Note to readers:
The following item is a written record of the Akron City Council Ward 2 community meeting from May 27, compiled by Akron Documenter Christina Brunson. It is not a reported story.
Documenters are residents who are trained to observe and document local government meetings. Their notes are edited before publication for clarity and accuracy — unless quotation marks are used, all text is paraphrased.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalakron.org with "Correction Request" in the subject line.
Summary
- Steve Millard, president and CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber, gave an overview of the organization and the services it provides at the Ward 2 meeting held in Akron’s North Hill neighborhood. The chamber helps small businesses and partners with Akron Public Schools, among other efforts, he said. Its primary mission is to provide resources to businesses.
- The Akron police gave their monthly report, noting that service calls for April were at 10,811 — these numbers have been trending upward since January. Additionally, shootings and shots fired are also trending up from 464 in April of 2025 to 562 in April of this year.
Documenter follow-up questions
- Will the city be able to alleviate the homeless situation?
- Will the city help with high housing costs?
Ward 2 meeting notes
The meeting opened at 6 p.m. with Ward 2 City Council Member Phil Lombardo, who made the following announcements:
- Lombardo said the annual community Akron RubberDucks game is July 25. The first 1,000 people will receive a bobblehead. Lombardo will provide hot dogs for everyone, and the tickets are $8. Residents can contact Lombardo for tickets.
- Next month, the special guest speaker will be the executive director of Love Akron, Kemp Boyd, who is also the chair of the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board. The meeting is June 24 at 6 p.m.
- Lombardo thanked the 50 volunteers who showed up for the Keep Akron Beautiful neighborhood cleanup event, which was held May 9.
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Greater Akron Chamber supports 850 small businesses
Next, Millard spoke about the Greater Akron Chamber. His office serves 2,800 business members in Portage and Summit counties, and of those, 850 are small businesses; 2,400 of those companies have fewer than 50 employees, and 80 percent of those have fewer than 20 employees.
These are small companies like dry cleaners, restaurants, small manufacturing shops, employment agencies, etc. The Greater Akron Chamber makes it easier for small companies to compete with larger ones, Millard said. One way is by making it easier for employees to provide health benefits.
The Greater Akron Chamber runs a benefits program that has 1,500 companies with 10 to 15,000 employees in it. That program can provide rates similar to those of the larger companies, and it does the same for retirement programs.
Chamber runs several programs that aid community
Millard highlighted the ways his office helps the community.
- Elevate Akron – This is about 25 economic development organizations that help businesses of all sizes.
- Greater Akron business navigator – If small businesses need resources or support, they can find that here, and most of the information is free or low cost. Businesses can ask for help on many different topics.
- Networking and educational programs where small businesses can learn from each other — the chamber offers more than 140 programs each year. Businesses want to learn from other businesses.
- Supporting and helping small businesses grow through brainstorming, mentorship and resources.
- Supporting Akron Public Schools by helping students learn about polymer sciences and letting the students know that there are great job opportunities in this area.
- The Greater Akron Chamber is also helping with the polymer industry. Akron has a rich history in rubber, plastics and polymers. They are focusing on the next wave and creating sustainable polymers. They are figuring out how to make it resilient and are now trying to figure out how to keep plastics out of our water. A pilot facility will be built by the University of Akron.
If anyone knows a small business that needs some help or wants to be more successful, they can reach out to the Greater Akron Chamber. Services include helping set up a podcast, helping to find office space or creating a video about their business.
Public safety update focuses on homeless camps
Next, Lombardo introduced two Akron Police Department officers who discussed homeless camps in Akron and the effort that the police department takes to get them removed from private and city properties.
For the private residences, they have to contact the property owner and get their approval. This presents a problem, because many of the private residences’ owners are not in Ohio, making them difficult to contact, the officers said.
When officers have to remove unhoused people from city properties, they have to provide them with a three-day notice. The officers said there is a homelessness problem in our city, and that even with these efforts, after a few days, people come back to these properties and the cycle begins again.
A resident asked about housing costs being so high now. The resident asked, “Is this the reason there are so many homeless people?” Lombardo said the city is discussing the high cost of housing in the city and hopes to come up with a plan to help.
Another resident asked about speed tables. The resident asked if there could be a speed table on Lucille Avenue because there was a car that ran into her house, and additionally, the resident said drivers do not want to wait for the light at East Tallmadge and Patterson avenues, so to bypass the light, they are traveling at high speeds and cutting through Lucille. Lombardo said they probably could not get a speed table, but they could possibly get a speed trailer.
Flyers with crime date for the city and for Ward 2 were passed out during the meeting.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
