Updates on Mayoral Transition
August marks the halfway point between Akron’s Mayoral Primary, where voters
overwhelmingly selected Shammas Malik as our city’s next Mayor, and the official transfer of
power that will take place just after midnight on January 1, 2024. It’s been our honor to serve
as co-chairs of the Mayoral Transition Committee, and we wanted to share with Akron
residents what’s happened so far for the transition process, and what is to come over the next
several months.
What we’ve learned
We’ve spent the past two months meeting with Mayor Horrigan and his cabinet members to
learn about the essential and mandated city government functions. We sincerely appreciate the
Mayor and his team for being proactive and transparent with us throughout this process, as we
assess our strengths as a city and the key challenges that lie ahead.
We’ve also been hearing from you – our residents, citizen groups, community organizations,
service providers, and businesses. We’ve attended events, group meetings, and one-on-one
sessions to hear from residents, advocates, and business leaders across our community about
what is important to you, and how we can better collaborate across our city to meet our
collective Together for Akron vision.
What we’ve accomplished
One of our key goals has been to create a structure and process that deploys the values of the
Malik campaign – and ultimately, the Malik administration – particularly around the concept of
engagement. So many of you have reached out to request a meeting or attendance at events,
and while we aren’t able to accommodate all these requests, we want to ensure we have a
thoughtful way to consider them and to accommodate as many as possible. The most direct
way to get your request in the queue is by visiting www.togetherforakron.com/meeting.
We also have been overwhelmed (in a good way!) by the number of people reaching out who
are interested in helping in some way. It seems our community really has embraced the notion
of “Together” for Akron! Those interested in getting involved in the new administration are
encouraged to submit their resumes at www.togetherforakron.com/resume. If you or someone
you know is interested, please encourage them to submit their resume, and someone from our
team will be in touch.
What comes next
Of course, one of the biggest things coming up is the general election on November 7th! While
the race is unopposed, we ask you all to please participate in voting to ensure Shammas is duly
elected to serve as mayor as of January 1, 2024. There are also other races on the ballot, as well
as the state constitutional amendment for abortion access. Be sure to exercise your right to
vote and make your voice heard!
As we continue the work of the Transition Committee, one of our top priorities for the
remainder of the year is staffing the Malik administration. We will be releasing job postings in
mid-September for the roles we will be hiring. We encourage everyone to take a look at these
postings and apply if you are interested or share with others in your network you think may be
good fits. As Shammas has repeatedly said, we have everything we need to succeed right here
in our city. We need the right people to step up now and help lead us into this new era of
Akron’s future.
Another priority for the coming months is laying out the governing plan that will guide our new
city administration for the next four years. This includes the priorities laid out in Shammas’
Together for Akron plan, as well as the recommendations made by various task forces and
committees in the past few years – the Racial Equity and Social Justice Task Force, the Elevate
Greater Akron Plan, the Youth Violence Prevention Strategic Plan, and many others. We look
forward to continuing to meet with those folks involved in the creation of these plans, and
those interested in partnering to make our Together for Akron plan a reality.
The bottom line is: we want to engage with you! Please feel free to reach out to any of us to
share ideas, ask questions, or just get a general update on how things are going. We appreciate
your insights and thoughts so far, and we look forward to what the second half of this transition
process will bring.
Mayoral Transition Committee Co-Chairs:
Tracy Carter (tracy@togetherforakron.com)
Jeremy Lile (jeremy@togetherforakron.com)
Robert DeJournett (robert@togetherforakron.com)
Tony O’Leary (tony@togetherforakron.com)