<![CDATA[David Fiebig Music - City Update Archive]]>Thu, 04 Apr 2024 10:58:45 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Retirement letter]]>Mon, 27 Jan 2020 08:00:00 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/retirement-letterOpen Letter to the Community,
My goal as a councilman has been to use my abilities to strive to make Willoughby Hills an excellent place to live, work and raise a family, or retire. We accomplish this by working together to uphold our laws, our shared values and our common vision for our community.

However it has become clear since the last election, the direction our local government is taking is one that is not congruent with my goal. Therefore I submit my immediate resignation and announce my retirement from politics.

Almost everyone wants the best from our city government. During my service on council for the last 12 years, I have never forgotten who I work for; I have maintained the ideals that brought me into your service: fiscal responsibility, accountability, transparency and keeping the most important things first, roads, police, fire and emergency safety.

I was hoping to finish the final two years of my term but the last council meeting was the final straw for me.

Laws were “passed” in violation of ORC 705.15 that required a 3/4 majority of council to waive three readings. The laws were to restrict the minutes to the interpretation by the clerk, who is also the mayor’s administrative secretary. Citing the amount of hours it takes to transcribe the words of council displays a move to censor the ability for a citizen to read exactly what was said at a meeting and to decide subjectively what’s important. The public’s right to information should be paramount.

Council also waived and voted to change the structure and eliminate Standing Committees with limited debate and without three readings. Initially introduced with a vague and misleading heading, this gives all power and control to one person, the council President or Vice President, to run those meetings and report his own version of minutes to the public. The chair even refused to report on his committee’s meeting to those who were not present and the public as a whole.

So since it was an illegal vote, now members could be sued. This is not what any citizen should have to endure in order to give back in community service.

No one should go to work and feel threatened and in fear of their life. Sitting in front of a man who was once removed from the chamber for being disruptive, who sued me, threatened to sue me again, and reaching into a large bag visibly shaking and talking with a wavering voice, I genuinely feared as to what he may pull out of this large bag.

Instead of a top priority to cast a wide net to hire an impartial and independent law director, the city still does not have one, and if I hadn’t asked the question it wouldn’t have even been mentioned by the Mayor. Our local government is not a family or a mom and pop store. It is a multimillion dollar organization which needs professional advice on complex issues.

I’ve been able to accomplish many things, sometimes against the establishment, like calling out payments to council members and official’s family business, illegal massage parlor business, gambling and misuse of public property and false narratives on tax hikes and charter amendments. I’ve championed many things too, like open government and transparency, low taxes, reduced sewer fees, improvement in police and fire spending, balanced budgets and economic development, and numerous quality of life issues. Now, one majority voting in a bloc has been replaced by another doing the same group think.

I predict more lawsuits and proposed tax hikes (even with a half million 2019 budget surplus) in the coming months. At this point in my life, I am no longer willing to subject myself to the acrimony in our local politics. I wish to return to being just a good neighbor and friend.

I salute those professionals who serve on our police, fire and service departments and thank you. For those friends and relationships I’ve developed over the years, I will cherish.

I will turn to running my thriving business and enjoy the loving family I am blessed to have. God Bless you and God save Willoughby Hills.

Respectfully submitted,
Dave Fiebig

Monday morning January 27, 2020]]><![CDATA[Willoughby HIlls to Install a Police SUb Station near Bishop and Chardon Rd SHopping Plaza]]>Fri, 26 Oct 2018 14:27:04 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/willoughby-hills-to-install-a-police-sub-station-near-bishop-and-chardon-rd-shopping-plazaThe City of Willoughby Hills will be placing a Police Substation in the former bank building at 27701 Chardon Rd near Giant Eagle. The owners are providing this to the city rent free for a five year period with a two year “90day out” clause. Hopefully the presence of our department will give support and a police presence to that area of our city to help spur economic development and peace of mind to our residents and visitors. Looking forward to seeing how this helps and I welcome your feedback.

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]]><![CDATA[VOTE NO to the 9.]]>Sat, 29 Sep 2018 19:08:13 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/vote-no-to-the-9Dear Neighbor,
There will be 9 Charter amendments on your November ballot. These amendments were rushed through by a few council members during the August recess. The meetings were purposefully called the week I was away on family business. Legislation as impactful as this should be crafted in full public transparency. There was no prior public reading of this legislation. It was passed in one special session that was called with only 24 hours notice.

These amendments alter the balance of power in the city. Among other changes, these proposed amendments dictate that four council members must agree to confirm all the mayor’s department heads and commission members. The proposed charter abolishes a mayor’s supervision of department heads.  It dictates that four council members may remove the elected mayor on a whim and without due process. I feel that this is wrong, and will negatively disrupt the operation of our city, regardless of who the mayor is.

In summary, it gives a council administrative authority and dominion.

This legislation was not reviewed by a city law director and our city dangerously still does not have one. Four Council members and the mayor do not agree on who to hire. This is a perfect example of why it’s bad policy. You can’t have five people steer a ship.
 
Good city government does not change the power structure of its government without considerable  debate prior to asking voters to approve a plan. Do not be fooled by calls to eliminate nepotism or   lawsuits or for “fairness” and “balance.” It is a plain and simple power shift.
 
The questions that will appear on the ballot seem misleading and inaccurate. The details and the    ramifications might be lost to the average voter who feels overwhelmed reading 28 pages of text.

I am voting No to the 9. I urge you to as well.

Let’s continue to build our city and move in a positive direction. Despite this action, there have been many productive developments: Businesses are moving in, roads are being paved, our Dispatch      Center’s recent cost saving move, lower sewer fees, continuing to make good purchasing decisions for police, fire, roads, and more. Join with me to help be a positive force in our city!       
Best Wishes,    
Dave               
P.S. Don't miss your invitation to Campbell Chili and Conversation!
]]><![CDATA[July notes...]]>Wed, 01 Aug 2018 15:29:41 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/july-notesMy personal notes for July:

Our Willoughby Hills council met Thursday July 27th and heard from the Mayor that the Fifth Third bank will be closing on Chardon near Bishop. This is another loss to the area. The Salvation Army will be moving in across the street in the plaza but losing a bank is not a good thing. Retail commercial development is difficult and challenging.

The city has hired a new firefighter/paramedic. We continue to move toward full staffing levels to be able to provide emergency services to our residents. This is a top priority.

We continued the 2nd reading of a law director candidate while the vetting process continues. Council renewed the agreement with the software company, CODY, that provides for and integrated public safety. This is a highly respected software that will continue to serve us beyond the move of the dispatch center to Lake County. By the way, CODY is a privately-held, woman-owned family company.

Council accepted the bid for our street resurfacing for his year. We waived three readings of the ordinance to move forward quickly. As the Service Committee Chair, I plan to start the process on next year's resurfacing program this fall so we don't push so far into the summer to begin work. Council also passed a small cell facilities and wireless support structure ordinance since Ohio law has allowed right of way access starting August 1st. This gives our city some control over access to our streets.

There were four Resolutions passed; approving Lake County solid waste 5 year plan, a non-binding joint statement on airport noise, recognizing September as National Suicide Prevention, and acknowledging resident Wallie Burnett on the Lions Fellowship award. I announced that I will gladly compile and distribute a list of participating residents for the Willoughby Hills Community Garage Sale Day on August 4th.

Earlier in July, I was on vacation when Council met. The tax budget was passed. The street bids were announced. There were resolutions to recognize two residents on the attainment of Eagle Scouts, both of whom are my sons. This resolution was prepared and passed without my prior knowledge. An ordinance will be drafted to hire an attorney to represent the Council President against the lawsuit filed by the Mayor. The Grange and the use of the building was discussed, as was a proposed Landmark Commission at a committee meeting and passed at this meeting. The recreations commission meeting had been canceled due to lack of a quorum. A resolution for national prostate cancer month was approved. Reiterated for the community was the City of Willoughby Hills Brush and Leaf Drop Off is closed. Material can be Brought to: Green Vision Compost Facility 1291 E 289th Street Wickliffe, Ohio 44092. Hours are M - F 7:00am to 4:00 pm.

Council is typically in recess for August. Our Planning and Zoning board will continue to meet and work continues, just no formal Council meetings are planned for August. However, meetings may be called. Our City Charter calls for Council to meet 11 times during the year. Enjoy these summer days!

]]><![CDATA[My Notes from Last Night's Council Meeting]]>Fri, 29 Jun 2018 20:01:48 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/my-notes-from-last-nights-council-meeting7986296Hello!
Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July! Fireworks at Willoughby South will go on as previous years but parking will be challenging due to construction.

Council President Fellows started the meeting with recognition of the Mentor Police Officer killed in the line of duty. She read the obituary and there was a moment of silence. Our entire city mourns the loss, and our prayers to his family and those close to him. This tragedy reminds us of the danger that our officers face daily to protect and serve us.
There were four council meetings minutes to approve since April 24th, (and many committee meetings) held in the last few weeks. Our Clerk Victoria Savage has been transcribing Council meetings audio word for word. The audio from the meeting is the “official” record but the minutes can be read here also:
http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/government/city_council/records/2018_meeting_agendas_minutes_and_audios2.php
She does a good job and is diligent to be accurate.

Was pleased to hear from that a 120 employee business is looking at moving into our city. We need more of that type of business activity to create a good tax base for providing city services. Our Dispatch center move is moving ahead for a projected August 1st transfer.

I've had conversations with the owner of the shopping plaza regarding an offer and contract for a police substation on Chardon Rd near Bishop. The details of the agreement need to be fully and thoroughly reviewed before I would be comfortable with advising that we make the move. It would be irresponsible to jump into a long term deal with out legal review. That's why Council reiterated to the Mayor that we need to review applicant for the position of law director. I received his assurance that process is moving forward.

Two bids were received for five road projects; Somrack and Jennie, Bates, Red Fox and Kennelly. Hopefully those roads will be completed in August.

Our city needs to streamline the hiring process, without cutting too many corners, for hiring firefighters and paramedics. Willoughby Hills Fire Department needs to be fully staffed, it is critical for the safety of our residents and guests that are here.

Council accepted the contract of Bowen and Associates to provide zoning administration, we read the county required Tax Budget for the first of three readings, and passed a resolution.

The Community Garage Sale day was going to be canceled by the Mayor. He said he did not have anyone to take addresses for the sale. However, back when I first proposed the Community Garage Sale. I never thought we needed to burden paid city employees to record addresses and do promotion. I posted the event on Facebook, wrote an ad for Craigslist and hopefully others will share the information over social media as well. We can do this community effort together to make for a fun and enjoyable day (or weekend as most sales start on Thursday traditionally).

There was no mention of the Mayor's lawsuit as a private citizen against the City. He again has chosen to take to court his grievance over a Council veto. At issue is who can represent the city against an unfair labor practice claim because of Council's decision for layoffs of administrative personnel to prioritize hiring firefighters and paving roads, with a Union formed by his former secretary that the Mayor has fully and unconditionally supported all of their excessive and unsustainable demands.

The SERB board referred the case to mediation, rather than ruling on it for either party.
Substantial work is complete on the Meadowbrook Pump Station Replacement at 31021 Meadowbrook Drive. I have added photos from our City Engineer Mr. Difranco.
Audio link to the full meeting:  http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0628.18-Pt-1.MP3

]]><![CDATA[My Notes from Last night's Council meeting]]>Fri, 15 Jun 2018 22:52:29 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/my-notes-from-last-nights-council-meeting1907388My Personal Notes.

Eventful evening at Willoughby Hills City Council last night. As you see in the photo to the right, the room was full. A letter was apparently circulated in the community from a resident expressing extreme disappointment in our Mayor over the decision to allow a blood plasma donation business into our city. This type of facility typically draws people who are financially struggling and most neighboring businesses and residents do not feel that the business is a positive development.

The planning commission that voted to allow it was advised at the last minute, by Mayor Weger's friend and longtime city prosecutor and former councilman, who lost his case suing the city, was embroiled in controversy regarding his family's business accepting our city's contracts worth thousands of dollars, and who was a failed political candidate who has been criticized for his behavior in selectively enforcing laws-like not prosecuting workplace violence at our City Hall. The Mayor had a month since we asked him to provide a legal opinion in this matter. He waited until the final few minutes to allow me to ask questions. As far as I know, no one had the opportunity to debate this prior to the vote that night. I completely disagreed with this lawyer's last minute opinion, tried my best to sway the mayor's commission with the right way to view this from the resident's perceptive and legally winnable reasoning, but in the end was out voted. The lawyer friend of Mr. Weger compromised our city's position by publicly declaring his opinion as an "expert" and a city employee. Even if the planning commission voted it down, a lawsuit would have pointed to his opinion as evidence. It's a travesty.

The residents (and Council) lost their voice in this "end around" the process we all thought that would include public hearings and the opportunity to express our opinion and to vote. I have continued to hear from residents, business owners, and public officials today regarding the actions and the potential fallout from the Mayor's end around. I will try to find ways to regulate or look at fees on this operation. The public portion from last night's meeting was passionate and is worth a listen.

Council voted to cut sewer fees. This is a byproduct of prioritizing spending to focus on Roads, Police operations and Fire and safety rescue over administrative salaries. I was glad to have again voted after leading the way last time to look at how much in taxes and fees the city takes from its residents and to only take what is absolutely necessary and only after finding all possible savings in expenditures.

I have held numerous meetings about moving the operations of our police and fire dispatching to the Lake County operations center. Last night, we formally voted unanimously to move forward with the plan. I have been pleased with the cooperation I have received from the county and our administration to make possible more than a quarter million of annual savings yearly and to eliminate the nearly half million in upcoming expenses in technology upgrades. This will be a better service at a lower cost. It took a lot of work to get to this point, and there is more work to do but we are heading in the right direction.

Council approved the engineering services and work to be done to repair Dodd Rd, which is literally about to fall into the River if not addressed. Looking forward to next year fully repairing the entire street of Dodd. We approved going out to bid for five roads: Kennelly, Red Fox Pass, Somrack, Jennie and Bates. Glad to have made this happen since the Mayor's budget allowed for only two road repairs. Council re-prioritized to more than double the number of roads to be resurfaced this year. I am working side by side with my colleagues to make sure this trend to continue in the years ahead.

Council approved the 6-month contract for zoning to be done by our Engineer, however this is a stop-gap that is stretching the city too thin. Better management is needed to streamline operations. I have little faith that Mayor Weger is able to accomplish this, I have no confidence in his leadership.

Council approved an extension for the cell tower to be built at the Miller Rd property. They have run into regulations issues at the federal level (imagine that?).

Council did not second the motion of Councilman Hallum to provide the Mayor's former secretary who has a private LLC called CornFest that wants to use our city property and presumably, the services of our police and fire department to hold her event. Since she was a candidate for office, this would have the appearance of a political rally. Since she is suing the city though the union she formed, and the Mayor supports, and being allowed by him to use the City website for personal political messages, and to use city-paid voice mail to send a message of personal political nature, I do not feel the spirit of extending taxpayer's dollars for this type of activity was warranted. Further, there was no information written or given by Mr Hallum that answered any of my or my colleagues legitimate questions regarding the details of the request. I again asked the Mayor to remove the voice mail messages and website writings as did several members of the public. They are inappropriate. Even though the motion was dead, the event appeared on the website prior to the vote and remains today. Where is the vote of your elected Council if ignored by the administration?

There was considerable outcry regarding the massage parlor the Mayor allowed to operate in the city for more than a year, right in the center of our town. I personally spent considerable time trying to fight this through regular channels and was blocked. Finally, public pressure built enough through my continued comments in the public and in our re-election campaign last fall. It should have never been allowed to open, whether is was in Mr. Hallum's Central District or anywhere in our city. The blood plasma center should never had been allowed to open in our B3 Zoned district, or anywhere in our city. Veiled gambling places should not be allowed to operate in our city, whether they were gambling on the poker table or the pool table in the Maple Grove Grange or they call the place an “internet cafe”.

The Council and Mayor interviewed a well qualified candidate for the position of Law Director last night, in an executive session. It's up to the Mayor to appoint, and it takes four members of Council to confirm. The city currently has no legal guidance on a vast number of issues.

Willoughby Hills is such a fine community of residents and valuable contributing businesses with a great location. Within our city, we have gems like our parks with Squire's Castle, Manakiki, Penfield's Frank Lloyd Wright house and so much more. It becomes a shame when city leadership turns a blind eye to its residents. Your city Council now has a vast majority of members who are working hard to turn this ship around. We need your help however. It was so good to see residents come to our meeting, get on the phone with me, texting and reaching out. I'm glad to help do my part. I don't forget, I work for you. Audio link:  http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0614.18-Pt-1.MP3

On Monday, June 18th at 7pm, I will have a Safety Committee meeting to discuss opening a police substation at the shopping plaza at Bishop and Chardon Rds. Also we will discuss speed limit enforcement through manned electronic laser technology. You  are welcome to attend.
]]><![CDATA[My Notes from Last Night's Council meeting]]>Fri, 25 May 2018 16:35:18 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/my-notes-from-last-nights-council-meeting2206046My Personal Notes:

Since today is our wedding anniversary I will be brief, so I can dedicate some time to celebrate with my love and the greatest decision I ever made, to ask Joyce if she would marry me!

Our Safety committee began promptly at 6pm, I chaired and my members Jan Majka and Laura Pizmoht were joined by all of Council and the Mayor. Our police chief and fire lieutenant spoke in support of moving operations of our dispatch services to the Lake County Emergency Operations Center. I asked the Mayor to confirm what he told me in the Tuesday morning meeting the facility to discuss the “nuts and bolts” of moving operations. Mayor and Council need to be together on this, assuming the vote of Council is affirmative. The legislation was placed on first reading. The target date to move over is August 1. We still have details to iron out. For example, keeping at least one employee to manage certain tasks. However, it has become clearer that there would be a significant cost savings to our residents to make this move, while improving technology that is presently available to us as a community.

The second portion of our Safety meeting was devoted to discuss manned laser photo speed enforcement with an organization that would provide the equipment, reimburses our city to pay officer's wages and benefits in exchange for a percentage of the ticket fee. Safety is first. Speed enforcement is a deterrent to avoid crashes. Death from car accidents is a major cause of loss of life on our country. Making Willoughby Hills a safe community is a goal. This method of traffic law enforcement allows a legal means of achieving that goal. This was the first meeting to discuss, and I believe that it warrants further discussion.

In our 2018 budget, two administrative positions at city hall were eliminated along with some part time community center “monitors” and instead, firefighters and paramedics are being hired to shift resources to where it helps residents more crucially – saving lives. One firefighter has been sworn in so far. More are on the way. A new police officer has also been sworn in. I've heard the Mayor forgot to come swear this officer in. Our Mayor also “forgot” to respond to the unfair labor practice that the secretary's union filed as a grievance against council's unanimous decision that night to shift resources away from administration and into fire safety, paramedics and road repairs. The city will be able to fully repair five roads this year instead of two small cul de sacs that were planned by this administration. We are still so far behind in fixing roads. We literally have Dodd's Road “falling in the river” and are working on a slope failure repair. These are our priorities.

This was the first meeting in many missed meetings that the city mayor attended. I was very disappointed in his answers to questions. He even blatantly lied to council. It is sad. I do not realistically know how anyone could think our city is being properly managed when people he hires to fill positions that have absolutely no experience in the field. Candidates are being asked to be confirmed by council with a “take it or leave it” approach by the Mayor. He has had no idea of working together to find the best possible pool of candidates to fill the law director position even though he needs four votes of Council to confirm. Other positions what could easily be filled are being left open so much so that it appears there is a “strike” by city workers. The Mayor throws around terms like “scab” then pretends he is qualified to defend the city's position in a union dispute – one that he clearly supports the union's unwarranted claims. Council voted to override his veto and will have the council president represent the city's interest in defending taxpayers against an unfair labor practice (he even refuses to hire a lawyer to defend us and said he can do it better), so we can hire more firefighters and paramedics to serve for our aging population and the increase that a new senior apartment building has added to our fire department's demands, and to pave our crumbling infrastructure.

I thought a resident said it well in public portion quoting a movie line, “ The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.”

Have a very happy and safe Memorial Day weekend! Please drive carefully.
The audio is here: http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0524.18.MP3

]]><![CDATA[My notes from last night's (Special) Council meeting]]>Fri, 18 May 2018 23:51:51 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/my-notes-from-last-nights-special-council-meetingMy personal notes:

Continuing on with the important business of running our municipal government, Council met in a “Special” meeting last night to address two pressing matters. Special meetings can be called with 24 hours notice, when matters that cannot wait must be addressed. This is in addition to the Charter required 11 meetings per year. There was 48 hours notice of this meeting.

Prior to the Special meeting was a Planning and Zoning and Architectural review meeting. I am the Council representative – a voting member. We welcomed a new mayoral appointee, Mr. James Shannon of Dodd Rd. One issue was on the agenda, the review of a new office building just north of the Animal Hospital on SOM center, north of Chardon Rd. The preliminary approval was given to Loreto Development company, who also owns an manages several properties in the Charon & SOM area. This is a two story building with elevator they will be used for office & professional work. The plans looked good, the design looked good, and the equivalency for some side setback can be accomplished with proper screening. This is the type of economic development the City is seeking and we welcome this new addition as we hope plans continue to move forward. The existing house on that land is in need of serious repair and will be torn done. Mid-July or August would be the anticipated start date assuming final approval is granted.

There was a deadline (today) for purchasing the road salt that the City uses every winter. Last meeting, Council was not given by our Mayor, the number of tons requested in time for the meeting. I held a Service meeting in February to address the concerns residents presented about unsalted, dangerous roads. I asked for an increase in amount of road salt we buy and spread to address these concerns. We have been able to appropriate more funding for road salt for this year through our budget, and a 19% increase was accomplished. Council passed the ordinance unanimously. After the meeting I met with our Road superintendent and asked him to work out a “high priority' safety road map where additional salt would be dropped to make the road safer. Those who know our City may also suggest certain areas to me or him. For example, Eddy Rd across from Manakiki where the wind whips snow drifts onto the road would be a good example of a high priority for more ice melting salt.

The second matter was to create legislation that allows the City's and taxpayer's interests to be fairly represented by an impartial party. It has been clear to members of Council that our Mayor has neglected his responsibility to defend the City's interest in favor of a newly formed union led by his former secretary. I discovered that a deadline had passed last Monday with no defense from our Mayor, which would have meant the union's claimed allegations, which are untrue, would have been ruled in the union's favor. I alerted our Council President and legislation was created.

Since the Mayor chose not to defend the city, it has become clear that his duty to perform his sworn obligation has been compromised.

The Mayor has failed to appear again last night, for our Council meeting and for the Planning & Zoning meeting. He has missed somewhere around 6 of the last 7 meetings he should have attended. Stopping showing up to answer questions is unacceptable. Stopping work or closing buildings is unacceptable. Closing Mayor's Court, while entirely a Mayor's decision, is wrong-headed and a bad move for our community as it serves a valuable function that is more cost effective than another community's municipal court. He has failed to respond to my questions as to where he was or to explain his actions. I am in receipt of an email today that there will be no more commission meetings. Work stoppage is unlawful and violates union rules. These are bad decisions by the person responsible for leadership in our community's administration.

Council continues to work on your behalf and is doing our best to be sure funding is there for more road work - five roads this year instead of two – and hiring more firefighters and paramedics to respond the increasing demands of our aging population and huge increase in senior housing.

Our Council President spoke passionately about how she was asked by Commissioner Cirino to meet with our Mayor and him. They had a three-hour meeting, she said, that started rough but progress was being made toward working together. Another meeting was scheduled but the Mayor canceled it without explanation. This bad faith effort is not going to move our city forward. Hiding and not showing up for public meetings is not the kind of leadership that Willoughby Hills deserves.

I certainly hope that this season of graduations, prom, spring flowers, fresh air and our open parks is going to be enjoyed by you and our family here in our City. City government can sure be trying at times but rest assured your Councilman at Large is keeping an eye on the ball, and working for you, as always. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions. The meeting audio is below: http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0517.18.MP3
]]><![CDATA[My Notes from Last Night's Council Meeting]]>Fri, 11 May 2018 19:08:57 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/my-notes-from-last-nights-council-meeting5533864My personal notes: Three Committee meetings prior to last night's Regular Council. First, I chaired the Safety Committee; members Councilwoman Jan Majka and Councilwoman Laura Pizmoht. Mayor Weger was invited to attend to failed to appear nor did he send notice that he would not be there. That was disappointing as we need to work together and committee meetings and Council meetings are primary means of communicating in a public body. We discussed the dispatch center of Willoughby Hills. This unit handles the 911 and other calls and dispatches those calls to police and fire/EMS rescue operations.

There is a central emergency operations dispatch center for Lake County. There was a proposal presented to our Mayor more than a year ago, I found out. He never shared the information to our Council. I thought we should consider it now that we found out about it.

The cost savings to our residents to move the dispatch operations to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) would be significant. Not only several thousand dollars per year but also an improvement in operations technically.

Our Committee heard from experts and professionals including our Police Chief, Acting Fire Chief, and Fire Lt. Dimattia who works at the EOC part-time. Captain Warner and Deputy Sheriff Leonbruno gave testimony and answered questions from the committee and the public. The next step is to review the contract and discuss logistics for a potential move by a possible target date of August 1st. 2018.

Next meeting was my Chair as Planning and Zoning Committee of Council with Councilwoman Pizmoht and Councilwoman Laura Lenz. Topic was the proposal of CSL Plasma Donation Centers to locate an operation at the building that houses the Lasalle Furniture and Marc's. The business had a few weeks prior presented to our City Planning and Zoning and Architectural Review Board, all Mayor appointees, except me and the Mayor himself.

Does a Blood Plasma Donation center fit the description of B3 zoning in our city? That is the question that came before the commission, and it was referred to the Council Committee. I don't think it fits the intent of the business description. However it is the commission that has the decision making ability in our city and we referred the matter back to them after hearing from the proposed business and their attorney. We recommended the commission get legal advice as well.

Personnel Relations was the next meeting and that was Chair Pizmoht, and John Plecnik and three residents including new member Kathy Strancar. Their discussion centered around a mayor's proposed raise to the Police Chief and Road Superintendent.

The Council meeting started just about 8pm. Our agenda included the second reading of a $37k grant for new windows on city property, we accepted that. Next was a proposed agreement with the “boys league' – the independent sports group that has been referred to Chris Hallum recreation committee and on our agenda since January. Since the matter has not been resolved, I suggested we table it until such time that the issue can be contractually rectified. Council voted affirmation. Final legislation was to appropriate $41.4k in engineering fees for repaving 5 roads in our city: Kennelly, Red Fox, Jennie, Somrack and Bates.

Council moved to Executive session to discuss the appointment of a Law Director the Mayor interviewed and recommended. Prior to that, I was honored by my colleagues and the public in attendance to have had my son recognized for his Eagle rank accomplishment in Scouting. The interview process lasted two hours. I arrived at City Hall at 5pm and left at almost midnight – long night! Audio is below for the Council meeting:
http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0510.18-Pt-1.MP3
]]><![CDATA[My Notes from Last Night's Council Meeting]]>Fri, 13 Apr 2018 18:27:09 GMThttp://davidfiebig.com/city-update-archive/my-notes-from-last-nights-council-meeting6633527Council meeting of April 14th, all present except the Mayor. He emailed that he had another commitment. The first order of business was to address the Mayor's veto of two ordinances that Council passed last meeting. After careful consideration, I voted along with 5 members to set aside the vetoes and to move forward with (1) Ordinance 2018-19, that is in the best interest of the residents for Council to formally establish employment positions in the City of Willoughby Hills that are sufficient to accomplish the objective of orderly and proper administration of the polices and ordinances of the City of Willoughby Hills, and to eliminate others that are not needed.

The Mayor's solution to raise ambulance fees was considered a few months ago and rejected. Raising taxes and fees is his easy way out. I don't agree with charging more and becoming the highest fee–highest taxed community when other solutions are available and the city certainly has these options. While “painful” to some, this is the prudent way to spend city resources. Good and proper management always finds a way to deliver in well run organizations. Sometimes organizations need to tighten their belt and set priorities. Council has Roads, Police and Fire/EMS safety as top priorities.

The City is currently without a Law Director, due to the negligence of the Mayor to appoint only one rejected applicant since the September resignation of the former director, who then sued the city and lost his case demanding taxpayers pay for his indemnity over a potential malpractice claim. Not having legal counsel is troubling as was noted in the Recreation committee meeting just prior to the Regular Council meeting. A city has numerous legal issues and needs competent, impartial advice. Keep in mind, Council still would likely hire a labor specialist so, by law, Council acted to defend taxpayers against potential action by the newly formed union by the Mayor's Secretary and other administrative staff, over their demands. The veto was set aside on (2) Ordinance 2018-21 by a vote of 6-1.

Both the Finance Director and City Engineer had no formal report. I asked to be sure that the 2018 budget was filed timely with the County, as required. We were told it was. I reported on the Planning commission meeting in committee reports, regarding two new homes and the positive addition of a basketball gym for Aspire Fitness to go in the closed OfficeMax at Bishop/Chardon. There was a plasma donation center that wants to lease space next to Marc's and that will be referred to the Planning Committee of Council of which I am Chair, to review our current zoning ordinance, since there were significant questions as to the viability of that type of operation in that district.

Left on third reading was ordinance 2018-5 since January discussed in Recreation regarding the agreement with a sports league. Council passed the amended 2018-22 to appeal the judge';s verdict in part of the Weger vs. City of Willoughby Hills case. Also, Council passed 2018-23 to reduce the fees for sewage entering the Willoughby system, in line with their recent request.

Here is a link to the audio, to the meeting just under an hour:
http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0412.18.MP3
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