Cleveland Heights: Forest Hill Park update

[rimfireOH]

I hope this is the right sub-forum for this; if not, please feel free to redirect me...

My daughter and I dropped by the Lee Boulevard and Forest Hill Boulevard entrances to Forest Hill Park in Cleveland Heights last night and saw the Weapons Prohibited signs that reference city ordinance 923.10 (repealed in 2011, thanks to OFCC!) at both locations.

So, I sent a quick note this morning to Larry Shaw, Commissioner for Parks and Recreation (borrowing heavily from MWSY):

From: <snip>
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2014 9:33 AM
To: Larry Shaw
Subject: Forest Hill Park: Weapons Prohibited signs

Dear Mr. Shaw-

Can you please advise me on the rules regarding firearms at Forest Hill Park and other parks in Cleveland Heights?

I was advised by a friend that firearms aren't allowed at Forest Hill Park and when I drove by yesterday to check it out, I saw that there are Weapons Prohibited signs at both the Lee Boulevard and Forest Hill Boulevard entrances. They reference city ordinance 923.10 which appears to have been repealed in late 2011, more than two years ago.

Is there a reason the signs are still up? If the ordinance they refer to has been repealed, when are the signs scheduled to come down?

Many thanks for looking into this for me and if there's a different department I should be working with, please feel free to redirect me.

A few hours later I got this reply:

On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 12:29 PM, Larry Shaw wrote:
Thank you for your m essage. The signs will be taken down shortlty.

I'll post an update when these two entrances are de-posted.

[pirateguy191]

You should have asked him if you could help..................with the signs and his spelling.

[MyWifeSaidYes]

I hope this is the right sub-forum for this; if not, please feel free to redirect me...

Definitely the right place.

A few hours later I got this reply:

On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 12:29 PM, Larry Shaw wrote:
Thank you for your m essage. The signs will be taken down shortlty.

How did you feel when you received that email?

[rimfireOH]

How did you feel when you received that email?

Recoil. Oh, wait, wrong question.<grin>

Relieved. I was concerned I was going to be ignored or was going to get an attitude, but thankfully that didn't happen. So I was pretty pumped -- very exited that this was going to happen. Ask me again next Friday -- if they're still up, I may not be so excited. (Should I offer to get out there with my ratchet set and step ladder? It might be pretty sweet to present one to OFCC!)

Somehow, the "bike friendly" bronze award signs made it up all over town in the middle of this deep winter.
And a couple years ago, the business-area curfew signs made it up within 24 hours of the ordinance being passed. So I know they can do it "shortly". But will they?

I think I read that one of the conditions of the lawsuit was the signs coming down but I can't find that anywhere at this time. Did I get that right?

[MyWifeSaidYes]

I would give them a full two weeks before bugging them.

This weather sucks!

[gaptrick]

Way to go rimfire.... I'm sure you know the history with OFCC ans CH. Please DO keep us posted with your results... and call me cynical, but I smelled a bit of attitude in that reply. Probadly me just reading more into it than I should, but knowing the history it can only lead me to believe the reply wasn't written with a peaches and cream demeanor.

Some of em want to go down fightin', but in the end, they all go down.

[docachna]

I had the "pleasure" of speaking by phone with CH's Law Director back before OFCC sued them. He was............less than pleasant..............

[rimfireOH]

I would give them a full two weeks before bugging them.

Tomorrow is two weeks. Time to schedule an OC photo op with the sign? I'll drive by after work to see how it's going.

[MyWifeSaidYes]

I would take a picture, send it to Mr. Shaw, and say something like,


"Here is a picture of that sign I mentioned to you two weeks ago.

Since it was still up, I thought you may have taken down a different one.

This one is located at (for example) the entrance to the park on Main Street, about two blocks south of Broad Street.

Thanks, again!"

[rimfireOH]

MyWifeSaidYes, you're cracking me up. Thanks, I needed that. Maybe I include longitude and latitude? Do street signs have serial numbers or some sort of asset tag? Maybe I include that, too…

Then again, maybe when I get there it'll be down!

[MyWifeSaidYes]

Just remember to play it with a straight face. Don't be snarky. Lat & Long may be a bit much.

[rimfireOH]

Drove by over the weekend and signs still up. It's been three weeks, so I sent a short note acknowledging the weather and hoping we could see the signs down soon.

[rimfireOH]

Drove by on Friday (3/7) and the sign off Lee Blvd is just a signpost now, no sign there. The one off Forest Hill Blvd was still up. I sent a short note thanking him for the one that came down and acknowledging the weather for the one still up, etc.

[rimfireOH]

So, one sign is down, the other (off Forest Hill Blvd) was still up as of last night. No email response from Larry Shaw, Commissioner for Parks and Recreation, since the first interaction. What's the best next step?

[jgarvas]

So, one sign is down, the other (off Forest Hill Blvd) was still up as of last night. No email response from Larry Shaw, Commissioner for Parks and Recreation, since the first interaction. What's the best next step?

We sued Cleveland Heights over this and there is a settlement. Can you send me a picture of the offending sign?