City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. We're going to call the meeting for Akran City Council to order. At this time, our clerk will read the role. Balden, I. Boy, I Connor, hi. Davis, I Garrett, present. Greer, I. Hannah, I Kmart. I Mardo I Mkhkitrich I Amobian I Somerville I Wilson I All members are present.

For those who voluntarily wish to do so, would you please stand at this time as we're led in prayer by Pastor Lorie Porter? Immediately following our prayer, I'm going to ask if Councilman Hannah will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Father, we stand before you tonight grateful for this amazing city that we have the opportunity to live in and serve in. I pray tonight for wisdom and discernment for every leader of this council and for our entire city. Praying that God you would grant this council the wisdom far beyond their years collectively far beyond their experience collectively as they seek what is best for our community. We pray for the protection of the vulnerable and the marginalized that as decisions are made and policies are adopted that you would protect those at risk and cause those to stand up and have voice on their behalf. And then finally, God, I pray for integrity and courage in decisionmaking. Proverbs 11:3 says, "The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity." So, Father, I simply pray tonight that our leaders of this council that they would walk in integrity, that they would choose what is right even when it is difficult, and that they would stand firm in truth in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The minutes from our previously held meeting have been provided. Are there any additions or corrections? Is there a second? Second. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose. The eyes have it. The motion to approve the minutes passes 13 to zero. We'll now move to our public comment period. Those who have signed up to participate, if you'll please stand at this time so that you may be sworn in by our clerk. Do we have Megan or JRo? Either. Okay. All right. You could be negative. You could. I know.

Thank you. So, at this time, we're going to close our public comment period. Council, before you is the consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve? Is there a second? All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? The eyes have it. The consent agenda passes 13 to zero. We'll now move into old business, planning and economic development. Councilman Kr, the time Thank you. Time will be granted public service. Councilman Kr.

Thank you pre uh Madame President. I'd like to file two, three, four, and five and continue time on number one. All right. Thank you. Public safety. Councilman McKitrich. Continue your time, please. Thank you. Housing and neighborhood assistance. Councilman Balden. Thank you, Madam President. I'd like to pull my committee on uh item number one for a favorable uh report. It is favorable and we ask for its pass suspension of the rules. Do you want to read it in? We'll have um our clerk read it in. Okay. Yep.

Sure. This is a resolution expressing support for House Bill 58 as passed by the Ohio House of Representatives February 25th, 2026 by a 92 to0 vote, which creates state certification of recovery housing residences as well as a state recovery housing task force and strengthens oversight of community addiction service providers, which city council finds to be desperately needed and declaring an emergency. Okay, thank you. Great. The committee's report is favorable and we ask for suspension of the rules. Are there any objections to suspension of the rules? Seeing and hearing none, the rules have been suspended.

Thank you, uh, Madam President. This, uh, is in support of House Bill 58 that is now going to the state senate. It is a bill that tightens the restrictions on recovery homes. Now, I'm 100% behind recovery homes and and people getting the help they need. But in my ward in W 8, we've had a number of different issues where we've had uh one uh recovery group that was kind of dumping all of their residents in one neighborhood. Uh this tightens up a lot of these uh state certification of recovery homes. Uh our state reps, Veronica Sims and Derek Hall, were both in support of this and voted for it. uh and it it puts the control back into uh the the state, makes it a lot easier to put complaints in and uh we ask for its passage.

Okay. Thank you so much. Are there any additional comments at this time? Counciloman Amobian, I guess I don't understand the law. Just help me understand what are they proposing that we spread them throughout the city or because you know at one time this council um was prohibiting group homes and reh rehabilitation. These are not the group homes. Not group homes. This is strictly unlicensed facilities,

right? These are recovery homes that are currently governed by the Ohio Housing Recovery Group. Uh this will bring tighter restrictions to them. There's a lot of loopholes in this. Uh I sent you did have the whole information about it uh in in your packet. So So we're not saying that they shouldn't live in the community. No, it's not not addition to that. One of the things we found out during this whole process is that uh some of these group homes, these group apartments that they're putting in, the square footage that the state requires is different than the city requires. Okay? So we need to be able to know where these are. We need to have a database in so we can inspect them so they're up to our code, not just to the city's to the state's code.

So they're going to move it down to local control. No, no local control. It's going to be state control, but we don't know where these all are right now. And when we found out that these these recovery homes were in the ones in Ward 8 that we found out and talking with Ohio recovery housing with both planning, zoning, uh code enforcement, housing, uh that our code per person per square footage in a group home is different than what the states is for recovery homes and they had to adapt everything for this to do this for to be certified. Okay. Thank you. Okay, thank you. So, the rules have been suspended and the committee's report is favorable. All in favor signify by saying I.

I. Any oppose? The eyes have it. This resolution passes 13 to zero. We'll now move into new legislation. Item number one offered by Mayor Mollik and Emobian. Resolution condemning the United States Supreme Court's April 29th, 2026 decision in Louisiana vers number 241 to 109, which weakens the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and threatens the Equal Voting Rights of Akran residents and Americans nationwide, urging the United States Congress to act to restore and strengthen federal voting rights protections and declaring an emergency. Council McKitrich.

Uh the committee's report is favorable. We're asking for a suspension of the rules. Are there any objections to suspension of the rules? Seeing and hearing none, the rules have been suspended. I'd like to yield to the sponsor, Councilwomanian.

Thank you, uh, Mr. Chair. As I stated this evening, I'll just repeat some of the comments I made, uh, last week and this afternoon. Um, I strongly condemn what the US Supreme Court uh did LA on April the 29th. Um, and I can only tell you that if we are looking at what's happening across the country, it's worse than we could imagine. Um, and I think most of us have heard of uh, Congressman uh, um, Clyburn from South Carolina. It is so bad that they're trying to wipe out his district and have absolutely nobody of color representing the state of South Carolina. you know, this decision has sent us a hundred years back. Um, and the more I hear and the more I read, um, it's probably one of the worst decisions they could have made. I know that for those of us, you know, just because we see it happening down south, that doesn't take away the responsibility that we have as citizens of this country to protect our democracy. You know, and Dr. Martin Luther King said it best um many years ago. He said, "The measure of a person is not where he or she stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." He advocated standing with greater determination for justice, equality, and the American dream. And I

think the Voting Rights Act of 1965 not only gave us the right to vote as people of color, it gave us the opportunity to have representation, people who look like us or people that we wanted to vote for and gave us a reason to vote. And you see the maps are being redrawn all over the South. And it's just the South now, but it's happening in different parts of the country. and to eliminate all of those districts that had representation, a reason for folks to get out of bed and go vote. You know, this is so serious and I'm trusting that our council will vote on this unanimously because this is a reflection of our democracy. What kind of country do we want to live in? And this speaks volumes to that. So, I hope we do it as mayor and council as a whole because this is absolutely wrong. It makes no sense. This law has served us well for all of these years and all of a sudden they just strike it as if it doesn't mean anything. It means a whole lot. So, with that, I thank you, Mr. Chair, and I ask that we vote as mayor and council as a whole and suspend the rules and approve this tonight as an emergency. Thank you.

Councilwoman, are you making that motion? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Is there a second? Second. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? The eyes have it. This resolution passes 13 to zero. Item number two offered by KR, ordinance authorizing the director of the department of planning and urban development to enter into a contractor contracts with nonprofit organizations for the provision of community development corporation CDC support in order to carry out the intent and purpose of programs under the consolidated plan for the year 2026 authorizing payment therefore and declaring an emergency. Councilman Kr, consent agenda.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda. Item number three offered by Mkhitrich, ordinance authorizing the mayor or his designate to enter into a development, community benefit, and service agreement and related documents or instruments with Waste Management of Ohio Incorporated and andor any of its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates in order to provide for the redevelopment of real property and establishment of a new waste and recycling transfer station in Akran and declaring an emergency. Council McKitrich, the committee requests time.

Thank you. Time over granted. Item number four offered by Mkhitrich, ordinance authorizing the mayor or his designate to file applications and enter into an agreement or agreements with the water supply revolving loan account with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and with the Ohio Water Development Authority for planning, design, and/or construction of the emergency water main connections and declaring an emergency. Councilman McKitrich. Uh consent agenda, please. This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Item number five, offered by Mkhitrich. ordinance authorizing the mayor or his designate to file applications and enter into an agreement or agreements with the water supply revolving loan account with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and with the Ohio Water Development Authority for planning, design, and/or construction of the water main replacement program 2026 and declaring an emergency. Councilman Mkhitri, consent agenda, please. This item will be placed on the consent agenda. Item number six offered by Mkhitrich. Ordinance determining to proceed with the improvement of certain streets between certain termini in accordance with resolution number 433 2025 2026 residential resurfacing program determining to proceed with the improvement and declaring an emergency. Council McKitrich.

Uh the committee's report is favorable. We're asking for suspension of the rules. Are there any objections to suspension of the rules? Seeing and hearing none, the rules have been suspended. This is our annual uh paving street paving uh program and we have uh the bids in and they are prepared to start. So they'd like to start as soon as possible. So we're asking for passage. Okay. Thank you. The rules have been suspended and the committee's report is favorable. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? The eyes have it.

This ordinance passes 13 to zero. Item number seven offered by Mkhitrich. Ordinance determining to proceed with the improvement of certain streets between certain termini in accordance with resolution number 432 2025 the 2026 arterial collector resurfacing program and declaring an emergency. Councilman McKitrich. Uh the committee's asking for suspension of the rules. Are there any objections to suspension of the rules? Seeing and hearing none, the rules have been suspended. This is the same as number one, but these are the arterial collector resurfacing program for the arterial streets. Okay, thank you. The rules have been suspended and the committee's report is favorable. All in favor signify by saying I.

I. Any oppose? The eyes have it. This ordinance passes 13 to zero. Item number eight, offered by Mkhitrich. Ordinance determining to proceed with the improvement of certain streets between certain termini in accordance with resolution number 434 2025 the 2026 unimproved street resurfacing program and declaring an emergency. Council McKitrich. Uh the committee's report is favorable. We're asking for suspension of the rules. Are there any objections to suspension of the rules? Seeing and hearing none, the rules have been suspended. Uh this is again the repaving program just uh this is specifically for the unimproved streets. We're asking for passage.

Thank you. The rules have been suspended and the committee's report is favorable. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any oppose? The eyes have it. This ordinance passes 13 to zero. Item number nine, offered by President Somerville, resolution approving and confirming the appointment by Akran City Council of Jennifer Boswell and Tamara Brooks to the Akran Citizens Police Oversight Board as established by Charter Section 68A and declaring an emergency. Council McItrich. Uh, the committee's report is favorable. We are asking for suspension of the rules.

Are there any objections to suspension of the rules? Seeing and hearing none, the rules have been suspended. I'd like to yield to you, Madame President.

Okay. Well, I do want to acknowledge we do have one of our um newest board members of the oversight in the audience, Jennifer Boswell, if you'll stand and everyone can see you. Um so, we are really excited to have Jennifer Boswell and Tamara Brooks uh join uh the oversight board. Again, you know, we talked about this earlier. Just want to thank all the people who applied. I mean, I am so impressed, you know, with, you know, the the talent right here in Akran and the willingness for people to raise their hands to um fill these vacancies. And so, we had a tough decision, but I do believe we have two very strong candidates that are going to be able to hit the ground running with the oversight board. So, again, congratulations, Mrs. Boswell. So at this time all in favor signify by saying I.

I. Any oppose? The eyes have it. This resolution passes 13 to zero. Item number 10 offered by Mkhitrich ordinance authorizing the mayor or his designate to enter into a contractor contracts with Oriana House Incorporated for confinement rehabilitation services and alternative sentencing options. for certain offenders convicted of violations of the Akran Municipal Code of Ordinances and declaring an emergency. Council McKitrich. Uh consent agenda, please. This item will be placed on the consent agenda. That concludes our new legislation. We'll now move into committee assignments, rules. Councilman McKitrich, 2 p.m. Public safety, Councilman McKitrich, 2:15. Budget and Finance, Councilman Lombardo,

3 p.m. Parks and Recreation, Councilwoman Connor, Planning, Councilman Kr, 1 p.m. Housing and Neighborhood Assistance, Councilman Balden, 3:30. Public service, Councilman Kurr, 2 p.m. Health and Social Services, Councilwoman Davis, 2:30.

Okay. Is there anything else coming before this body? Council McKitrich. Thank you, ma madam president. Today um we had a dis very in-depth discussion about uh the process moving forward with WM and the waste transfer station. Um, just want to thank everybody involved, the folks that came down to talk, but the administration um, has gone above and beyond and done some incredible work on this and and I I think you'd be hardressed to find another situation where people have gone to this extent to make things happen. I'm greatly appreciative of it. Um, and if any of my colleagues have any questions pertaining to this, uh, please direct them to the folks within the administration or to me and or to Councilman Kr to get these forward so we have some questions answered as we move forward. So, thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilman Garrett.

Thank you, Madam President. Uh today, Madame President, I rise to echo the young lady who said our prayer. And part of what she said, Madame President, was integrity. I'm concerned that we're losing integrity. When you watch the NBA game, I don't want to take folks back, but the gentleman from the San Antonio Spurs, Victor, and I'm going to mess his last name up. elbowed a gentleman in the face. And during that encounter, we all knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was going to get ejected from the game. And not only ejected from the game, but perhaps even miss another game would cost him hundreds and maybe millions of dollars. Madame President, I'm concerned about our integrity today. If I can just remind everybody about Jasmir Tucker. And the reason that I want to take us back there is because I just want everybody to remember that our mayor has the power to fire the gentleman for just cause for 36 use of force cases. Excessive for not activating his body camera. for allowing somebody's child to lay there for eight minutes without rendering any aid and stopping the fire department from going to render aid, shooting a kid, a young boy in the back with an assault rifle. Madam President, and I would venture to say with a silencer suppressor on this weapon, Madam President, integrity, Madame President, means a lot. And so as we talk about integrity, our mayor told us that there was an investigation going on. Madame President, upon further review, not just be NBA, not all the players in the NBA are bad. There's some good players in the NBA

with integrity. And there's some amazing officers with integrity, but Madame President, there are some officers that should not be on our force, and Devon Fields is one of those officers. If I were to go to turn on a game right after halftime and I saw Victor back out on the court, I would be like in shock. Why is he back on the court? They had this gentleman Devon Fields doing raids in our community after we felt like we told everybody. I get so many calls from my residents and constituents saying, "Hey, I'm fearful of this person and what he might do." And so the mayor told us integrity that there was an investigation going on on this individual. We're looking into it. Thank God for public records request, Madam President, because then we found out there is no investigation going on at all.

What is the integrity, Madame President? That's concerning. It's extremely concerning, Madame President. But let's keep going on with integrity. We were told that, you know, with that body camera 60-second look back, you know, it's going to be expensive. But once you pull the report, the report says that we have unlimited storage space. So, it's almost like you got your daughter or son at home and you're on their neck about you're doing too many texting. Hey, cut down on your text messages going to cost us. And then the bill comes in the mail and it says, "Oh, you have unlimited text." Sort of disappointed. Integrity with your mom and dad. You were like, "What's up with the integrity?" We have unlimited. So that storage space is not even an issue. Madam President, federal lawsuit settled for a man being punched in the face. $24,000 of our dollars, taxpayers dollars, $24,000. It could go to help with the roads. It can go help with housing, with the youth. But integrity, what type of punishment did this individual get? The federal judge said, "Hey, you know what? Take it out of your budget. Don't help out with the kids that need help. Don't fix your potholes. Take the $24,000 not out of war five, not out of W six, out of all the wards. Take it out of their taxpayers dollars. Don't stop there, Madam President, cuz we're talking about integrity right now." And and by the way, this person was punched in the face while handcuffed. while handcuffed. Madame President, integrity. We're going to keep going on, Madame President. And I'm trying to keep it down because, you know, I don't want to come across as this angry black man, but when you have a young 15year-old kid shot in the back, how it's very hard not to be angry to

just let him lay there. Madame President, Akran police officer finds stun gun use on a handcuffed handcuffed black man to be excessive. $15,000. Madame President, we're still paying. So, Madam President, as I close and end my remarks, integrity matters. We get the Perf report that has been on the shelf for probably 30 days or longer. We get it at what 5:00 the day before. You know how many residents called me and said, "Why did you guys get it so late? Divide and conquer. Divide and conquer." What did he do, Madam President? He picked us off. He went to NAACP and he talked to them and he went over to this black church and he talked to them and he went to that group. But never one time did he come to us because we know what we're talking about. We know what's in there. It is shameful. Madam President, integrity matters. And I just want our constituents. I want you guys to know how disappointing this really is. And I'm not going to stop saying something. Madam President, I thank you so much for your time today.

Thank Thank you so much, Councilman. And if we can, there was an article in Signal regarding Officer Fields that contradicted the information that was provided uh by Mayor Malakin. So just asking if someone from the administration can give uh this body an update of that. Okay, I appreciate it. Is there anything else coming before council at this time? Uh we have a motion on the floor. If there are no objections, meeting adjourned. This concludes the live broadcast of Akran City Council. Margot Somerville, president of council presiding.