Voters in Akron’s Ward 1, covering parts of downtown and northwest neighborhoods West Hill, Highland Square and Merriman Hills, will consider two political newcomers for their new council representative in the Nov. 4 election.
Democrat Fran Wilson defeated incumbent Councilmember Samuel DeShazior in the May primary election. Acacia Reynolds is running as an independent.
Candidates are frequent attendees and critics of city council
Both candidates reside in the West Hill neighborhood. Reynolds is from southeast Pennsylvania and moved to Akron in 2018, she said.
Wilson, who uses they/them pronouns, grew up in West Hill and said their family has resided there for four generations.
Neither have held elected office before, but they are no strangers to council chambers.
Wilson ran for an at-large council seat in 2023. They’ve been actively involved in the community and attended city council meetings regularly for the last five years, they said. They also served on the Akron Civil Rights Commission.
Reynolds is a frequent attendee of city council meetings and often speaks on issues during the public comment period.
Both candidates mentioned housing and accountability as their top priorities.
Wilson wants to crack down on out-of-town landlords and protect renters’ rights.
“I see a desperate need for accountability in the housing space,” Wilson said. “We need renters’ protections and subsidies. We need to keep fighting out-of-state, negligent landlords, and we need to revamp our housing code desperately to make sure that there is teeth and that the places that we are renting and living are safe.”
Reynolds would like to revise the housing code and support tenants, she said.
“One of the things that I would like to see is a renters bill of rights,” Reynolds said. “There are different organizations within the city that are working on that, and I would like to work with them to see that come to fruition.”
Both candidates also plan to prioritize transparency, if elected.
In 2023, Akron City Council approved an ordinance restricting public comment to 10 speakers per meeting. Speakers must wait 30 days to participate in public comment again after speaking.
Reynolds believes these restrictions are unconstitutional.
“A lot of the reasons I chose to run has to do with wanting to have the council be more accountable to the city of Akron,” Reynolds said. “I would like to work on getting public speaking rules changed back.”
Wilson wants to increase citizens’ input in local government.
“We have seen the public's voice being cut back and neighbors being cut off during city council meetings, public comments being restricted and the latter,” Wilson said. “We need a city councilor who advocates for the public voice and expands public comment.”
Wilson also plans to support police reform if elected. There is a “small conservative bloc” of current council members voting against common sense reforms, they said.
“We have to cut through some of that nonsense and be very real about the need, [and] the decades and decades of history of police violence towards minority communities in this city,” Wilson said. “We need to start to do some real policy work and building to heal some of these wounds and to plan for a better future.”
Reynolds wants to see more community policing across Akron.
“There could also be substations for the police force so they are better able to respond,” Reynolds added. “Currently, very few of the officers are actually reaching out and being a part of the community, as opposed to just overseeing the community.”
Ideastream asked Reynolds about court records first reported by Signal Akron that show she has been accused of child neglect in multiple courts, and her husband was accused of sexual abuse. Neither has been criminally charged.
Summit County Children Services removed the Reynolds’ five children from the home in 2021 due to “deplorable” conditions, according to the documents.
Reynolds denied all allegations to Ideastream Public Media.
“The court system ignored a lot of things, and basically didn’t even review evidence that I presented,” Reynolds said. “I continue to miss my children every day of my life.”
Reynolds is the best candidate, she said, because she wants to make sure all people of Akron are heard.
“The city council ultimately is beholden to the people that elected them, and I think a lot of the ones that are currently holding those seats have forgotten that,” Reynolds said.
Wilson said their deep ties to the Ward 1 community set them apart.
“Generational ties that make a difference in how I am able to move, organize and get the word out about important issues,” Wilson said. “I’m very engaged with my local neighborhood organizations, and I know my neighbors.”
Residents of Ward 8, which covers much of the city’s northwest side, will also be able to vote for their council representative in the general election. Incumbent Bruce Bolden is running unopposed.
