The View from Ward 2: Issue #17

Committee of the Whole

On Monday, April 27th, the Committee of the Whole met to discuss the current status of the One Lakewood Place development. City Council received a full briefing of the project’s status from the Mayor, the City’s consultant on the project, and the City’s outside legal counsel. The substantive portion of the briefing occurred in executive session, which means that there are details that I am not permitted to share with you. This is because there may be future litigation related to the project.

Based on information that I received outside of executive session, I do not expect Carnegie to complete the project. This is disappointing because Lakewood invested a significant amount of funds in preparing the site for construction. However, I am confident that our investment in site preparation will pay off. All environmental hazards have been successfully remediated and all existing structures have been removed making this site one of the most attractive in the region. I look forward to reviewing new proposals from experienced developers that seek to add to Lakewood’s unique character.

Watch the full meeting here.

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Finance Committee Meeting

During last week’s Finance Committee meeting, the City provided an update on its rental relief program for small businesses. We learned that, as of April 27th, 97 checks have been sent out totaling approximately $155,000. The City has stopped accepting applications and hopes to be able to provide additional relief in the future if necessary. Council asked for a full list of recipients to be made available and the Mayor’s office indicated it will be available early this week.

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Lakewood Democratic Club Meeting

Last Thursday, we had our monthly Lakewood Democratic Club meeting via Zoom. Nearly 50 participants attended! Thank you to Club President Erik Meinhardt for planning and hosting a successful virtual meeting.

During the meeting we discussed the primary election results, which are available here (unofficial results): https://www.livevoterturnout.com/Cuy/LiveResults/en/Index_8.html. Both the Lakewood City School District Levy (Issue 28) and the Cuyahoga Human Services Levy (Issue 33) passed! Some great candidates also won their primaries and will be on the ballot in November. I applaud all the candidates who ran - it was particularly challenging given the six-week extension to campaign season and canceled day-of voting. Voter turnout was unsurprisingly low, but this experience will help us improve the system and better engage voters for the November election.

We also received updates from State Senate, House, and County representatives. It was clear that our leaders are working hard to figure out how to address the unique challenges facing Ohio.

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Census 2020

The 2020 Census is still happening! However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Census Bureau's field operations are postponed and the deadline for counting is extended. I highly encourage you to complete the census now to avoid having someone knocking on your door to follow-up and to make sure that everyone in Lakewood is counted. The Census is important for our community and relies on your participation.

For more information or to respond to the Census, click here: https://2020census.gov/

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