Guest Speakers Slated for Lakewood Community Vision Workshops

Last month, the ’s planning and development department announced its next round of workshops to .

Now, the city has got several speakers lined up to discuss some of the key issues.

The first meeting, scheduled for Wednesday in the library’s multi-purpose room, will feature Jeffrey T. Verespej, the director of operations and advocacy for Ohio City Incorporated, who will discuss safety.

The rest of the committee meetings are scheduled and listed below — along with the featured speakers. All meetings start at 6:30 p.m.

• Sept. 18: Commercial Development; at , featuring Mark and Kelly Jablonski, the principals of CenterMark Development LLC – a retail development company focused on construction and rehabilitation of shopping centers and free-standing stores in Ohio with an emphasis on urban locations.
• Sept. 19: Education & Culture; at University of Akron Lakewood, featuring Nelson Beckford who reviews proposals across a broad range of program areas as part at the Cleveland Foundation.
• Sept. 25: Mobility; at University of Akron Lakewood, featuring Michael J. Schipper, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Deputy General Manager for Engineering and Project Management.
• Sept. 26: Housing; at University of Akron Lakewood, featuring Jen Morrow, who has been involved in various aspects of real estate for over 30 years, primarily as a real estate paralegal.
• Sept. 27: Community Wellness; in the , featuring Louis L. McMahon is a partner at McMahon DeGulis LLP, Ohio’s largest environmental law firm.

“Our guest speakers will be at the workshops sharing their view of the world as it related to Lakewood,” said Dru Siley, the director of planning and development in an email. “All are welcome to any and all of these meetings.”

A lot has changed in Lakewood since 1993. That’s the last time there’s been an update to the Community Vision, a document that outlines the state of the city and provides an outlook for the future.

About 75 people attended the city’s at the campus in May.