Ward 1 Meeting
Ward 1
Development
Environment
Health
Housing
Libraries
Parks
Transportation
Criminal Justice
Utilities
Finance
Politics
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024
6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m. EST
292 E. Market Street Akron, OH 44303 (Directions)
First Congressional Church of Akron
Monthly Ward 1 meeting hosted by Council Member Samuel DeShazior.
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Akron - OH Documenters Team
Live reporting by
Jenna Eastman
Several speakers talk about city projects including the Akron Bicentennial which kicks off Dec. 11
Jenna
@jenmeast
Hi, I'll be live-tweeting today's Akron Ward 1 for #AKRdocumenters @signalakron. Akron’s Ward 1 runs from central to Northwest Akron and includes Highland Square, West Hill, and parts of downtown and Merriman Valley.
11:08 PM Nov 14, 2024 CST
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Council Member Samuel DeShazior. The meeting was held at First Congregational Church of Akron. Meeting schedules can be found here: akroncitycouncil.org/ward-1-meeting…
akroncitycouncil.org/ward-1-meeting…
Senior Minister Jeff Jackson of First Congregational Church of Akron, where the meeting was held, said that the church aims to be active and engaged in the community. Some of their ministries include a food pantry and LGBTQ+ community nights: akronfcc.org/ministries/
akronfcc.org/ministries/
Mark Greer, Executive Director of Akron 200, the organization planning Akron’s bicentennial, spoke next. He said there will be an opening ceremony on Dec. 11 at the Akron Civic Theater: akron200.org/event/opening-…
akron200.org/event/opening-…
Greer said that bicentennial events will continue through the closing ceremony planned for Dec. 6, 2025. Residents can visit for volunteer opportunities, submitting ideas, registering neighborhood events, and proposing historic markers. Akron200.org
Akron200.org
Jacqui Ricchuiti, Executive Director of Keep Akron Beautiful (KAB), spoke next about the organization’s mission and programs. KAB’s programming includes the Recycle Right Campaign that helped reduce Akron’s recycling contamination rate from 39.3 percent in 2019 to 12.5 percent.
KAB’s programming also includes litter reduction and beautification efforts, such as their Flowerscape Program: keepakronbeautiful.org/flowerscape-pr…
keepakronbeautiful.org/flowerscape-pr…
KAB offers free public use of their trailers May-Sept. They are stocked with supplies for collecting litter and/or landscaping. Individuals and groups can also collect litter in Akron with supplies from KAB: keepakronbeautiful.org/volunteer/
keepakronbeautiful.org/volunteer/
Summer Hall, Cultural Engagement Coordinator for the City of Akron, spoke next about Akron’s Public Art Commission. Hall said the commission is working with Art x Love to complete a public art inventory and will be repair damaged art or remove art that cannot be repaired.
Hall also shared about the commission’s Traffic Signal Box Project. They accepted art submissions from the public and selected pieces are being installed on 20 traffic signal boxes throughout the city. They plan to do more calls for art and install on 100 traffic signal boxes.
Residents can email publicart@akronohio.gov if they want to share about public art pieces in their neighborhood, and visit the commission’s website for information about these projects: akronpublicart.com
akronpublicart.com
Joe Natko, Assistant to the Mayor for Emergency Management, spoke next. He said that the city would benefit from purchasing a command center vehicle, a type of vehicle used for coordination during emergency response situations.
Natko said that the Sept. fire on Rosemary Blvd, which lasted for three days and included presence of the fire department, police, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), is an example of a time the vehicle would have been beneficial for communication and monitoring.
Natko said the mass shooting and freeway bomb threat this summer were other examples. A member of the public asked how the vehicle could have prevented such situations. Natko said it would not prevent them but would provide space for triaging and investigation during response.
Fran Wilson asked if the vehicle would be funded by tax dollars, its cost, and whether it was more cost effective than setting up temporary command sites in alternative sites.
Natko said that, outside of a potential $150,000 grant, the $650,000 budgeted for the vehicle would come from taxes. He said that we previously had Summit County’s Emergency Operations Center in Akron but it was moved to Tallmadge.
Another public attendee asked about how often the vehicle would need to be used. Natko said that in addition to emergency response situations, it would be stationed at large public events such as the Akron Marathon to improve response time for issues that occur with large crowds.
Natko said that residents with questions can reach him by email at JNatko@akronohio.gov.
Steve Fricker and Helen Tomic from the City of Akron spoke last, and led attendees through a presentation about capital and operational city budgets followed by an activity.
They said both budgets are presented to City Council. Council must approve the capital budget, which focuses on longer term investments, by Feb. 15, 2025 and must approve the operating budget, which focuses on daily city operations like water and sewer systems, by March 31, 2025.
Attendees were then invited to use a strip of stickers they had each been provided to prioritize potential budget items written on posters on the wall. Since they had fewer stickers than items on the posters, they had to choose not to fund some items.
The results from Ward 1 attendees are shown in these photos. Fricker and Tomic said they will be completing this activity at a meeting in each ward, and then sharing the compiled results to the public.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. This concludes the Akron Ward 1 meeting. Meetings occur on the second Wednesday of each month. For more meeting coverage, check out . akron.documenters.org
akron.documenters.org
Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any questions on the meeting or these tweets to @signalakron. Or email us at documenters@signalakron.org.
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Agency Information
Ward 1
See meeting notes for details
Ward 1 starts with University of Akron and extends through downtown and to the northern border.
Ward Meetings: 2nd Wednesday of the month at the Highland Square Library (6:30 p.m.)