AKRON, Ohio – Akron Mayor Shammas Malik focused on change, accountability and good communication with community members during his first State of the City address on Wednesday night.
The address was held at the Akron Civic Theatre and also livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel. The event coincided with Malik’s 33rd birthday.
Among the highlights was announcing a new vehicle pursuit policy and Street Team pilot program (see more details below).
The mayor’s first 100 days in office have been objectively productive. Since taking the reins in January, the city has passed its capital and operating budgets. The city’s $366 million capital budget covers city infrastructure and major projects. Highlights include investing in updated community centers at Patterson and Reservoir parks, a new pool at Reservoir Park and investments in streets, sidewalks and permanent speed tables. The $815 million operating budget focuses on safety–allowing the city to grow its number of police, firefighters and paramedics.
“This isn’t to throw people at problems, it’s to acknowledge that proactive work like community policing, violence intervention, and community engagement requires having enough staff capacity for departments that have been stretched thin for too long. Too often Akron Police Department has to send patrol officers from call to call to call, leaving them little time to build relationships with our residents. It’s also an acknowledgement that our staff see difficult things, and we need them to take care of themselves and not get burned out,” Malik said.
Malik also has overhauled his cabinet and added two new roles to form a core executive leadership team. Malik selected Brittany Grimes Zaehringer to serve as chief of staff and Nanette Pitt as chief of strategy.
“We’ve eliminated some roles, moved other roles, and created some new roles. I know this has created some concern, but I truly believe we are developing a city government that is more open, more responsive, more collaborative and more strategic. In negotiating our budget with City Council, we agreed to wait on funding a public engagement strategist role, a data transparency role, and an environmental policy role but I am committed to these functions as a core of city government, and I look forward to proving how these functions can save us time, save us money, get you information quicker, and ultimately make your lives easier,” Malik said.
Malik’s plan for making the city a better place to live, work and play centers on his Together For Akron plan. The plan emphasizes safety, quality education and prioritizes health, housing and the environment. The plan also calls for better engagement with residents and partner organizations and open and honest communication.
Malik’s speech was interpreted into Nepali and Spanish to ensure that more residents are included.
“In our first 100 days, I said we would prioritize communications and public engagement. During that time, we’ve shared a weekly email newsletter, conducted regular live-streamed press conferences, engaged with our residents through various social media platforms, initiated regular discussions with business leaders, faith leaders, and more. We held a town hall on the police chief search at Garfield CLC and a town hall on the budget at Firestone. We’ve got two town halls coming up at Buchtel – we’re going to show off all these great school buildings,” Malik said in his speech.
During his first 100 days in office, Malik has attended 109 community events, he said. He plans to continue to be engaged with the community because he believes that in order to lead a city, one must be present, he said.
Police vehicle pursuit policy
The Akron Police Department has been reviewing its vehicle pursuit policy. After months of talks, Malik has issued an updated chief’s order related to vehicle pursuit that takes effect on Thursday at 7 a.m.
“Under the updated order, our department will no longer conduct vehicle chases for equipment violations alone such as a broken side mirror or taillight. Officers will retain the discretion to chase for traffic violations. This is a commonsense change that will eliminate some unnecessary chases,” he said.
The updated order will become a permanent policy change by the end of the month, Malik said. The city will also review chemical spray and crowd control policies in the coming months.
Safety
Malik and his team have started to address public safety in several ways. The city last month launched a co-responder pilot program called SCOUT (Summit County Outreach Team) with the Summit County ADM Board. The program dispatches a mental health responder alongside Akron Police and Akron Fire to certain 911 calls.
“In the first month alone, the SCOUT team has taken 85 calls for service and has safely transported 16 patients for further treatment. Dozens of hardworking folks have worked to make this a reality, and I’m looking forward to seeing this partnership grow in the months and years ahead,” Malik said.
The city has sworn in a new class of Akron firefighters to help address staffing needs and has launched the next cadet class for Akron Police. The cadet class is one of the most diverse classes the city has had, according to Malik. The city is also in the process of reviewing proposals for either renovating a building to house the deteriorating Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center or building a new building. The city will work with an architectural firm to determine its best option by the end of June.
“One big step we’ve taken in the first few months is continuing to improve the way we tackle gun violence,” Malik said. “I’ve spent time meeting with our federal and state partners – our Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm director in Washington, our state safety director in Columbus, the US Marshals, the US Attorney – and several of us traveled to Cincinnati to see their crime gun intelligence center at work. Our gun violence reduction team is continuing to expand their work, and we are going to get better and better in connecting the dots to hold people accountable who are involved with gun violence.”
Street Team pilot program
This summer the city will roll out a pilot program that focuses on community violence intervention.
“This program will hire and train credible messengers – people who are able to speak directly with those who are most likely to be most involved in violence, especially our young people, because they have lived experience, a history of involvement in the criminal justice system. These credible messengers will be lifelines in our neighborhoods – they will help our kids see a brighter future. They will help our youth understand the consequence of their actions, while providing them with support and options that allow them to develop goals and take steps to reach them,” Malik said.
Police chief search
As the city moves forward in the process of selecting its next police chief, it issued a survey asking community members for their input. More than 1,500 community members shared their responses, Malik said. Respondents indicated they want the police department to focus on crime reduction and prevention and they would like officers to have more positive daily interactions with the community. They also wanted to see more diversity, especially racial diversity, when it comes to hiring.
Based on existing city charter, the city can only consider high ranking internal candidates for the police chief position, according to the city law department and outside counsel.
“This has been the hardest thing I’ve dealt with in my time so far as mayor – folks I respect and look up to have asked me to pause the process until we can pass a charter amendment and change it,” Malik said. “Having an acting chief for a period of time is understandable. Having an acting chief for over a year will delay and make everything else we want to accomplish more difficult.”
This month the city will host two community town halls at Buchtel Community Learning Center to give people the chance to meet both candidates and ask questions. But Malik plans to have a charter amendment on the ballot this November that will broaden the candidate pool for police and fire leadership in future searches, he said.
“In the coming weeks we will announce the members of a committee to lead the drafting of that amendment, and I have invited the Black Elected Officials of Summit County to participate as part of that committee,” he said.
Police oversight and accountability
The Citizens’ Police Oversight Board has started its work, including hiring Anthony Finnell as the city’s Independent Police Auditor.
On April 1, an Akron officer shot a 15-year-old boy on Brittain Road soon after he pulled up and saw the teen with what appeared to be a gun in his hand, according to video released of the incident.
“We are thankful that the teenager who was shot was not more seriously injured, and that the officer is OK. My administration went beyond the requirements of our city charter in releasing body camera footage, by releasing the entire interaction between the teenager and the officer to show our community the entire context. We also released the officer’s personnel file. We anticipate being able to share more information in the coming weeks,” Malik said.
Malik said he will be transparent about the police shooting, but that he must let the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the internal investigators and auditor do their jobs.
Youth Success Summit
The city is partnering with Youth Success Summit to work with out-of-school time providers that offer quality programs for youth. Youth Success Summit will connect families with quality after school and summer activities, including work-based learning opportunities. The initiative is set to begin in July. Community members can learn about mentoring opportunities on the Youth Success Summit website.
“Establishing Youth Success Summit marks a significant milestone in our community’s collective commitment to nurturing the potential of every young person in our city. But perhaps most importantly, Youth Success Summit represents a powerful call for collaboration and partnership. By bringing together out-of-school-time providers, community leaders, educators, and families, we are not only amplifying our impact but also forging a stronger, more interconnected network of support for our youth,” Malik said.
Environment
Akron joined a statewide coalition, Power a Clean Future Ohio, this year. Akron was the last of the major cities in the state to join the coalition, according to Malik. Power a Clean Future Ohio will offer the city free tools to create and put into place carbon-reduction plans that are measurable and economical.
Malik also added Casey Shevlin to his cabinet to serve as the city’s first ever Director of Sustainability and Resiliency.
Earlier this year the city announced that it is one of 25 cities nationwide to join Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities. Bloomberg Philanthropies will fund an innovation team over three years that will work to address projects that focus on environmental sustainability and racial inequality.
Economic development
“Right now, we are competing for $40 million in state funding, and $70 million in federal funding to take our industry to the next level and for the Rubber City to become the Polymer City. I’ve made that pitch at the US Department of Commerce and we will continue to lobby for this exciting opportunity,” Malik said.
Akron is partnering with SiFi networks to offer fiber access throughout the city, a $200 million private investment. The city is also looking into a partnership with Summit County around Summit Connects, a countywide fiber ring, Malik said.
The future of the Innerbelt is also in the works. The decommissioned highway, which displaced homes, businesses and places of worship, will soon be reimagined thanks to a $1 million Reconnecting Communities grant from the federal government.
“I’m excited to announce that we are taking the next step in Reimagining the Akron Innerbelt by issuing a request for qualifications to identify a planning firm to help determine the plan for the decommissioned part of the Innerbelt. I look forward to what’s to come for this historic area,” Malik said.
The city will create a new Downtown Community Development Corporation this summer. The corporation will draw on the success of other neighborhood community development corporations and focus on real estate, and attracting businesses, jobs and residents to the downtown area.
Housing
Over the past few weeks the city’s housing inspectors have moved from pen and paper to using tablets for inspections. This move will allow the staff to conduct more inspections more efficiently, Malik said.
The city is working with United Way of Summit and Medina Counties and Community Legal Aid to ensure community members facing eviction have legal help. The Right to Counsel initiative will be funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. The initiative will keep people out of homelessness and save taxpayers money, according to Malik.
The city is reviewing its Home Repair Programs to ensure it offers results for residents. This program was set up with ARPA funding.
“Homelessness is growing across the country, and here in Akron. My administration is committed to finding new solutions – taking ideas that have worked elsewhere, and finding more support for the amazing folks doing the work here in Akron,” Malik said.
In the city’s 2024 budget, it has allocated $1 million in ARPA funds in excess of typical funding to support solutions that keep people in their homes.
Accountability tracker
Earlier this year, Malik announced 73 action items that are part of his Together for Akron plan. The city also launched an accountability tracker that details the progress of each action item. So far, the city has completed 55 action items and another 18 are in progress, Malik said.
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