06/02/2009 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 6/2/2009 6,~r and protect the value of our homes that is second to none anywhere. Don't be misled by a couple of numbers that can sway one way or another at any given yeax. Look at more regular statistics that have been presented recently by the County. Councilman Gareau wondered if a study has been done on whether or not one of North Olmsted's greatest assets in the past 10 years has now turned into somewhat of a liability in the past year or two: that being affordable, quality housing that was very attractive to buyers from the mid-90's all the way up through 2006. People were able to get a great range of housing in the city from $115,000 to upwards of half a million dollars. The question is who was buying? Were the buyers not as qualified. as they should have been? Perhaps time will ultimately bear this out. But now we are dealing with foreclosures-more than what Fairview Park has. We are also dealing with recycling of houses being sold at sheriff's sales for less than their original value. He wonders to what extent the affordable housing that was here and the lending standards that were used brought about the current situation. We still have a good, quality housing stock in the community. But it's taken a beating based upon the fact that somebody could come in and buy a home from a bank and pay less than a resident is asking for their home. Mayor O'Grady said it will be useful down the road for further analysis when we get those studies. But don't be tricked by numbers. Do we have more foreclosures than Fairview Park? Of course, we do. We're more than twice their size. We have more than twice their number of residences. That's yet another factor that comes into play. It's a difficult time. The foreclosure crisis has pushed down the value of homes-9% in Fairview Park, 10% in North Olmsted. It is important to wait until we get a detailed analysis that really shows us how much ground have we lost, are we behind anybody, or are we right with everybody. In the meantime, everyone-residents and government officials alike-should do everything in their power to make sure we maintain the values of our properties. That is what we are doing. 4} Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane, speaking on the housing issue said the County uses a sampling of houses and doesn't take anall-across-the-board average. From what he understands, the article in the Plain Dealer was an average of actual sales they averaged in and then did a comparison. A little more extensive and a little more complete for that purpose. It was very telling. To understand where we are going, we have to look at where we've been. For the last 35 years, this city has been stagnating while other cities around us have grown in value. We're surrounded by suburbs that basically have had a 1 % hit. The percentage of change is important. Some cities are down 1%--Westlake, Fairview Park. Westlake has been going along for years planning and promoting wise use of land. Mr. Kennedy was asking the right question about what's going to happen this year. It's going to be interesting to see if the citizens are asked for a tax increases to get things done. Because so much of what has been done in the past has been waste of time: over expenditures on the wrong things, and not focusing on getting the job done for the people, more politics. Eileen Patton is truly the mayor's mayor. She is a Democrat, but she has brought on some of the best Republicans she can to do things. She worked between parties. She gets everything done and has very strict rules about City Hall and politics-they just don't mix in that community. North Olmsted has played too much politics. The city has had a wonderfizl influx of cash over the last 35 years, and it's all been wasted. 12