Council ousts Conti from vice presidency
By Stephanie Kist
DOWNTOWN AKRON — During an otherwise mundane meeting Jan. 8, Akron City Council made a move that Councilman John Conti (D-at large) said he both expected and didn’t.
Council voted 9-3 to oust Conti as its vice president and appoint Councilman Garry Moneypenny (D-Ward 10) instead.
The move came after political upheaval that had been taking place mostly behind the scenes.
Councilman Michael Williams (D-at large) moved to retain Conti, and Councilman Bruce Kilby (D-Ward 2) seconded the motion.
The vote was taken by secret
ballot, with nine members voting for Moneypenny and
three for Conti.
Councilman Mike Freeman (D-Ward
9) was absent from the meeting.
Conti asked to speak, but Council
President Marco Sommerville (D-Ward 3) didn’t
permit him to speak until after the vote.
“It’s been my honor
and privilege to serve in this position,” Conti
said.
Normally Council appoints officers
and committee members at the beginning of the year following
an election.
After the meeting, Councilman
Jim Shealey (D-Ward 5), who moved to appoint Moneypenny
as vice president, said there had been too much friction
between the Council president and vice president during
the past month or two. That turmoil needed to be dealt
with so that Council could continue to run smoothly,
he said.
Sommerville also said there needed
to be a change.
“We didn’t need to
be seeing division in leadership roles,” he said.
“Clearly, people don’t have the confidence
in John Conti.”
He said Conti can’t be
trusted and isn’t
a team player, which he exhibited when he, along with
Williams, pressed Sommerville about the position of
Council Clerk at a Dec. 18 Rules Committee meeting.
[See
Page 1
of the Dec. 22 West Side Leader or the archives at www.akron.com
for
that story.]
Conti wanted to fill the Council Clerk position himself,
Sommerville said.
He added Council’s confidence
in Conti also was undermined when he worked toward replacing
Sommerville with Williams, who is considering running
against Mayor Don Plusqeullic. [See
related story above.]
If the mayor is unable to complete his term, the Council
president is appointed mayor.
Conti left Council Chambers quickly,
but reached by phone Jan. 9, he said he expected he
might be voted out of the vice presidency; he just wasn’t
sure when it would happen.
In response to Sommerville’s
assertion that he can’t be trusted, Conti said,
“To be a team player and cooperate, there’s
quid pro quos.”
He denied that he actively worked
to oust Sommerville from the Council presidency, but
said he had been approached by other Council members
and would have voted with them if a move was made to
overthrow Sommerville.
“If I don’t have
Marco’s support, Marco doesn’t have my support,”
he said.
However, he said he and Sommerville
will try to mend fences and continue to work together
for the people of Akron.
He said it’s unfortunate
that a private matter between himself and Sommerville
was made public.
“We’d been friends
and political allies probably going on 15 years now,
and we’ve always disagreed, but we’ve always
been able to agree to disagree,” he said.
Conti said he no longer is interested
in the position of Council Clerk, and the vote at the
Council meeting indicated his support had waned.
“I think God’s showing
me that’s not what he wants me
to do,” he said.
In other business, the only legislation
Council voted on was to approve the vacation of a portion
of Sherman Street south of Baird Street and the vacation
of Ohio Street from Adolph Street east for about 600
feet.
Both vacations were unanimously
approved.
The Sherman Street vacation will
allow for the expansion of H&H Machine, and the
Ohio Street vacation will allow for an expansion on
the Akron City Hospital campus.
Because of the Martin Luther
King Jr. Day holiday, Council will not meet Jan. 15.
The next Akron City Council meeting will be Jan. 22
at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers on the third floor
of the Municipal Building, 166 S. High St.
There will be a slight change
in the time for committee meetings, which will take
place that afternoon, also in Council chambers. The
Public Service Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. rather
than 2 p.m., and a special ad
hoc committee on economic development and job creation
will meet at 2 p.m. The remaining committee meetings
will be at their regular times. The schedule is available
at ci.akron.oh.us/asp/calendar.asp.
|
