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Guess who’s back? (Back again!) It’s ME! Benjamin Rexroad and I'm tweeting my notes from yesterday’s @AkronCouncil Ward 4 Meeting for #AKRdocumenters and @signalakron. They’re not live, but these highlights may contain some of my “in the moment” reactions. #Akron
The Akronist retweeted
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The Akronist retweeted
Some late-breaking news:
The courts have denied Jill Stein's motion for an injunction that would require Ohio to count votes for her ticket.
As has been the case for the entire early-voting period, Jill Stein’s name is on the ballot, but because her vice presidential candidate withdrew after the ballot printing deadline, votes for her will not count.
CLARIFICATION (1 of 3): Ward 4 Council Member Jan Davis was 1 of 8 council members who signed a letter to Mayor Shammas Malik expressing concerns over Juneteenth events. Based on that letter, Malik cancelled all events on city property 6/14 - 6/16. teapaw.org/akronist/status/180637…
CLARIFICATION (2 of 3): During the ward meeting Davis said “In full disclosure I did not agree to cancel the events and I stand by that.” She said she reached out to organizers and made contributions to two events expecting both events would take place.
CLARIFICATION (3 of 3): Davis said: “Things happen, you learn from those experiences, and you don’t let them happen again.”
signalakron.org/shammas-mali…
And in case you want to follow along w/ my notes, you can find an audio recording of the meeting here: akron.documenters.org/docume…
REMINDER: Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any questions on the meeting or these tweets to [email protected]
Meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.. This concludes my coverage of the Ward 4 meeting for June 16, 2024. The next meeting is scheduled for July 31st. For more meeting coverage, check out akron.documenters.org.
Again: there’s more info in the recording(s), if you’re interested. These are just the highlights. Check out a recording here: akron.documenters.org/docume…
Dr. Robinson from @AkronPublic will be at the next ward meeting which will be July 31 at St. Sebastian. According to Davis, they’d like to put a levy on the ballot. This should be one of the things he’s coming to discuss.
There wasn’t much information that was given about it, but Davis did say that there will be a parade on July 13. Is this a make-up parade for Juneteenth or something that was already planned? Is it for/in/hosted by the ward or for/hosted by the city? This documenter doesn’t know.
Davis also mentioned that she is supporting a group that is trying to get a memorial marker placed at Schneider Park to commemorate the (possible) 2,000 graves of “indigent people who died without family” who are buried there.
Davis is writing her 1st piece of legislation. She said it's "going to be for LGBTQ rights... to be codified in Akron, Ohio. Because the people that I met w/are afraid that what’s going on at the State House is going to impact them. People have a right to live like they choose.”
Cont: “We can still fight that good fight. Don’t misunderstand me, okay? But if we need a building painted- and it’s the city’s responsibility but we can get the paint- are we going to wait 10 years for them to do it? We can paint. Trust me they ain’t going to fine you, okay?"
"The city does owe you something because you’re tax-paying citizens, but when I was a young girl I remember my father told me: ‘don’t ever wait on the government for nothing. Go get it for yourself.’ … we just can’t sit back and wait on them to do everything we want them to do.”
Throughout, Davis encouraged grassroots activism to improve the ward. She gave her perspective: “I can paint it and you can fine me later, okay? What are you going to do?” She compared the situation to Black Wall Street. She explained that this mentality came from her father:
Davis: “I reached out to several people in the administration, even the chief of strategy, they said they couldn’t do it… the way I look at things: I’m not going to scream, I’m not going to yell. I’m going to go get other people to do it so I can show you what can get done.”
Davis gave updates on buildings in the community. These are buildings that either need fixed up or torn down. She expressed challenges working with the city (budget) and building owners (tracking them down.) Davis: “This new administration is not giving us what we need.”