08/02/2011 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Jeff Gallatin Georgette Ave North Olmsted, Ohio 44070 To the City Council, Mayor Kennedy and his administration: Although most people present here know me from the nearly nine years I have covered the city of North Olmsted for Westlife, I am writing this letter as a resident of the city. Even though I probably am seated in my customary seat in the chambers, I've asked Council Clerk Marie Gallo to read this letter for me instead of my attempting to speak, because, quite frankly, given some of the subject matter, I might not make it through the comments. I first would thank the many people and residents of the city who have offered their compassion and caring to myself and members of my family on the recent death of my mother, Carol B. Gallatin, who also was a resident of North Olmsted and for whom I was her caregiver the last 10 years. The caring and support has been strong and unwavering from all parts of the community and has only reaffirmed my decision earlier this year to buy a house in North Olmsted and make it my home. I only wish that Mom had had the opportunity to became more involved in the community herself as she planned to do before her unexpected passing. I also want to publicly thank the members of the North Olmsted police and fire departments for their typically stellar work on three incidents involving mom. The first was during Memorial Day weekend when I alerted the city police to the fact that Iwould beout-of-state attending the wedding of a close family friend. My teenage nephew agreed to be there part of the days and spend the nights at my home in case his beloved "grams" needed anything. The police said they would keep an eye on the residence and make sure the home and people in it were secure. They did this and true to her alert nature, my mother noted the extra squad cars going by at times and felt more secure with their presence nearby. I also know that they would and have done this for other residents, just as part of their normal service when asked to do so. The second incident involved a call to the fire department in early June when a new medical aide had put mom in her wheelchair at a bad angle earlier in the day. Given the fact that I have had relatively recent issues with one of my legs and we had a new aide, I chose to ca119-1-1 and the fire department to seek assistance in getting her into her bed instead of taking chances with my mother's well-being. They responded quickly as they usually do to calls of any nature. The trio who came into the home that evening, Mike Fusco, Adam Hudak and Jim Weir, handled the matter quickly and efficiently while also establishing a personal rapport with my mom. Largely because she was a police and fire chaplain for two churches, she had strong opinions on how safety forces should do their jobs. Many times through my life, I had heard private opinions, both good and bad, from my mom about particular departments. The North Olmsted safety forces were two of the ones at the top of her list and this incident only added to that.