Akron’s Mayor-elect Dan Horrigan has appointed a 15-member task force to take a closer at how the city operates and why. From Ohio Public Radio Station WKSU, M.L. Schultze has more.
The task force includes people from business, labor, education, foundations, healthcare and local government sectors. Its goal is to drill down on the city’s finances, leadership, diversity and quality of life and make a set of recommendations by Feb. 1, a month after Horrigan takes office.
Tim Ochsenhirt, the retired partner of the law firm Roetzel & Andress, says the strength of his committee is the diversity of its members and a clear understanding of its mission.
“We have no authority to do anything nor should we. We’re just here because Dan had asked a group of people to serve and look under the hood. We’re going to look at the finances of the city, we’re going to look at the operations of the city and some of the opportunities and risks that the city may face.”
The $300,000 for the study is coming from the Akron Community, GAR and Knight foundations.
The chief consultant on the project is Thomas Chema, whose roles in the public sector include building the Gateway sports complexes in Cleveland and running Hiram College.