Saturday, May 8, 2010

'WELCOME BACK" john sebastian

I was consulted (along with many other local residents) by the author of the following college paper and thought it might interest the readers of this blog. The person that wrote this is a non-traditional student (older) at Lakeland Community College and lives here in Painesville.
The Professor graded this paper out as an A+
This was not using the 50% policy but a real college grading system.



Urban Poverty Close to Home


I’ve chosen Painesville as an example of how past and present misguided policies can have catastrophic results for a community that was once vital.
The City of Painesville is the fourth largest and oldest community in Lake County, Ohio. It is the county seat and the location of most of the local, state and federal services available in the immediate area (JFS, county jail, OSU Extension Office, Lake County Courthouse, Juvenile Justice Center and Detention, County Auditor, Board of Elections, County Health Dept., Social Security Administration, VA Satellite Clinic, Republican Headquarters, County Commissioners Office, County Recorder’s Office). The 2000 Census shows a population of 17, 503 people and is the most ethnically diverse community in Lake County. It has its own school district that is comprised of three elementary, one middle and one high school with a total enrollment of 3044 pupils. It is also the home of Lake Erie College; a private liberal arts school that has an enrollment of over 1300 students and is known for its world-renowned equestrian program. Painesville does have public transportation, although limited. Painesville has its own electric power plant which provides affordable power to residents and businesses alike. It has a combination of older home stock and new individual homes and developments, numerous apartment buildings as well as several low-income public housing complexes. Painesville is also home to two half-way houses, a battered women’s shelter and a homeless shelter. It has a beautiful historic district that it is justifiably proud of. All of this is packed into a 6.7 square mile location just two and half miles south of Lake Erie and near the Mentor Marsh Nature Preserve, Headlands State Park and beach in Fairport Harbor.
Sounds like a little something for everyone, right? There’s a few things missing though and some of the pieces of the puzzle just do not add up. I’ll start by examining some of the pieces.

Ethnic Mix:
PVL LAKE USA
White 77.0 95.4 75.1
Black 12.9 2.0 12.3
Latino 12.9 1.7 12.5
Painesville’s figures are very close to national averages but when you compare them to the county as a whole you see that the ethnic make-up is much different than the surrounding communities. The Latino community is large and growing due to Painesville’s proximity to a very large nursery industry due east. Both the black and Hispanic communities have been congregated into Painesville rather than dispersed throughout the county. Certainly some of this is by choice and some is due directly to structural policies that may or may not be beneficial.

HOME OWNERSHIP:
PVL LAKE USA
Own 52.1 77.5 66.2
Rent 47.9 22.5 33.8
Vacant 5.9 4.1 9.0
These figures show an even bigger disparity between Painesville residents and not only the rest of the county but the nation as a whole. Lake County enjoys a very high percentage of home ownership, well above the national average. Painesville is well below national figures. Although these numbers may not seem too bad on their face, when a city is located in the midst of seeming prosperity and when the numbers show such a big difference then the differences are glaring to both the Painesville residents themselves and to surrounding communities. High levels of rental properties translate into lower property values, lower tax revenues and a lower quality of life. This was not always the case in Painesville but is one result of a gradual down-hill spiral.

EDUCATION:
PVL LAKE USA
High School Diploma:
74.0 86.4 80.4
4 Year Degree or Higher:
12.4 21.5 24.4
These are figures for residents (not students, that will be addressed separately) and reflect the community in another negative light as compared to Lake County and nationally. Residents are overall less-educated and this depresses earnings which causes a host of other problems. There is less money for investment. Residents hold jobs that require less (or no) training, tending to seasonal trades or the service sector. These are the jobs that are cut or eliminated first in an economic downturn. Less income and less job security increase stresses on people already in a marginal situation. I also looked at resident ages and there is no real statistical basis for considering anomalies such as a larger than average elderly or young population (those that would not have necessarily started or finished high school as a matter of course).

CITY SCHOOLS:
Painesville City schools fail almost every benchmark established for good education. Locally the Painesville schools graduate an abysmal 74.7% of their students. All the other local school districts I examined had at least a 90% graduation rate which is also the minimum level the state of Ohio deems acceptable (see appendix I). Data from the State of Ohio report card show that out of 30 indicators measured, Painesville City schools have achieved only 7 as of the last complete school year (2008-09) and that was an improvement (see appendix II). The other schools used as comparison were all in the 20s. Demographics for the Painesville schools show the following:
School Demographics:
2930 Daily Enrollment
19.2 % Black
34.7 % Hispanic
32.4 % White
72.1 % are considered economically disadvantaged.
50% Grading Policy
These numbers stand alone in Lake County. Other available data shows that Painesville City teachers are educationally qualified and the school system itself spends a more than adequate amount of money per student (over $12,000. per pupil, see appendix III). I believe that this school system has not taken into consideration that a large number of its students speak English as a second language nor consider the problems of poverty that three-fourths of the student body must deal with. Many credible studies have shown that students showing these characteristics frequently suffer from lack of health care, poor nutrition, lack parental motivation and support, no place to study, and often must care for siblings. Many Painesville high school students are themselves parents. (I was unable to come up with statistical numbers for this claim other than anecdotal information, but consider the sources credible as they include alumni and present students). The 50% grading policy has been effect for several years. It essentially guarantees a student will pass with little or no effort on his/her part. Good students are penalized under this system; their initiative is not rewarded and many colleges do not recognize this policy and refuse admission to deserving students as a result. The only thing this policy is good for is keeping marginal students from quitting and thus assuring that funding will continue. It rewards poor behavior and most definitely sends the message that almost nothing is required in order to get ahead.

OTHER PIECES:
Painesville was an early and eager advocate of urban renewal. The New Market Mall was built with much hope but destroyed a large part of the unique character of historical downtown.
Painesville has been a victim hard hit by the global economy as well. Its economic decline can be traced back to the 1970s when Diamond Alkali (Diamond Shamrock) was bought out and then relocated to Texas. Their legacy was a brownfield that is slated for development….some 30 years later and at an exorbitant cost. Another big employer was the Industrial Rayon Corporation which moved overseas in the early
1980s after spending several years phasing out of the area. Other large and stable employers, such as Towmotor and Caterpillar are long gone. The loss of all of these good-paying jobs hurt Painesville more than the rest of Lake County because of its relatively uneducated workforce. Nothing replaced these jobs, starting the economic decline.
The recent loss of the Lake Hospital System to a new location outside the city has taken a large income producer out of the mix. Even though Painesville has entered into a JEDD (Joint Economic Development District) agreement with Concord in order to keep a share of the income tax generated, the agreement exempts administration (high salaries) from Painesville’s share. The hospital employees spent a lot of money locally (parking, lunches, patronizing local merchants) and the hospital itself has replaced many local merchant services with others located elsewhere. The local flower shops are a good example of this. The debate on what will replace the building has been acrimonious and no satisfactory compromise has been reached. Nothing that has been proposed can make up for the loss of prestige. The loss of the hospital itself may have been inevitable, but there was a window in time where an alternate solution could have been reached. Losing that medical facility was a body-blow to Painesville’s status and economy.
The immigration situation in Painesville is a good example of what we (should) have already learned from history. Immigrants come to work and start a new life. They are willing to work for lower wages and live in substandard housing until such a time as they are able to move on (and up). In the meantime, they are resented for their mere presence. They further reduce an already tight job market and use services that have become more expensive to provide. They strain an infrastructure that is already creaking under structural and cultural problems. Add to that the issue of potential illegal status and you have now set the business community against government. Painesville is already struggling under a stigma of sorts and then attach the dubious status of ‘sanctuary city’ and everyone is hurt. There is no cohesive local plan that tries to realistically reconcile the realities of a large influx of immigrants with the needs of a declining city.
MY CONCLUSIONS:
The City of Painesville has to quit being schizophrenic. She cannot be all things to everyone. She has to decide what she is and where she wants to go and then capitalize on it. These are some of the things I would emphasize immediately.
First and foremost, no city can hope to recover without superior schools. It is apparent that what they have been doing is not working. It is time to raise standards by whatever means necessary. Painesville now possesses brand-new school settings and they should put them to good use. Those buildings should be used after school hours and during the summer; night classes and adult education for example. The present administration (or a new one with a fresh outlook) should take a hard look at other school systems that turned themselves around and then emulate them wherever possible. Better-quality schools would attract new residents, people with the understanding and desire to see their children achieve, and success feeds on itself. People buy houses when they select an area based on quality education. They invest themselves emotionally and financially in the community when so motivated.
Painesville has the services and industrial space to attract and retain business. One area I would suggest they investigate is green technology. This is here to stay and there is much investment money available and to be made in this industry. Painesville could be a leader in fostering a ‘green’ culture and business climate. There has been some talk about Painesville participating in some activities with other entities along these lines but they should take the initiative. This would provide a desperately needed economic boost.
Inevitably Painesville will be forced to come up with some kind of solution to the immigration situation. This is something that they should be pro-active about. Band-aid solutions or solutions that only placate a segment of the population are counter-productive and short-sighted. Many of the long-time residents of Painesville are only second or third-generation immigrants themselves. They only wish that the laws already on the books be enforced uniformly, whether it is immigration, home inspection, criminal or even traffic.
Although I am no fan of the present city administration it is primarily because of its inconsistency. They have made some grievous financial errors and show a strong tendency to go outside for expensive expertise that is available in their back yard. I would like to see city government be more transparent and engage local citizens more, not just the business community that has its own agenda. I would like to see them learn from previous administrations as to what does or does not work.
Painesville needs a modern community center, one with a public pool and kitchen facilities. This is an amenity that any upscale community possesses and would be another big attraction to potential home buyers.
Painesville has a few glaring eyesores in an otherwise pretty town. The old Steele Mansion on Mentor Avenue and the old Holiday Inn located right downtown both need to be demolished. The city also needs to do whatever it takes to push through and finish cleaning up from the flood of 2006.
Painesville is not Mentor with malls and homogeneous citizens. It is not Willowick, a bedroom community. It is not rural Perry or Madison. It is not Kirtland with their half-acre lots. Painesville is an historic college town.
CONCLUSION:
Painesville has been a victim of some of the structural issues of the past and present with (un)intentional consequences. Federal policies encouraging suburbanization resulted in neighboring communities growing at her expense. Even though State Route 2 is now old news it took away a great deal of traffic that used to go right through downtown. New Route 44 did the same. Globalization eliminated many good jobs. Painesville is also the victim of cultural forces. Because of her much larger black population she has suffered as a community from racism and discrimination. Large black (and now Hispanic as well) minorities brought with them the lack of political or economic power needed for Painesville to be able to hold her own when surrounded by largely homogeneous wealthier communities. A gradual slip in the quality of local education exacerbated the problems of falling home ownership and the accompanying problems associated with poverty. Painesville is unique in that she has many big city problems while not being located in an inner-ring suburb. I believe that we will see more of this as many of our older big cities continue to deteriorate and their problems migrate behind the suburbanites that fled in the 50s and 60s. I also believe that Painesville does not have to be an inevitable victim of urban decay since the ground she is covering today is fairly new. We really do not have enough data to predict how cities like Painesville will fare in the future because this kind of urban evolution is comparatively recent. Although I have a vested interest in seeing Painesville turn around, objectively speaking it will be a good lesson for many other small towns in similar circumstances to watch unfold. The choices Painesville makes will have a larger social impact than on just her local citizenry. I sincerely hope that Painesville will evolve into a lesson in how things can be done successfully rather than an example in failed policies and short-sighted leaders.

42 Comments:

At May 8, 2010 at 6:07 PM , Anonymous Twentysomething said...

Very interesting take on Painesville.
The main difference between say Cleveland and Painesville. Cleveland ins the center of poverty in Cuyahaga County with rings of poverty around it the further from central Cleveland the more wealth.[white flight?]
Painesville on the other hand is surrounded by wealth ,period.
How this will affect Painesville future is unknown.
Something to think about? How does the city with a growing liberal arts college not have a Starbucks in it? Simple but why not even a decent coffeehouse?
All and all a good paper and a lot more truth then the usual crap we have been fed.

 
At May 8, 2010 at 6:22 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope you realize the JaHada's will not look kindly on this paper. Not to mention Ayatollah McMahan. time for an "administratve search warrant?" "Not show me your papers, but who wrote them."

 
At May 8, 2010 at 8:14 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The key to Painesvilles salvation is regionalzation. The people presently in charge want no part of this and will lend to the continuing downfall of Painesville. I am glad to know that there are people out there who know whats wrong, and the first order of business should be to replace the current administration. Yes, the schools are the key to a first-class town, not a 50% policy.

 
At May 8, 2010 at 9:06 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lets talk about education.
My tax dollars are being spent on courses such as

Spanish for Native Speakers
1 credit...The focus on grammar reading,and writing for native speakers and uses literature to sharpen and maintain the skills for students in their first language.
This is not the way to the future.

 
At May 9, 2010 at 7:23 AM , Anonymous Kathy Sak said...

Too many rentals. And I don't have an opinion on what the solution is. And too much government-owned property - along with churches and nonprofits, all of which don't pay property taxes. Typical for a county seat. The town is beautiful! The city has come a long way in that respect. But it's hard for the schools to meet FEDERAL and state guidelines when half the homes are rentals and residents move, creating this low graduation stat. And the loss of the hospital is huge! Having said all this, Painesville I believe is the best city in Lake County in which to live and raise children.

 
At May 9, 2010 at 9:25 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is Terms words.

 
At May 9, 2010 at 11:09 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Until Hada, Gurley and Hanlon are gone, FTT!

Failure to Thrive!

We must elect creative thinkers and let those who have no interest in moving forward step down. No one sitting on any board, chair or council has the foresight to turn this sinking ship around.

Education is the first place to start! Increase your graduation rates, test scores etc and your home values will go up.

Don't know who wrote the paper but perhaps they might make a better city manager than the one we have.

 
At May 9, 2010 at 3:44 PM , Anonymous TERM>> said...

To 9:25 Thanks for the compliment. Sorry, can't be me check the grammar and spelling.

 
At May 9, 2010 at 4:26 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Location,location, location.
NO-NO-NO-
Education,education,education
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Before they ask for more money someone ask them what they do with the $12,000 they spend per student now?
Not another dime until we have a full account.

 
At May 9, 2010 at 6:31 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think you missed one. The Pizza Pan store on S.State St. seems to me closed. Coffee shop we can't even keep a pizza place going.
Good by Pizza Pan good-by Angela's
Someone inform Nagy where ever he's at.

 
At May 9, 2010 at 7:03 PM , Anonymous Kathy Sak said...

How many pizza places can one small city support? But I do agree- small businesses have a hard time making it in Painesville. But a lot of those hard times go back to the fact that when the county offices close, so does the town in many respects. That's not the administration's fault - it's just the way it is. Especially since the hospital left and took their employees. Businesses throughout Lake County are closing. Take a look around. Go up Mentor Avenue and check out all the empty storefronts. It's not just Painesville. Seems to me it starts with the high home foreclosure rate. Then banks stop loaning small businesses money and they can't make it so down the tubes they go. But again, this isn't something about Painesville - this is something about the entire county, and the economy in general. Bottom line - taxpayers bailed out the banks and now banks aren't loaning money. The bailout money should have gone to us taxpayers! We sure enough would have spent it and stimulated the economy! Just my opinion. And just one other thought - Painesville I don't consider urban poverty. I recognise incomes are lower than other places within the county and maybe lower than state averages but I've lived in poverty, and Painesville looks like up to me.

 
At May 9, 2010 at 10:27 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I`m impressed that this person got an A+ ! Makes me think there`s hope for the future. This author gets an A+ from me too.

 
At May 10, 2010 at 2:46 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The A+ means nothing until we know what class it was written for. If this was for some sort of government class the teacher should be asked why conclusions were allowed to be drawn on "opinions" without getting "opinions" from the Hada's and Mcmahon's of this city.

If it was written for an english or composition class I could get to the A+, no real "research" here to suggest anything else.

 
At May 10, 2010 at 1:36 PM , Anonymous TERM>> said...

I left the research papers off the blog. send me a note and I will forward them to you. All the conclusions were drawn from data that the public has access to.
The question remains was it a truthful paper?
I did not mention blame in the Pizza Pan post all I did was post it.
Yes Kathy anyone can both blame it on bad "dough."

 
At May 10, 2010 at 2:28 PM , Anonymous ENOUGH PROPAGANDA said...

Went to my mailbox today and low and behold Painesville Magazine.
We have the Painesville Pride, The City newsletter and now a very colorful magazine, with nothing new in it. Whos idea was this? Who financed this? What was the cost? What fund paid for this.
Term, your blog. must cost well, close to nothing. What are all these publications costing the people?

 
At May 10, 2010 at 5:09 PM , Anonymous Kathy Sak said...

Painesville Magazine - read page 3, gives the publisher info. This magazine is not published by Painesville. The publisher makes money from ad sales. And on the pizza front, hey Term, I'm not saying they had bad pizza. Actually, I never had pizza from there and I do eat a lot of pizza. Guess that's my point - so many other places to chose from.

 
At May 10, 2010 at 6:16 PM , Anonymous TERM>> said...

Kathy, Last year I went to a city council meeting and brought up Painesville low ranking in Cleveland Magazine. Last in safety third from the bottom in education. I suggested they bring Cleveland magazine in on our "Taste of Painesville" and show them what possibilities Painesville had.
I believe Ms. McMahon and Mr. Hada did one better, go back to page 3
Great Lakes Publishing, also publishes Cleveland Magazine.What do you want to bet Painesville breaks into the top 50 this year? or at least makes a very sizeable jump.
That still does not explain where the money came from to publish and mail this out. Cleveland Clinic
along with Lake Health paid hefty fees for the covers. {Badger your healthcare dollars at work}
Who approved this and with what funds, that's the question that needs answered. Maybe the city had enough advertisers?

 
At May 11, 2010 at 5:13 AM , Anonymous Kathy Sak said...

CLEVELAND magazine put Painesville last in safety? Are you joking? I'll go look this up but I still say Painesville spent NO money in the production of this magazine, other than maybe buying ad space and there is nothing wrong with that.

 
At May 11, 2010 at 4:53 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kathy, we were 76th out of 76 according to the magazine. Terms not making things up. Also on the front cover of the magazine it's written; sponsored by the City of Painesville. What does sponsored mean to you?
Perception of being last, along with anyone reading the article is enough to put a bad light on Painesville.
Ask McMahon where the money came from?

 
At May 11, 2010 at 5:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

WOW! got my magazine today. Hey, where were the pictures of the African-Americans along with the Hispanics? I thought we were to celebrate our deversity?
Most advertisers were from outside the city median income $41,000????
The magazine should be called tomorrowland, or it's only make believe. Give me a beak!

 
At May 12, 2010 at 1:50 PM , Anonymous Kathy Sak said...

Okay, I'm sorry, I was wrong. Painesville, in cooperation with the publisher, did put out this magazine. I stopped in at city hall and learned: Painesville bought a full page full color ad for $2,000 and also paid postage of $1,551.81 to have them mailed. A total of 10,000 were printed. This is a promotional used by the city. Hey, I think it's very well done and at a total of $3,551 and some change, it's a great deal. Full color, heavy gloosy paper magazines such as this one are not cheap to produce. Ballpark, if you wanted to do one yourself, for 10,000 copies and mail at least half, expect to pay in the neighborhood of $20,000. I did not talk to any city official - the clerk showed me the paperwork. But I'm going to guess and say this is one way the city is trying to promote itself in a possitive manner.

 
At May 12, 2010 at 2:32 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did you bother to asked who approved the spending on this?
Am I also to assume the city pays to mail the Painesville Pride alond with the newsletter? At a cost of $1500.00 a month?

 
At May 12, 2010 at 2:49 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Whatever you say, but if I was Black or Hispanic I would be more then a little upset.

 
At May 12, 2010 at 3:58 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can we take that out of Hal's salary?

my copy is already lining the litter box.

 
At May 12, 2010 at 4:01 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

We got it, my kids laughed hysterically, held it up and
said;
Whoa! LOOK WHERE WE LIVE!

The Beav and Wally are out waxing the white walls on the Ford now.

 
At May 12, 2010 at 5:48 PM , Anonymous TERM>> said...

Ford? Ward Cleaver purchased only Chrysler Automobiles.
More useless information I have aquired.

 
At May 13, 2010 at 4:58 AM , Anonymous Kathy Sak said...

I didn't bother to ask who approved this - let's figure it out with a multiple choice question and answer session. Question: Who approved spending $3,500 for this magazine?
A. City manager
B. Asst. city manager who reports to city manager
C. Economic Dev. director who reports to asst. city manager who reports to city manager
D. Secretary in charge of communications who reports to economic development director who reports to asst. city manager who reports to city manager
E. City council who reports to council president who reports to city manager

 
At May 13, 2010 at 7:08 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why would the city have a magazine printed like this? I agree no diversity at all, who does the city manager think shes fooling? I am ashamed of how I have stood behind the city and now this? This is false advertising. I watch all council meeting and I have never seen this expense talked about.

 
At May 13, 2010 at 7:14 PM , Anonymous TERM>> said...

$3,500 chicken feed. Ask the city what they have spent on outside legal fees on top of paying for the law department?
How much in the last three years?
a. $53,000
b.$111,000
c.$250,000
d.$440,000
e $720,000

 
At May 15, 2010 at 12:30 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

THE CITY MANAGER IS ALSO THE SAFETY DIRECTOR which is the police chief boss SO DON'T EXPECT ANY BETTER FROM OUR "NEW CHIEF" remember he has been working with our city police dept for several YEAR'S. how about that..

 
At May 16, 2010 at 7:18 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

OMG, While I slept all the Black, and Hispanic people left Painesville!
Disneyland is coming to downtown?
Or how stupid does this administration think we are?

 
At May 16, 2010 at 11:04 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm calling BS on the remarks about the Painesville Magazine with "No Diversity". Did any of you actually look at it or are you just repeating the first incorrect post?

The cover is "Taste of Painesville" , open to all citizens. Want to complain?, ask the Blacks and Hispanic why they don't support it! There was food and restaurants there from both ethnic groups.

The next page with people is the one with the biggest picture our Harvey Grads, wait. is that blacks and hispanics and whites in the picture?

Then a few on pages with small pictures - farmers market, 5 people, yes all of 5 people, and omg they are all white.

Then they highlighted the Deanes they are white. Then two businesses, and wait, one of those is owned by a black!

And that is it!, Where is the justification for the complaints?

 
At May 16, 2010 at 12:30 PM , Anonymous TERM>> said...

11:04 You can make your point. I think what myself and some of the other poster are asking was this magazine a true interpretation of the city we live in?
Most of us have heard over and over about "Diversity" Did this publication mention or show any?
City schools, nice buildings but funny no mention of ranking.
Finally its the Blacks and Hispanics fault they weren't in the cover picture, or portrayed more in this magazine. Maybe they didn't serve the purpose of what the city wanted people to see?
The question I ask was this magazine for the people who live in Painesville? Was it meant for outside consumption?
Was it portrayed accurately?
Who authorized this?
There's plenty of justification for the complaints.

 
At May 16, 2010 at 12:33 PM , Anonymous TERM>> said...

Chicken Feed
The correct answer to the above question I asked about outside law firms.
D. $440,000 in three years

You wonder where all the money goes?

 
At May 16, 2010 at 1:04 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Now is the post Welcome Back correct or is the Painesville Magazine? Justification?I know what I see and believe, do you?

 
At May 24, 2010 at 6:30 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

who is on the 'new image committee" for painesville, besides JIM FODOR? this is probably where the idea for the magazine came from? at one of the council meetings he asked about BILLBOARDS, to advertise for the city.the IMAGE COMMITTEE, is trying to make painesville a more acceptable city in the county. CONCERNED CITIZEN

 
At May 24, 2010 at 3:36 PM , Anonymous TERM>> said...

6:30 Just a wild guess but probably current or retired employees of the city, or the schools. Control is what is important. That's how they roll.
Funny they need alot more then a billboard.

 
At May 24, 2010 at 5:43 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am finding it absolutely unacceptable that they (the city leaders) first make our city into a sanctuary city for illegals, when there were enough problems in this city with people to begin with, and now they are spending our money trying to show people that Painsville is a great city. I don't see anything that has been done to get rid of the illegals, our schools are ridiculous because of them, with a 50% grading policy, and we're spending money advertising how great we are.

Honestly, this administration has got to go. I mean, come on already. Get rid of the illegals, and get rid of the 50% grading policy. I don't know what kind of shape Argonne Arms, etc. is in now -- better I think (correct me if I am wrong) now that they have new policies for these apartment buildings, so maybe if the first two things were accomplished we could actually begin to BE a great city.

 
At May 25, 2010 at 9:08 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

IN TODAYS NEWS HARALD, MAY 25TH, THER IS AN ARTICLE ABOUT OUR COUNTRY, WRITTEN BY GERRI FRACKOWIAK, IN THE LETTERS TO THE EDITORS SECTION.DOES ANYONE ON THIS BLOG KNOW HOW MANY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THERE ARE AT THIS POINT AND TIME IN THE CITY OF PAINESVILLE? DO ARE ELECTED CITY OFFICIALS EVEN CARE THAT THERE ARE A SIZABLE AMOUNT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN THE CITY? WE, AS THE CITIZENS OF THIS FAIR CITY, CANNOT EVEN FATHOM WHY IS IS A CONTINUNING MATTER, WITH NO RESOLVE. WHATS WRONG WITH OUR CITYS LAW ENFORCEMENT? ( AND PLEASE DON'T SAY THIS IS A FEDERAL MATTER, THAT IS JUST A COP-OUT).
a concerned citizen

 
At May 25, 2010 at 8:25 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

support meeting date posted on LA- BAMA POST. check it out.. help our town attend. cocerned resident]....

 
At May 26, 2010 at 11:14 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

O n Tuesday January
26, the Painesville
City Fire Department
was dispatched to 431
Richmond Street, Lake
Truck, for a person pinned
under a bus. The Fire Department
was notified at
12:22 p.m. and arrived 1
minute and 59 seconds after
dispatch.

The patient
was extricated and
moved to the ambulance
and was in
route to the hospital
9 minutes after the crews
arrival. While in route the
crew asked that a helicopter
be requested
to transfer
the patient to
a Level 1
trauma hospital.
The
patient arrived
at Tri-
Point Hospital
at 12:40
p.m., just 18 minutes after
initial dispatch.
The patient was
flown via medical helicopter
to a receiving trauma 1 hospital
in Cleveland. He was
reportedly released the same
day with no serious injuries.
-----------------------------------
My question is; Why has millions of dollars been spent for a new hospital with no Level 1
trauma facilities? This is criminal!

 
At May 27, 2010 at 2:24 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe because Lake Health is not accountable to anyone?

 

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