In a tense Akron City Council meeting Monday, some council members doubled down on their safety concerns and opposition to the planned Juneteenth events this past weekend.
Mayor Shammas Malik canceled all city-affiliated gatherings on Friday after eight council members signed a letter “respectfully request[ing] that [Malik] cancel these events in the interest of public safety,” council members wrote in the letter, specifically referencing Juneteenth events on city property. Their concerns included that the suspect or suspects in a recent mass shooting are still at large and that gatherings could “set the stage” for “retaliatory shooting.”
There were no “credible threats,” Malik said Friday.
However, during Monday’s city council meeting, several council members brought up concerns not mentioned in the initial letter.
Council President Margo Sommerville’s main concern, she said, was that police staffing for the three Juneteenth events was “inequitable.”
She alleged that the Joy Park Juneteenth event, which was held in East Akron near where the shooting occurred, was given four Akron Police officers, while the gathering at Stoner Hawkins Park on the west side was given nine.
Ideastream Public Media reached out to an Akron Police Department spokesperson to confirm the number of officers that were budgeted for each event as well as the process for determining how many were needed. Ideastream has not yet received a response.
Tara Mosley Weems, a former city council member who hosts the Joy Park event, was told there would be seven officers at the event based on the number of expected attendees – about 250 to 300 people coming and going, she said. After hearing Sommerville’s comments at the city council meeting, she’s asked the police chief for more information, Weems said.
Sommerville also alleged that Police Chief Brian Harding told her the Hawkins event was given more officers because it was a “city-sponsored” event with “the city logo on its marketing materials.”
Nanette Pitt, Mayor Malik’s chief of strategy, denied Sommerville’s claim.
“Officers were allocated according to the needs of each event as evaluated by the protocols of the police department,” Pitt said. “[Malik] relies on the expertise of the chief of police and all of the experts in the police department to make those determinations.”
Ideastream has also asked the police spokesperson for a comment.
Another concern discussed Monday was that the mayor did not reach out to ward council members to go over the safety plans for the events, Sommerville said. While Malik told her there was a plan, he did not provide specific information, she said.
Jan Davis, who represents Ward 4 on the city’s west side, echoed these concerns.
“I’m the ward councilperson. You should have included me in those conversations, and we may not be here in this space today,” Davis said.
Davis told Ideastream she did not specifically ask Malik for the safety plan.
“And that is something that I accept, and I should have reached out, okay, but I didn’t,” Davis said. “I think the reason I didn’t reach out [was] because I was hearing from leadership that he wasn’t sharing.”
Ward 5 Councilmember Johnnie Hannah represents parts of the city’s north, south and east sides, including East Akron where the mass shooting occurred. Hannah felt that not enough information was provided to council members about the safety plan, he said during the meeting.
“Council members were not included or consulted,” Hannah said.
Going forward, Davis wants ward representatives to be included in event planning, she said.
Davis also said she did not want the Juneteenth events to be canceled and had even donated $100 to each of the two events in her ward.
“It was never my intent to have this event canceled. That letter, for me, was the letter that was going to be for the record in the event that something occurred,” Davis said.
When asked why she signed the letter, which specifically requests for the events to be cancelled, Davis said she did not read it first before allowing her signature to be included.
“The bottom line, the mayor has the right to veto,” she said. “If you felt that everything was safe, you have to make a decision and you know, go and move on, move forward with it.”
Councilmember Donnie Kammer also spoke out calling for a better process for planning community events. He added that he wanted an apology for a post on the mayor’s Facebook page which said the Lock 3 concert would be canceled “due to Akron City Council member’s concerns.”
City officials announced that they have partnered with the Akron Urban League to hold a Juneteenth celebration on Wednesday from 1 to 7 p.m. at the John S. Knight Center in Downtown Akron. METRO RTA will waive fares all day, according to a news release.
