Akron Council's Weekly Legislative Spotlight! 2025 Issue #4

From the Desk of the Council President

Hello Joan,

Welcome to our new subscribers. We are glad you joined us! To our regular subscribers, welcome back! Thank you for continuing to receive our newsletter and your commitment to staying informed and engaged through your Akron City Council's Legislative Spotlight subscription.

We hope you enjoy the information shared each week, including highlights from the Council's legislative agenda from the previous Monday's Committee and Council meetings. Definitions, information about commonly used terms, and council-related facts are also featured.

The information shared in each week's Legislative Spotlight will continue to educate, empower, and liberate you to become increasingly engaged with your City Council in making Akron a better place for all its residents.

Sincerely,

Margo Sommerville

Council President

Ward 3 Council Member

Legislative Highlights From Monday, February 3, 2025

Resolution No. 39-2025 opposing the passage of Ohio General Assembly Senate Bill 8, which denies public employers the right to control certain aspect of their own collective bargaining agreements as they relate to compensation for public employees engaging in certain union-related activities; and declaring an emergency. Vote: Ayes: 13, Nays: 0. S.B. 8 has the potential to weaken and/or undermine the good rapport and long-standing working relationships between public employers, like the City of Akron, and labor unions representing local public employees.

Ordinance No. 41-2025 amending and/or supplementing Title 7, “Traffic Code,” Chapter 70 “General Provisions,” Article 4, “Impounding,” Section 70.52 “Motor Vehicle Pounds” of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Akron to update the Police Towing Districts and related Towing District Map; approving the implementation plan setting forth the operational transition to the new towing districts; and declaring an emergency. Vote: Ayes, 13, Nays: 0. Section 70.52 of the Code of Ordinances directs Council to review the designated towing districts at least once every five years. The Police Towing Review Board reviewed the towing district map and implementation plan and recommended that Council adopt it. For a brief history, on June 3, 2024, Council passed Resolution No. 203-2024 declaring that they will begin reviewing the designated police towing districts as set forth in 70.52 of the Akron Codified Ordinances. Interested parties were directed to submit their qualifications and sufficient documentation by July 5, 2024. The Police Towing Review Board reviewed the applications and recommended to Council that the six companies that submitted their interest be assigned a towing district. Council approved this by Resolution No. 369-2024, passed October 21, 2024. The Police Towing Review Board then worked with Safety Communications Center IT staff and the City of Akron Office of Information Technology to update the Tow District Maps. Now that Ordinance No. 41-2025 has been passed, Safety Communications Center IT staff will implement the new map into the CAD system. Full implementation is expected to take up to 30 days.

Remember...

You can see all the legislation discussed during the meeting at: https://onlinedocs.akronohio.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/

Ring Doorbell Cameras

Each ward was allotted 300 cameras. The staff has worked hard to distribute these at ward meetings, before Council meetings, and during office hours. We're continually working through waitlists, so please make sure you check your email if you applied!

Check out the calendar on

Council's website for

upcoming Ward Meetings!

2025 Capital Budget

Council received a Substitute Offered as an Amendment on February 3. You can view the updated budget here.

View the January 6th Review Session here.
View the January 13th Review Session here.

Per Charter, Council must pass the Capital Budget by February 15, 2025.

SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS

The City of Akron has been made aware that some Akron property owners received larger than normal special assessments for Street Cleaning/Lighting on the property tax bills that were recently mailed out. After reviewing these billings, it was determined that there are a small percentage of properties which were billed incorrectly. The incorrect billings appear to be limited to properties that have frontage on multiple streets, some condominium properties, and select properties that are exempt from Assessments that should not have been billed. The city is working to provide corrected bills to the Summit County Fiscal Office and those corrected bills will be sent directly to those impacted.

If you are unsure if your bill is incorrect or have additional questions, please contact the City of Akron Assessments Division at 330 375-2484.

All month long, there will be events throughout the city to celebrate and honor Black History Month. See this Press Release for a list of some of those events.

Your Council Representative

Is Available to Serve You!

There are several ways to reach your Ward Representative:

View their information on the Council's website .
Attend their ward meeting .
Call or email them.

Each week, we will feature a different

City Council Member.

Be sure to check out upcoming issues of our legislative spotlight for more!

Councilman Bolden prepares a monthly Ward 8 e-newsletter. You can subscribe here.

Upcoming Open Comment

Public Hearings

February 10, 2025

During 5:00 p.m. Special Meeting

Ordinance authorizing a Conditional Use to create additional parking at 1990 Parkgate Avenue.

Ordinance authorizing a Conditional Use to construct a two-family dwelling at 161 Hilbish Avenue.

Ordinance authorizing a Conditional Use to establish a dual-use cannabis dispensary at 926 E. Waterloo Road.

Notices are posted on our website at least 15 days before the meeting.

Suppose the Ordinance is a Conditional Use (Zoning measure). In that case, a notice is also mailed to the owners and residents of property within, contiguous to, and directly across the street from the property involved in the Ordinance (per Charter Section 34). Notices are also published in the Akron Beacon Journal.

You do not need to fill out any forms to participate. You can attend in-person in Council Chambers or remotely via videoconference.

Those wishing to attend remotely need to notify the Clerk of Council, as outlined in the meeting notice, to receive the information to join remotely.

Please Help Us Get The Word Out!

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our website.

311- Akron's One Call to City Hall

If you have a specific city issue that you'd like to see resolved (a pothole, water leak, tree down, missed trash collection, etc.), you can enter it in the online system, call 311, or download

the "MyAkron311" app.

The app is available for free on all Apple or Android devices in the app store.

After downloading, residents can create a profile, enter a service request, look up timely city information, and set up notifications specific to their address such as trash/recycling collection reminders.

Public Comment Period

A public comment period is held at each regularly scheduled Council meeting, where up to ten (10) members of the public may address Council on matters within Council's authority. No member of the public shall be permitted to address Council during the public comment period more than once every 30 days.

Those who wish to participate in the public comment period of a regular Council meeting need to submit a public comment form by 4:00 p.m. on the date of the meeting.

The sign-up form is available here.

This brief video demonstrates how to fill out the form.

For those that do not have a mobile device/computer to utilize, or need additional assistance, Council staff is available to help.

Signing up is a requirement of Council Rules, similar to other bodies.

Declaring an Emergency:

Allows Council to dispense with the requirement that a piece of legislation be read at three separate Council meetings, and allows the legislation to go into effect earlier than 30 days from passage of the legislation.

In our continued effort to share definitions of frequently used terms, we've created the below video.

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You can view the Rules of Procedure for Akron City Council here.