Akron Mayor Shammas Malik announced today that he has formed a committee to help create a charter amendment that will allow the city to consider external candidates when it fills leadership positions in the Akron Police Department and Akron Fire Department.

The committee members are:

  • City Council President Margo Sommerville
  • Council President Pro Tem Brad McKitrick
  • Council Member Linda Omobien, who is also president of the Black Elected Officials of Summit County
  • At Large Council Member Eric Garrett
  • State Sen. Vernon Sykes
  • State Rep. Veronica Sims
  • Akron resident Willa Keith, who is a retiree of the City of Akron and the Akron Police Department
  • Akron resident Heather Pollock, who is a visiting assistant professor of instruction at the University of Akron

During the city’s search for a new police chief, Malik said his law department discovered a state law that he believed required him to only consider candidates internally from the rank below the open position. That meant that only two candidates could be considered for the open Akron Police chief position — both were white men. 

An amendment to the city charter, which must be approved by Akron voters, would more clearly define the city’s authority to include external candidates for the chief and deputy chief positions within the APD and the AFD and arguably ensure larger and more diverse pools of candidates in future searches. 

“Our charter is our central governing document, and we must ensure that it grants the city the flexibility to have the strongest possible hiring process,” Malik said in a press release. ”I believe that having broad, diverse candidate pools, with strong internal and external candidates, will serve the city well in these key leadership roles.”

The goal is to have the amendment on the ballot for voters to approve in the Nov. 5 general election.Deputy Chief Brian Harding was named the city’s new police chief on May 17, marking the end of a controversial hiring process that saw Malik promise a nationwide search as he prepared to take office before he pivoted earlier this year to internal candidates.

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.