Daily Question

Question for Tuesday, July 8th, 2014: Previous Next

Share with us your thoughts on the senseless murder of Jim Brennan. How has this tragedy affected you and what do you think its impact will be on our community? What are your hopes and fears? Do you see any good that might come out of this tragedy?

It would be helpful for the Chief of Police to suggest ways to prevent business owners like Brennan from being victims in similar situations in the future, based upon their analysis of the crime scene in this instance. Video cameras can lead to the apprehension of the perpetrators. However, prevention is what everyone wants.

You Know, before the shooting I was a person tired of the random violent acts especially in my area of Cleveland Heights. I was trying to think of a way out---to move to a "safer" suburb.

After the shooting I decided that Cleveland Heights is the place for me. I have never seem so many good people reach out to help and show their concern for Mr. Brennan's family and comunity. He represented everything good about Cleveland Heights. But you know what? There is still so much good to go around. The memorial service really moved me. I saw the different kinds of people there. All races and all socio-economic backgrounds supporting one another in tragedy. "We Shall Overcome" was the chosen song at the memorial. It hit me then that this is not a place for me to leave but a place for me to fight back to keep Cleveland Heights everything it used to be.

Let's take back our city. Bring back the Coventry Street Fair, come out and shop locally, be aware of anyone who looks like they're up to no good. We need to get to know our police. Please call them with anything you see that looks unusual or suspicious. THey want you to call.

Jim Brennan would have wanted us to not flee the city but instead to build it up and be fully a part of the community we love.

Let's get our CH back. We shall overcome.

We need to stop dwelling on this, endlessly circumspecting our navels, and move on. Life goes forward not backwards, and this is the lesson that we are suppposed to have learned.

We benefit for using our time prodictively, not endlessly fittering it away engaging in valueless philisophical bantering about this sad event.

I loved reading that Jim Brennan was the kind of man who would have hired the guys who murdered him. He valued honest work - and he provided opportunities. He took chances on people who might not have been hired anywhere else. He was right -- being gainfully employed changes people's lives for the better. Jim Brennan took a risk, and he lost his life for it. The killers made a horribly wrong decision -- but it sounds like Jim Brennan had his heart in the right place. Nothing can change that. I am proud to live in a community where small businesses like The Colony can thrive, where neighbors know each other, and where we have created a "small town in a big city." My heart and my prayers go out to Jim's family, friends and employees. He was a good man and a good business man. No can kill that legacy. He will pass it on to us if we focus not on the fear but on continuing to believe what he seemed to believe, that in spite of everything, people are basically good and deserve opportunities to prove themselves. I am so sorry that these young men missed out on what Jim Brennan offered. Bu their story is not over yet. And neither is his. Thanks for letting the community talk about this!

There is no doubt in my mind that Cleveland Heights is the only place for me and my three children to live. I am a life long resident, grew up literally around the corner from The Colony. I have walked nearly every street and have met and come to be close to so many wonderful, open minded and caring people in my fifty years here. There is no better community I could imagine being an integral part of. I have traveled quite extensively, yet always come home after months, a year...and find myself feeling blessed to be part of a city where, to me and my children, race, gender nor sexual orientation make any difference. I, as a woman, have always felt completely safe and accepted in my community. I am very sad that Jim, a good man I knew, was taken from us in such a violent manner, yet I will never stop feeling that this is my safe and wonderful home. To give in to fear would be to let evil win. The complete ignorance, violence or desperate need of a few bad souls could never make me waver from my commitment to Cleveland Heights. I am a life long resident and will continue to live in this special community regardless of these random awful acts. My heart goes out to Jim's family. May you find peace in your hearts.

Brennan's murder wasn't't senseless, it was stupid. The culprits wanted what he had: money. We have murders in the area regularly for a variety of reasons including money. One of the most recent murders in Cleveland Hts, a few years back, took place within a block of Brennan's on Kensington. Fortunately, Cle Hts has comparatively few murders for its population size thanks to both the diligence of the police force and the city government and citizens. We all work together to minimize the potential for violence. We need to keep on doing just that.