Public commenters urge action on stray animals, allege housing-fund conflicts and question police use-of-force review

Speakers during the public comment period at the Akron City Council meeting raised several distinct concerns, including a local proposal for stray-animal policy, allegations of conflict of interest in Summit County housing-fund allocations, questions about the value of a costly police use-of-force review and personal testimony about homelessness and harassment.

Laura Lawson presented a written proposal to address stray-animal issues and asked the council to circulate it to members. "It's not a solution to our problem, but it might actually help get a grip on it," she said, asking council members to review and distribute the proposal.

Ryan Scanlon told the council that nearly 80% of 2024 emergency solutions grant funds in Summit County went to two organizations, United Way and Access Inc., and alleged overlapping personal connections among local officials involved in both allocation and oversight. Scanlon said Jackie Kessner (who publicly goes by Jackie Hemsworth) chaired the Summit County continuum of care that distributed funds and that her husband, Joe Scalise, leads United Way of Summit and Medina County. He also said Kristen M. Scalise, the Summit County fiscal officer, oversees compliance. "If that's not concerning enough... this raises serious questions about impartiality in both the allocation and the oversight process," Scanlon said, and he urged the council to "push for an independent audit of these allocations, stricter conflict of interest policies, and greater transparency in the decision-making process." Councilman Jeff Fusco offered to meet with Scanlon after the meeting.

Acacia Reynolds, speaking online, criticized a planned external review of the Akron Police Department's use-of-force policy on cost and redundancy. "It is so plainly obvious to the residents of Akron how badly the use of force policy in Akron is," Reynolds said, adding that local studies and oversight reports already point to problems and that paying a law office an "exorbitant" amount may duplicate work. She said her husband used an AI tool to compile a model best-practices policy and had shared it with council and staff.

James Marshall gave a personal account of long-term housing instability and alleged harassment and intimidation that he said affected his ability to find and keep housing. The clerk ended his three-minute public-comment allotment and offered follow-up after the meeting.

Other commenters included Deneen Pollard, who discussed constitutional and civic topics in a broad, nonpolicy commentary. The council thanked participants and moved on to the consent agenda.