August 28 Ward 4 meeting
Covered by Documenters Cassandra Williams (see her notes here) and Wittman Sullivan (see his thread here)
Akron Ward 4 budget priorities
At the Aug. 28 Ward 4 meeting at Lawton Street Community Center, Akron City Council Member Jan Davis outlined the budget request she submitted to council.
Davis has requested $1.5 million to improve the liveability of the ward. Specifically, she is prioritizing the demolition of three blighted structures in West Akron: Rankin School, which closed in 2012, a former Church’s Texas Chicken on Copley Road and a former candy store on Copley Road. She is also looking to add portable toilets to the pickleball court at Kerr Park and to address other projects that would enhance Ward 4’s appearance and viability.
Updates from Summit County Sheriff’s Department
Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree shared recent improvements made by the department. For example, it now provides tablets loaded with K-12 curriculum plans to inmates who have not completed high school. These tablets travel with the inmates if they leave the local jail and enter longer-term custody.
To address mental health issues among inmates and employees, the department has hired a retired law enforcement officer as a full-time chaplain.
The sheriff’s office has also hired caseworkers to help inmates who may need assistance with housing, Social Security, disability, mental health issues and general living issues. These caseworkers follow the inmates throughout their incarceration.
When the inmates are released, the caseworkers provide assistance to help them live independently.
Fatheree also highlighted the steps the department has made to help incarcerated individuals transition back to daily life outside jail. The THRIVE House opened in August and provides transitional housing and support for unhoused individuals struggling with mental health and substance use disorder recovery.
Concerns on Peckham Street
Some residents of Peckham Street in West Akron discussed their concerns about neighborhood nuisances and the “outright disrespect” shown to people and property in their neighborhood by children, along with the non-responsive supervision of the kids’ parents and grandparents.
One disabled resident showed a photograph of a knife two young children left in her yard when she asked them not to play on her wheelchair ramp.
The residents who spoke out at the meeting said they have called the police numerous times regarding this particular house and the kids and the adults who come in and out of the home.
Request to support APS November levy
Carla Chapman, chief diversity officer of Akron Public Schools, encouraged voters to support the APS levy on the ballot in November. The levy includes $25.7 million to support operations and a bond issue that would raise $4.4 million annually for 25 years to build a new North High School building.
