Evictions, affordable housing and more challenges in Akron now have potential solutions, after the city's first-ever civic assembly approved nine recommendations.
Over the past 10 weeks, 65 Unify Akron delegates debated dozens of proposals. They researched studies and solutions proposed during the past that never came to fruition. They also heard input from realtors, mortgage bankers, landlords and city planning officials.
The received 93% approval from the delegates.
Their report was presented to Mayor Shammas Malik and city officials at the Unify Akron closing ceremony May 21.
鈥淚t is now officially the plan of the people,鈥� delegate Wendy Duke cheered at the start of the presentation.
Malik and city council members have previously expressed support for the project.
Malik鈥檚 administration committed to give an update on the city鈥檚 progress every six months for the next 2 1/2 years, Malik said.
鈥淭his fall, we will come back together, right, and I鈥檓 very confident in how much progress we will have made in that time,鈥� Malik said.
What did the civic assembly propose?
The nine recommendations largely focus on streamlining, and in some cases, reforming, various city procedures and codes. Each individual proposal included in the final report received a supermajority vote 鈥� at least 66.6% support 鈥� among the delegates.
The proposals include:
- Creating a housing docket in the Akron Municipal Court, a dedicated track for housing cases and disputes
- Civil housing citations, an enforcement tool if a property owner does not make necessary repairs
- Public code violations database, a searchable tool to look up property violations
- Criminal history as a protected class in housing applications
- Zoning for tiny homes
- Comprehensive zoning reform
- Dedicated housing bonds to establish local sources of revenue for housing
- Repair loans for local homeowners
- 精东影业 ownership access and down payment assistance
One proposal, short-term financial assistance for residents at risk of losing their homes, did not reach a supermajority vote.
Delegates acknowledged the solutions will take time and, in some cases, significant financial resources to implement.
Speaking about the recommendation to create a new court docket, delegate James Taggart said they discussed facts, benefits and trade-offs at length.
鈥淲e鈥檙e making this recommendation because we believe the investment will pay off in more access to well-maintained housing,鈥� Taggart said.
Duke added that the delegates came from a wide range of backgrounds 鈥� including renters, homeowners and even landlords 鈥� that helped inform their proposals.
鈥淚t is the collective wisdom of our assembly, and draws upon our knowledge and experiences of housing in Akron,鈥� Duke said.
The delegates were chosen in a lottery drawing in February. Unify Akron used a random selection software called Panelot to generate 1,000 representative samples of the city.
Unify Akron is a branch of Unify America, founded by Harry Nathan Gottlieb, creator and CEO of Jackbox Games. The organization is focused on problem-solving and engaging people in democracy.
Unify America officials have stated they'd like to start similar civic assemblies across the state in the future.
