Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), along with Lakewood Mayor Ed Fitzgerald, today dedicated a brand new Social Security office to serve Lakewood and the community of Northeast Ohio. 

In 2005, the Social Security Administration (SSA) informed Kucinich about their plans to move the office outside of Lakewood.  Kucinich immediately began working with the Mayor and local officials to explain to SSA the need for a Social Security office in Lakewood where it is accessible by those who need it most.  The dedication today represents more than 5 years of efforts by Kucinich and other members of the community to ensure that the needs of the local community are met. 

His full remarks follow:

“I am proud to be here in this beautiful new Social Security office in Lakewood with the hard working members of the Social Security staff, with Lakewood District Manager Kathy Pepera, Regional Administrator James Martin, and Lakewood Mayor Ed FitzGerald.  

“The dedication of this office is a culmination of the hard work of the case workers and case managers here.  Your total dedication to the people who earned their benefits after years of their own hard work is an example to so many other agencies and all those who provide social service.  I know the hard work you put into this effort because we receive the same calls you do at the Congressional Office and work closely with you here at this Social Security office to address the complex needs of our diverse constituencies.

“The dedication of this office is a culmination of a vision that Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt had in 1934 that seniors would no longer have to go to poor houses and old folks homes when they couldn’t work any longer.  This new building is part of that vision and our presence here stands guard over the realization of that vision.

 “The dedication of this office is a culmination of a 5-year local effort to save the Lakewood Social Security office from the threat of a move to the outer suburbs.  Lakewood is the heart of an urban center where many seniors and persons with disabilities live. It is a city with accessible roads and public transportation where seniors and the disabled can get around.  I am proud to have worked with Mayor FitzGerald and his predecessors to keep Social Security in Lakewood where the people need it.

This new building is the culmination of all that.  But more than that, this stand-alone building in the heart of Lakewood represents the hope that no one will be abandoned because they are older, or their parents or spouse died, or they have become disabled.  I want to thank all the people who work here and carry the bright flame of that hope to the people who walk through these doors.  

“Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.”

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