04/17/2007 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 4/17/2007 County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones for their work with fair housing. It was an honor to be there and a testament to our Assistant Law Director's experience in the field of fair housing and real property maintenance and what she brings to our city in that area. Also, in the spirit of fair housing, this evening she presented Council members with a gift, the report of fair housing in northeast Ohio which is released every year by the Housing Research and Advocacy Center. If any resident would like a hard copy, she can provide it or they are available on line at housingcenter.org. It's interesting to note in today's Plain Dealer there was an article regarding some of the findings in the report. One item of particular interest is the number of complaints in fair housing that are brought by those who are disabled, which is a protected class, both in our city locally and our state and nationally. It is interesting to note that 16% of the people living in Cuyahoga County would classify themselves as disabled, and 14% of those living in North Olmsted classify themselves as disabled. That's one area that the city should be looking at. With Assistant Law Director Carole Heyward, we are doing that through the Fair Housing Review Board. AUDIENCE PARTICIPAT QN Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane, spoke about the sale of beer in the park for the Labor Day parade. He is concerned about the issue of setting a precedent and worried about what would happen if another type of group wished to have beer or liquor in the park. How could the city tell them no? He wondered if the event could be moved to another area within the city. He doesn't want to say goodbye to the Labor Day parade in our city, but we certainly can't sell our soul to have it either. It contradicts everything that many Council Members stand for regarding drinking and driving. Councilman Miller said that for personal reasons he has been opposed to permitting the sale of alcohol at gas stations. He continues to think about this issue and has not made up his mind. He believes the parks belong to the people, and perhaps this type of activity should go to a vote of the people. Mayor O'Grady said a great deal of thought has gone into this and the city is not being irresponsible or not living up to the requirement to look out for the welfare of citizens. He fully agrees this will set a precedent and would suggest it is needed. In the future, we may look at events like the parade or Community Council at some future time wishing to do something different with Homecoming, and we will need to have some idea of what works, what doesn't and what is reasonable and what is not. Being afraid of our shadow is probably not the responsible thing for government to do. He believes the vast majority of residents would have no objection to the parade and to beer being sold as a fundraiser at that event. Other cities in the area do prohibit alcohol in their parks but periodically do waivers of that ruling for special events. In the history of the Labor Day parade, there has never been a negative incident. The time is right; the responsible thing for government to do is serve their citizens. Charles Dial, 27959 Gardenia, inquired as to Councilman Ryan's absence. Councilman Gareau noted that Mr. Ryan had advised Council in advance that he would be absent due to a commitment regarding his daughter's school 11