Akron City Council Meeting (remote option)
Akron City Council
Politics
Monday, July 29, 2024
6:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m. EDT
166 S High St, Akron, Ohio 44308 Akron, OH 44308 (Directions)
Akron Municipal Building, 3rd floor City Council Chambers
Akron City Council regular meeting.
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Akron - OH Documenters Team
Live reporting by
Wittman Sullivan
Council votes against Mayor's plan for charter amendment that would allow external police and fire chief candidates
Wittman Sullivan
@WittmanSullivan
Hey everybody, I will be documenting yesterday evening's Akron City Council Meeting at Akron City Hall (166. S. High Street) with #AKRDocumenters and @SignalAkron
12:44 PM Jul 30, 2024 CDT
The meeting started at 6:33 PM
Tina Boyes, Sharon Connor, Jan Davis, Samuel Deshazior Jeff Fusco, Eric Garret, Johnnie Hannah, Phil Lombardo, Brad McKitrick, Linda Omobien, and Margo Sommerville were present
Donnie Kammer was Absent
Tina Boyes, Sharon Connor, Jan Davis, Samuel Deshazior Jeff Fusco, Eric Garret, Johnnie Hannah, Phil Lombardo, Brad McKitrick, Linda Omobien, and Margo Sommerville were present
Donnie Kammer was Absent
Margo Sommerville recognized the Akron Civic Common's Summit Lake Ambassadors
She said they have been building benches and flowerpots, and cleaning the neighborhood. She said these ambassadors are protecting the recent investments in Summit Lake
akronciviccommons.org/stories/rcc-ak…
She said they have been building benches and flowerpots, and cleaning the neighborhood. She said these ambassadors are protecting the recent investments in Summit Lake
The President of the Fraternal Order of Police said he opposes the charter amendment and said external police chiefs would hurt the department and reduce police morale. He said that previous external hires have not worked
See part of his comment here
dropbox.com/scl/fi/sq85cse…
See part of his comment here
A community member said the sale of Summa Health to a private Equity Firm will result in harm to the community and the sale could possibly result in the end or reduction of transgender health care services
cnbc.com/2024/03/02/her…
A community member urged City Council to pass the charter amendment to hire external candidates saying that the internal candidates are "rotten."
A community member said that thousands of dollars of her property was stolen by the city for nuisance compliance
A community member said that thousands of dollars of her property was stolen by the city for nuisance compliance
McKitrick said the Rules Committee's report on the charter amendment is adverse
(Note: this only authorizes a November amendment election and does not actually change the charter. If passed, this would put the amendment to a vote in November of
beaconjournal.com/story/news/loc…
(Note: this only authorizes a November amendment election and does not actually change the charter. If passed, this would put the amendment to a vote in November of
Boyes said there needs to be more training for Akron Police Officers so that they can compete with external candidates
Lombardo said this amendment is disrespectful to Akron's Safety Forces
Lombardo said this amendment is disrespectful to Akron's Safety Forces
Garret said he supports the amendment because the current system prevents black people from climbing to top positions. He said most crimes are committed by young black men and having a black role model will help show black role models
ideastream.org/law-justice/20…
Sommerville said she is in favor of a charter amendment but wants to take the time to "get it right"
She said this reminds her of the Citizens Police Oversight Board which she said hasn't worked and needs to be looked at
She said this reminds her of the Citizens Police Oversight Board which she said hasn't worked and needs to be looked at
She said the department lacks upward mobility for black officers and said that the solution to that needs to be bottom up, and not just for the top positions
She asked that the Shammas Malik wait until November 2025 and do a full charter review in order to make meaningful change
She asked that the Shammas Malik wait until November 2025 and do a full charter review in order to make meaningful change
The vote was the following
For the adverse report (against the charter amendment vote in November 2024): Connor, Fusco, Hannah, Lombardo McKitrick, Deshazior, Sommerville
Against the adverse report (for the charter amendment vote in My November): Omobien, Garret, Boyes, Davis
For the adverse report (against the charter amendment vote in November 2024): Connor, Fusco, Hannah, Lombardo McKitrick, Deshazior, Sommerville
Against the adverse report (for the charter amendment vote in My November): Omobien, Garret, Boyes, Davis
Lombardo said item 0 contracts with House of The Lord Church to host a Fugitive Safe Surrender
Item passed unanimously with Omobien Abstaining
Lombardo said Item 1 Uses Akron Community Foundation funds to fund a Public Engagement Specialist
Item passed unanimously
Item passed unanimously with Omobien Abstaining
Lombardo said Item 1 Uses Akron Community Foundation funds to fund a Public Engagement Specialist
Item passed unanimously
Lombardo said Item 2 uses Akron Development Corporation funds to fund a Data Transparency Strategist
Item passed unanimously
Fusco said Item 3 enters into the Summit County Intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding for Job Creation and Retention and Tax Revenue Sharing
Item passed unanimously
Fusco said Item 3 enters into the Summit County Intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding for Job Creation and Retention and Tax Revenue Sharing
He said this is a regional economic agreement which remains and supports countywide jobs
Item passed unanimously
McKitrick said Item 4 partners with Xylem Sensus FlexNet for IT services for the Automated Meter Reading System
Item passed unanimously
xylem.com/en-us/brands/s…
Item passed unanimously
McKitrick said Item 4 partners with Xylem Sensus FlexNet for IT services for the Automated Meter Reading System
Item passed unanimously
McKitrick said Item 7 improves street lighting and cleans streets on specific streets
Item passed unanimously
Item passed unanimously
McKitrick said Item 6 improves off-street parking facilities in the Kenmore and Canton Road Business Districts
McKitrick said Item 7 replaces two vehicles that have 100,000 miles on them. He said these vehicles come from dealerships and are difficult to go through a bid process
McKitrick said Item 7 replaces two vehicles that have 100,000 miles on them. He said these vehicles come from dealerships and are difficult to go through a bid process
Sommerville said the Screening Committee has recommended Bruce Bolden to Fill the vacancy for the Ward 8 City Council Seat
City Council unanimously nominated Bruce Bolden to Fill the vacancy
Lombardo, Davis, and Hannah were appointed as vote tellers
ideastream.org/government-pol…
City Council unanimously nominated Bruce Bolden to Fill the vacancy
Lombardo, Davis, and Hannah were appointed as vote tellers
Sommerville said they will vote with ballots
She said the ballots will not be secret ballots in accordance with state law
Sarah Biviano announced that Bruce Bolden won all 11 City Council Votes
She said the ballots will not be secret ballots in accordance with state law
Sarah Biviano announced that Bruce Bolden won all 11 City Council Votes
Bolden was sworn into City Council by judge Kani Hightower
Bolden said representing ward 8 is an honor and he looks forward to representing every neighborhood in ward 8
Bolden said representing ward 8 is an honor and he looks forward to representing every neighborhood in ward 8
Jeff Fusco said 10 days ago there was an outage with Crowdstrike. He thanked city staff for keeping essential City services running
McKitrick thanked city council members for being on the Screening Committee to select a new ward 8 council member
akronohio.gov/news_detail_T1…
McKitrick thanked city council members for being on the Screening Committee to select a new ward 8 council member
Sommerville said Akron City Council will be on recess until September 9th 2024 but City Council member will still be available for constituents
The meeting ended at 7:37 PM. The next Akron City Council Meeting will be September 9th at 6:30 PM at Akron City Hall (166 S. High Street). For more coverage check out
Akron.Documenters.org
Have a question, think we got something wrong? Send any questions about this meeting or these tweets to documenters@signalakron.org
Agency Information
Akron City Council
“YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTRzlObsoxdg6IFgWSFCOgA/videos
IN PERSON: Council meets each Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in council chambers on the third floor of the Akron Municipal Building, 166 South High Street. City Council does not meet when a national holiday falls on a Monday, and recesses the month of August and the last two weeks of December.
For accomodations in access: Yamini Adkins, Director of Human Resources, 166 South High Street, Municipal Building, Suite 103, Akron, Ohio 44308, (voice) 330-375-2780. If you require TDD phone service call Ohio Relay at 800-750-0750 and they will assist in contacting the Department of Human Resources at (330) 375-2780.”