12/16/2008 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 12/16/2008 the things that never even got attended to because of how short staffed they were. Crime is up. Great Northern Mall has some of the highest crime for certain crimes, including car thefts. We're currently down several police officers and another officer is going to be leaving for Iraq. He is sure police and fire response time is going to be affected by the proposed or potential layoffs, and he is sure cutting safety forces is not the answer to any possible shortfall. 2) Adam Hudak, 3473 Tree Lane, spoke about his concerns regarding the safety force layoffs. He has called upon the safety forces for help and has gotten to know them. The safety forces always treat citizens with the utmost respect and do a wonderful job. He feels the layoffs can potentially put his family at risk. Do we want to be living in a city where we do not have the personnel to respond if needed? He is not questioning that these are tough economic times, but he is questioning the timing of this decision. The timing of the layoffs angers him as they took place so soon after the Fire Fighter and Policeman of the Year banquet. He is disappointed in the Safety Director in whom he had put his trust to treat the city and its employees fairly and whom he thought would help the Police and Fire Departments to grow and flourish. He urges all of Council to do what is right, to do what will benefit all the residents. People of this town put their trust into Council when they voted them into office. With this trust comes a responsibility to make the tough choices. He hopes that the decision to lay the safety forces off does not result in someone getting hurt or worse. In a job, teamwork makes all the difference. And one person can and does matter. Please think about what is most important in this city. It is not leaf pick-up, it is not having a nice Rec Center, or a golf course. It is having that glue in place that will help hold us all together in these tough times. For the men and women who might be losing their jobs, he appreciates everything they have done for him. 3) Dave Boatman, 2093 Brown Road, Lakewood, represents the fire fighters and expressed their concerns regarding the five fire fighter layoffs Mayor O'Grady has issued. From the moment these layoffs were issued, the fire fighters have felt nothing but concern not only for the five laid off fire fighters, but more so for the safety of our residents and our families. They have tried to accurately convey their concern only to be attacked by the city as trying to instill fear and panic in the residents. It has been stated that the flyer they have been distributing is full of inaccuracies, is misleading, and is dishonest. Nothing in the flyer is inaccurate. They are not trying to instill panic and fear in residents, but residents need to be feazful of the layoffs. All of the information that was placed in this flyer was the information that was stated by the administration and the Fire Chief. Their goal has only been to make the community aware of the layoffs and ask what else can be done to prevent the layoffs. They did, however, make a mistake by not placing their name on the flyer. Addressing the issue of decrease in service and increase in response times that will occur as a result of these layoffs, according to the National Fire Incident Reporting System and, as reported by local news, the North Olmsted Fire Dept. has been one of the fastest response times to an emergency in northeast Ohio, and the fastest response time in the west side of Cleveland. They take pride in this fact. It has been reported that in North Olmsted approximately one fire occurs every three days with an average loss of approximately $200. They take pride in that fact as it is because 7