Ward 4
Akron City Council
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Wednesday, June 26, 2024
6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m. EDT
1225 Lawton St, Akron, Ohio 44320 Akron, OH 44320 (Directions)
James Williams Community Center
Ward 4 monthly public forum led by Council Member Jan Davis.
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Akron - OH Documenters Team
Note-taking by
Cassandra Williams
Council member applauds clean-up efforts on Copley Road.
Live reporting by
Benjamin Rexroad
Council member Jan Davis discusses issues with rundown buildings during the Ward 8 meeting.
The Akronist
@akronist
Guess who’s back? (Back again!) It’s ME! Benjamin Rexroad and I'm tweeting my notes from yesterday’s @AkronCouncil Ward 4 Meeting for #AKRdocumenters and @signalakron. They’re not live, but these highlights may contain some of my “in the moment” reactions. #Akron
12:27 PM Jun 27, 2024 CDT
Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any questions on the meeting or these tweets to documenters@signalakron.org
The Ward 4 meeting took place at the Hon. James R. Williams Lawton Street Community Center. The center has all sorts of offerings: basketball, cards, summer concert series, and building rentals. (That’s just a few!) Check their site for all their programs:
akronohio.gov/business_detai…
Interested in finding YOUR ward? Input your address on this interactive map on the city’s website:
akroncitycouncil.org/find-my-ward
Now that you know where to find your ward info, why don’t you meet your council person at a ward meeting? You can see when (and where) they’re meeting via this calendar:
akroncitycouncil.org/upcoming-meeti…
Ward 4 is on Akron’s west side, consisting of the West Akron & Wallhaven neighborhoods. It has notable locations like: Dr. Bob’s Home, the birthplace of Swenson’s, Good Park Golf Course, @ShawJCC & Forest Lodge Park. Jan Davis is ward 4's rep. Her info:
akroncitycouncil.org/members/jan-da…
Here are the notes from the last time an #Akron #Documenter covered a Ward 4 meeting. It’s from April 24 of this year:
documenters.org/documents/ward…
And in case you want to follow along w/ my notes, you can find an audio recording of the meeting here:
akron.documenters.org/documents/ward…
The meeting started promptly at 6:00 p.m. Davis introduced the same duo from the @AkronPolice, Officers Brown & Barker, that were at the Ward 3 meeting I covered last week. They offered a handout with May’s crime stats and one about the National Night Out.
Brown discussed some of the crimes he talked about at the Ward 3 meeting. (See link.) He encouraged people to come forward if they know anything abt the white SUV that was linked to the 6/2 mass shooting. He stressed that they can be COMPLETELY anonymous.
docs.google.com/document/d/1Jz…
Brown encouraged people ages 20.5 - 45 to apply to @AkronPoliceDp. (Deadline = TONIGHT at 11:59 p.m.) He said that, since he’s joined the force, applications have dropped. They’ve gone from about 2,500 applicants the year he applied to around 600 during the most recent round.
As Brown predicted at the ward last meeting, speeding was a prominent issue at this meeting too. The long & short: you want a speed table, call 311. Get neighbors to call 311. Register your complaints. The number of complaints are a major factor in deciding where to put tables.
Ward members are concerned about "unruly" kids in their area who are out late, playing in the street. Discussion seemed to center on one particular house. Boiled down to: Talk to the parents (if comfortable), take video (if possible), & call the police. Brown gave out his cards.
The Juneteenth cancellations came up. Davis did NOT sign the letter asking the mayor to cancel the events and she stands by her decisions. Some community members expressed dissatisfaction, not at Davis, but b/c events were canceled instead of considering other possibilities.
Later, the Juneteenth cancellations came up again, leading to other safety issues- including past shootings. A community member expressed: “It’s been over a year now and folks haven’t met to put together a plan to protect our children.” He focused on sports games in city parks.
Davis gave updates on buildings in the community. These are buildings that either need fixed up or torn down. She expressed challenges working with the city (budget) and building owners (tracking them down.) Davis: “This new administration is not giving us what we need.”
Davis: “I reached out to several people in the administration, even the chief of strategy, they said they couldn’t do it… the way I look at things: I’m not going to scream, I’m not going to yell. I’m going to go get other people to do it so I can show you what can get done.”
Throughout, Davis encouraged grassroots activism to improve the ward. She gave her perspective: “I can paint it and you can fine me later, okay? What are you going to do?” She compared the situation to Black Wall Street. She explained that this mentality came from her father:
"The city does owe you something because you’re tax-paying citizens, but when I was a young girl I remember my father told me: ‘don’t ever wait on the government for nothing. Go get it for yourself.’ … we just can’t sit back and wait on them to do everything we want them to do.”
Cont: “We can still fight that good fight. Don’t misunderstand me, okay? But if we need a building painted- and it’s the city’s responsibility but we can get the paint- are we going to wait 10 years for them to do it? We can paint. Trust me they ain’t going to fine you, okay?"
Davis is writing her 1st piece of legislation. She said it's "going to be for LGBTQ rights... to be codified in Akron, Ohio. Because the people that I met w/are afraid that what’s going on at the State House is going to impact them. People have a right to live like they choose.”
Davis also mentioned that she is supporting a group that is trying to get a memorial marker placed at Schneider Park to commemorate the (possible) 2,000 graves of “indigent people who died without family” who are buried there.
There wasn’t much information that was given about it, but Davis did say that there will be a parade on July 13. Is this a make-up parade for Juneteenth or something that was already planned? Is it for/in/hosted by the ward or for/hosted by the city? This documenter doesn’t know.
Dr. Robinson from @AkronPublic will be at the next ward meeting which will be July 31 at St. Sebastian. According to Davis, they’d like to put a levy on the ballot. This should be one of the things he’s coming to discuss.
Again: there’s more info in the recording(s), if you’re interested. These are just the highlights. Check out a recording here:
akron.documenters.org/documents/ward…
Meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.. This concludes my coverage of the Ward 4 meeting for June 16, 2024. The next meeting is scheduled for July 31st. For more meeting coverage, check out .
akron.documenters.org
REMINDER: Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any questions on the meeting or these tweets to documenters@signalakron.org
Attachments
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.”
Documents
No documents available