Akron City Councilmembers bid farewell to five outgoing members and welcomed new members in the council’s final meeting of 2023.
Four of the new members will represent city wards and the fifth is a new at-large council member.
Council approved six resolutions thanking the five members for their service, as well as outgoing Mayor Dan Horrigan.
Democrat Jan Davis defeated longtime Ward 4 Councilmember Russ Neal in the May primary earlier this year. This district covers West Akron and Wallhaven.
Davis wants to help council do a better job of working together, she said.
“I see good things coming forward for this council,” Davis said. “We may differ, and that’s okay, but we’re coming here to have healthy debate because enough is enough.”
Neal thanked his wife and his constituents. He encouraged council members to be public servants, rather than politicians.
“I’m doing my best to represent the citizens of Akron,” Neal said. “If the politics continues, the city will suffer from it greatly.”
Wards 5 and 8 also had council open seats after their current representatives ran for mayor: Tara Mosley and Shammas Malik, who later won the Democratic primary and ran unopposed in the general election.
Mosley is succeeded by Johnnie Hannah. James Hardy, the former chief of staff to Mayor Dan Horrigan, has taken Malik’s place in Ward 8.
Mosley represented the ward, which covers parts of East Akron, Cascade Valley, University Park and Middlebury, for 10 years. She is proud that she always remained true to herself, she said.
She thanked the community and also paid tribute to her parents and brother, who passed away during her final term.
“I leave this horseshoe without my parents, without my brother, but I’ll leave with a community that has always supported me,” Mosley said through tears.
Hannah plans to focus on honesty and transparency, he said.
“May the work I do for the city of Akron speak for me,” Hannah said.
Malik, who will move on to become the city’s next mayor in the new year, thanked the city’s safety services and his constituents.
Malik’s successor, Hardy, mentioned his work under Mayor Horrigan and said he’s looking forward to serving in city hall again.
“It’s a privilege to be representing the ward I’ve grown up in and am raising children in,” Hardy said.
Tina Boyes succeeds retiring Ward 9 Councilmember Mike Freeman, who represented the Kenmore neighborhood on city council for more than 20 years. Boyes, a Democrat, defeated Republican Micah Townsend in the November election.
Freeman was not present during Monday’s meeting. He was recently appointed to the city’s planning commission.
Boyes will work to make sure residents’ voices are heard, she said.
“Akron is at a crossroads. We need everyone to be part of the solution – everyone,” Boyes said. “We 13 people around this horseshoe are a small fraction of the creative and honest and just amazing people in Akron.”
In the at-large race, Democrat Eric Garrett defeated incumbent Ginger Baylor. Democratic incumbents Linda Omobien and Jeff Fusco won their bids for reelection.
“I only sought out to make our city better. That’s my passion, to help,” Garrett said during the swearing-in ceremony.
Baylor, who attended the meeting via Zoom, thanked her fellow councilmembers and said she learned a lot during her one term on council.
“I do believe that we did a lot of work for the city of Akron,” Baylor said.
Other ward council members who were sworn in Monday ran unopposed: Ward 1 Councilmember Nancy Holland, Ward 2 Councilmember Phil Lombardo, Ward 6 Councilmember Brad McKitrick, Ward 7 Councilmember Donnie Kammer and Ward 10 Councilmember Sharon Connor.
Council President Margo Sommerville, who represents Ward 3 west of Downtown, defeated independent candidate William Reynolds.
In addition to the new members, council is undergoing changes after passing two ordinances on Dec. 4 that modified public comment rules and banned signs, banners and backpacks.
Beginning next year, council meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7, and public comment will be at the top of the agenda instead of at the end. Public comment is now limited to the first 10 people who sign up to speak by 4 p.m. ahead of the meeting.
