK TO FINANCE COMMITTEE 3/21/05)(Pg6.)

Motion by Mr. FitzGerald, seconded by Mr. Dever, to defer action on this Ordinance until the next meeting.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.

****NEW BUSINESS****
(Items 5 and 6 were temporarily delayed and read after item 9 )
5. Communication from Councilman Dunn regarding Social Security. (Pg.8)

Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mr. Seelie, to receive and file the communication.

Mr. Dunn indicated he thought it was especially relevant to bring the item to the docket because of the discussions in Congress about changing Social Security and the impact that would have on the community. He said the Resolution urges Congress to first commit to paying back to the Social Security Trust Fund all the money that was previously borrowed from the fund. He said it asks Congress to adopt changes that strengthen Social Security's family protections and also encourages Congress to reject any proposals that would divert money out of Social Security and into private accounts.

Mr. Dunn said he thought this was important because when Franklin Delano Roosevelt founded Social Security he did so with a covenant with the American people. He said that this was on the basis that after a lifetime of work, a lifetime of patriotism that upon retirement, when a person is most vulnerable there should be economic security to live in dignity. He said that part of the concerns of President' Bush's ownership society was that he was regarding people as investors, marketers and entrepreneurs. He said there was nothing wrong with these but that they were subordinate in the Country to what it means to be a citizen. He said that if Social Security is changed it puts 47 million people currently relying on Social Security at risk; one out of every six Americans. He said public policy experts have predicted that the federal deficit; which he stated was at a reckless height would increase by two trillion dollars over the first decade. He said that while the deficit is increased benefits would run the risk of being cut at a minimum of 30% for young workers.

A resident spoke against the Resolution indicating that it was expressing personal, political beliefs and that the argument should be made at a different level of government.

Councilmember Dunn responded that he disagreed. He said that the issue of Social Security and other issues discussed previously do have a direct effect on the health and well-being of the community. He said that what goes on in Washington D.C. and President Bush's agenda and the actions taken by the United States Congress have a direct effect on the community. He said this could be seen in budget cuts with Lakewood's CDBG funding cuts and the Ohio General Assembly to cut the Local Government Fund. He said these issues have a direct and radical effect on the well-being of the community.

Councilmember Madigan indicated her support for Mr. Dunn's proposal and the necessity to voice concerns of other governmental actions. She indicated last Council Meeting's actions regarding parking fees in state parks. She said that since then the State indicated there was not going to be a charge. She said Lakewood and other cities joined in opposing that issue and that it makes a difference when people speak collectively.

Mr. Demro indicated that he has spoken before on this issue, that the Council body has taken criticism for the Gay Pride Resolution, Nuclear Free zone resolution, and that in response to Councilmember Madigan's comments, the Plain Dealer attributed the reversal regarding the fees to the campers and naturalist and not resolutions from councils. He said that he was an intern in the office of Senator Voinovich and that these types of resolutions go through and are addressed with a general response letter. He said it doesn't have much of an effect on the officials. He said it is put in a pile, that the officials have a huge amount of correspondence to deal with and it wasn't Council's place to do this. He said this is why he would be voting against the resolution. He said he thought Council should focus on matters of the City, that it wasn't that these issues didn't effect the City but that he agreed with the resident that there were representatives to hear these concerns. He said it was there job and not Council's to fight these battles in Washington or in Columbus.

Mayor George stated that he was at a recent forum regarding Social Security with Congressman Kucinich and that a resolution such as this is part of the process to let Lakewood's representatives know what issues are important.

Ms. Madigan asked if Senator Voinovich should be asked to voice an opinion on the effect of Council letters indicating she thought he would not want a Council to think that they were disregarded. She said she certainly hoped they matter.

Mr. Seelie indicated that he did not think Mr. Demro spoke for Senator Voinovich. Mr. Demro indicated that he did not.