DOWNTOWN AKRON — Akron City Councilwoman Terry Albanese (D-Ward 6), chairwoman of the Economic Development Committee, placed her hand on a tower of documents in front of her as she addressed Council Jan. 5.

“This is the stack of information, materials and studies that we need to go over, most of which we’ve received just over the last two weeks,” she said as she requested passage of legislation authorizing more time before any new billboards could be permitted in the city.

City Council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium on new billboards another 21 days. The moratorium had been due to expire Jan. 9. Council plans to discuss billboard regulations during a caucus before the Jan. 12 Council meeting and hopes to enact revised regulations upon returning from the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, according to Albanese.

In response to complaints about the signs, Council in September enacted a 120-day moratorium on new billboards, during which city planning officials were to study the necessity of changing the zoning code to limit billboard advertising.

In other business, Council gave the floor to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Akron Branch President Ophelia Averitt both during the Public Safety Committee meeting and the regular Council meeting that evening. Averitt spoke impassionedly about the need for Akron Police Department (APD) officials to communicate with the public.

Averitt said she was devastated Jan. 3 to discover a crowd outside her office protesting what they perceived was the lack of support of the NAACP. She expressed her displeasure that Police Auditor Phillip Young did not or was unable to bring her information regarding two recent police shootings — the 2007 death of Demetrus Vinson and the 2008 death of Jeffery Stephens. While official investigations into the shootings exonerated the officers involved, some family and community members claim the APD should be held accountable for the deaths.

Public Safety Committee Chairman Jim Shealey (D-at large) said the police auditor should answer to the public, but he believes “right now the auditor is for some reason being hampered.”

Averitt also repeated a call for sensitivity and diversity training for officers, the establishment of a citizens’ review board, a system to pair junior and senior police officers on patrol and to reward those officers who have fewer instances of use of force, and more visibility of APD officials in the community.

“We need to get to the root of this thing,” she said. “I want you to step up to the plate and help me solve this situation.”

Larry Givens, deputy mayor for public safety, and acting Chief Craig Gilbride, also responded to Averitt during the committee meeting.

“I think we all need better communications, and I welcome the opportunity, and I know the chief does, to sit down with you and whoever else you want to sit down with, and to talk things out, see what we can do,” Givens said. “A police department will not succeed until they have the support of the community.”

Gilbride said he has worked to make the APD better and would back the department every chance he gets.

“I think sometimes we get blamed for problems that aren’t totally ours,” he said. “The Akron Police Department cannot solve all of society’s problems. Some of those problems begin at home; they don’t start at 217 S. High St.”

Later that night, Council President Marco Sommerville (D-Ward 3) said he commends Averitt and the NACCP for filling a “tough position,” and he also commended the APD for changes it is making, including installing cameras in all 12 district cars that might make valuable recordings if another controversial use of force arises.

He said a meeting is being scheduled for February with representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice, along with Gilbride, Young, representatives from the city’s law department and mayor’s office, the head of the police union and members of Council and the community. He said he also is requesting Justice Department officials meet with the Stephens and Vinson families “so they can have their concerns heard.”

Also Jan. 5, Sommerville, Mayor Don Plusquellic and state Rep. Vernon Sykes (D-District 44) issued a joint statement addressing the “transition” the APD currently is making.

“We are working with the Office of the U.S. Justice Department’s Community Relations Service to develop better communication and cooperation between the Akron Police Department and the citizens of Akron,” the statement reads. It continues, “The Ohio Attorney General and Ohio Attorney General-elect have offered the assistance of the State Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation if there is a need for an independent investigation of any future cases of use of force by police. We plan to make use of this offer as appropriate.”

The statement also addresses the need to recruit and retain officers of minority races in order for the APD to “look like the citizenry it is sworn to protect and serve.” Several changes have been implemented to that end, according to the statement.

To read the entire statement, go to www.ci.akron.oh.us.

Also at the meeting, Council approved:

• 2.5-percent raises for members of the Akron Nursing Association bargaining unit;
• a three-year, $3 million contract with the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corp. for lead abatement; and
• application for more than $5.3 million in Clean Ohio Conservation Fund monies for the Little Cuyahoga River Restoration project.

The next Akron City Council meeting will take place Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers on the third floor of the Akron Municipal Building, 166 S. High St. Committee meetings are scheduled to begin at noon that day, with a review of the 2009 Capital Investment and Community Development Program during an extended meeting of the Planning Committee.