Council nomination process excludes residents, says Fran Wilson

Fran Wilson
| Exclusively for Akron Beacon Journal

Akron City Council District 8 Representative James Hardy just resigned. It’s the second open seat on the council in the first six months of the new term. The seat will now be handpicked by the council in a backroom, unofficial nomination process you should know more about.

Section 28 of the Akron Charter gives the council the authority to select a “qualified person” to fill a vacancy within its ranks within 30 days, or the mayor will appoint her. The framework for nominations is outlined in Section 7 of the Council Rules: Applications must be submitted seven days before the nomination vote; the council receives nominations on the floor and casts written votes; then the selection is certified. What is not in the law, but what has become a well-established norm over the past few decades of nominations, is the formation of a selection committee of four to five councilors. That committee then uses the personnel exceptions in the Ohio Open Meetings Act to go into executive session and out of the public record to interview candidates.

In simple terms, a handful of city councilors meet privately in a back room and have just a week to choose one person from a pool of candidates—some of whom they have recruited—who will represent the tens of thousands of residents in a district. There is often no public involvement, and residents may not have the opportunity to officially vote for someone to fill that seat for up to two years. The process, both legally and in practice, leaves much room for improvement.

The process of appointing a new councilor has always been deceptively cumbersome, and can sometimes be described as a game of chairs. This analogy is best illustrated by a few interesting moments in the 25 appointments made between 1983 and 2024. For example, there were two instances when parents fled office and their children were appointed to the positions, and two occasions when incumbent city councilors were able to jump from a district seat to a popular vote seat using the nomination process. Not to mention separate periods in 1989 and 2001 when four seats opened up. And let’s not forget the fever dream in 2015 when Council Speaker Garry Moneypenny was appointed mayor after Plusquellic resigned, only to resign 10 days later, making newly appointed Council Speaker Jeff Fusco mayor for six months. As a result, both Moneypenny’s and Fusco’s council seats remained vacant, necessitating further appointments.

Over the past three years, I have personally participated in two nominating cycles for District 1 — once following the death of Councilman Rich Swirsky and the second time following the sudden departure of Councilman Nancy Holland five days into her term earlier this year.

Neighbors in Ward 1 pressured council to schedule a town hall meeting, then worked overtime to organize a robust candidate forum with 15 candidates. But the selection committee did not release the finalist’s name until the nomination was put to a vote, ultimately breaking a long-standing precedent of releasing the candidate’s name early. That left the remaining 14 candidates, those who organized to get neighborhood input, and the community in the dark. I sat with a handful of other candidates in the council chambers as they nominated a former Horrigan and Plusquellic cabinet member to represent our district for two years.

The seats in Ward 1 and Ward 8 — both with high voter turnout, deep endowments and progressive leanings — are up for election this year, with a 2025 election offering a chance to change the council’s leadership. Ward residents are not guaranteed a say in council nominations, and the council must decide whether and how much public opinion will be included in the decision-making process.

District 8 residents: time to get active. Whoever takes this seat will represent you until early 2026.

Here are four ways neighbors can take action today:

Send an email to Council President Sommerville ([email protected]) and Council Secretary Biviano ([email protected]) requesting that the City Council hold a candidate forum before the July 30 council nomination vote deadline. If they decline or do not respond, work with neighbors to create a forum for public engagement.
Please consider applying for the position. To apply, submit your resume and cover letter by noon July 22 to Clerk Biviano at [email protected]. Here’s more information on how to apply.
Talk to your neighbors about the process and encourage them to speak up. If you lead an organization in Ward 8, send an email about how to apply and get involved.
Vote in the spring 2025 election. District 1 and District 8 will be on the ballot.

Fran Wilson (they/them) is an Akron community activist and former candidate for Akron City Council at-large.