County Councilman Jeff Wilhite launches 'full-bore' campaign for Akron's open mayor race

County Councilman Jeff Wilhite is moving “full bore” into the open race for mayor of Akron with a four-point platform to address crime, housing and jobs for all citizens, and living conditions for the elderly.

Now that Mayor Dan Horrigan has announced he will not seek a third term, Wilhite told the Beacon Journal Wednesday that he’ll formally announce his candidacy later this week and pull petitions by Tuesday.

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The elected county official and executive director of Family Promise, a nonprofit housing provider for homeless families, is promising to take the high road in a Democratic primary that is quickly getting crowded.

“It's how I'm built,” Wilhite said, voicing disapproval of the attack ads airing against his party’s candidates for U.S. Congress in the current midterm election. “I don't have to tear someone else down to build myself up. And I'm not going to do that. There's enough of that going on in in the world now.”

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Like Deputy Mayor Marco Sommerville, Wilhite waited for Horrigan’s announcement before solidifying his intent to run. Ward 8 Councilman Shammas Malik announced his bid ahead of Horrigan’s decision. Other elected or appointed public officials, as well as a handful of private citizens, are mulling a run for the first open mayor's race since 2015.

Decades of experience

Wilhite’s political experience spans more than three decades.

As a 17-year-old high school student in Kenmore, before he went on to earn a degree in business administration from the University of Akron, Wilhite was appointed by Mayor Roy Ray to the city’s Senior Citizen Commission. He worked with his councilman at the time, Don Plusquellic, to circulate petitions for Akron’s first community center for seniors, which is still open on Kenmore Boulevard.

At UA in 1984, Wilhite said he found a mentor in Akron Deputy Mayor Dorothy O. Jackson, who nurtured his appetite for helping others. She set him up working on an Akron-Canton campaign to fill and send a cargo plane to Africa with food and relief.

Wilhite served in Mayor Plusquellic’s cabinet from 2000 to 2006 as as deputy mayor for administration and deputy planning director. He was appointed to Summit County Council in 2016, where he’s been elected twice to represent District 4, which cuts across Akron from the southeast to the northwest.

Wilhite is a former vice president and a former president of County Council. He's run Family Promise since 2013 and in 2015 unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat on Akron City Council.

Wilhite spoke of fostering a more connected and empowered Akron community to address the four major pillars of his campaign.

Recruiting law enforcement, reducing crime, empowering citizens

Crime is a "critical issue" in Akron, he said.

"There’s been an increase in that, and it's obviously concerning," Wilhite said.

Wilhite proposed reestablishing and expanding community block watches and modeling them after existing groups that not only look out for crime but serve as the social clubs that lift up their neighborhoods.

"That just gives you more reason to bond with the folks that are in your neighborhood if you have shared experiences," he said, raising concerns about a generation connected by social media over face-to-face relationships. "And I think that goes to tolerance and inclusion and acceptance, too. Because, you know, when you get to know somebody, it's a different story than you thinking you know them."

In addition to supporting more block clubs, law enforcement needs help attracting and retaining talent with a vested interest in the community, Wilhite said. He supports and would build on efforts like a forgivable home loan program for first responders to buy homes in Akron.

Adding affordable, safe housing

Wilhite would keep residential tax abatements Horrigan enacted in his first term to jumpstart new apartment and home construction. But with much of the tax rebates going to major builders and more expensive homes, the program needs tilted toward equity, he said.

"It needs to be balanced out because there's a whole lot of folks in this community that can't afford $200,000, $300,000 or $400,000 homes," he said. "And the issue is that if you want more roofs, we've got to stop tearing down the roofs that we have. If we can focus on renovation as hard as we are on new builds, that's a major balance to housing."

Wilhite held up a new program at Family Promise as a model. The private nonprofit is leveraging Community Reinvestment Act donations from local banks to remodel a house purchased for $9,700 in Firestone Park. A family facing homelessness would be given a land contract (or rent-to-own) agreement and moved into the new home.

Land contracts sometimes a disaster, Wilhite said, adding that he's working with attorneys for low-income tenants to ensure the deal is in everyone's best interest. "And I want this thing to be as transparent as my windshield in the car."

Supporting businesses, workforce development

Wilhite said Akron's bicentennial celebration in 2024 offers an opportunity to remind people of the many businesses with a century or more of operation in the city, and to showcase what they do for motorists who drive by and never think twice about stopping.

"So many times we drive by places, we have no idea what's there," he said. "And I think that goes very much to work for workforce development."

Wilhite drew on his three years as chief operating officer at the National Inventor's Hall of Fame, which introduces young students to inventors and businesses to young students. The same can be done for a high school student thinking about going into, for example, advanced manufacturing if only that student knew an opportunity existed in Akron, Wilhite said.

Aging well in Akron

Wilhite would double down on Akron's work with the county and Direction Home to make the city an "age-friendly" place for senior citizens to live out their retirement.

As the lead member of the Summit County Nursing Homes and Facilities Task Force, Wilhite has been critical of long-term care facilities for not sharing profits with workers.

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"Just because you’re a nursing home doesn’t give you license to cry labor shortage when you’re not paying a livable wage," he told the Beacon Journal during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilhite is not tempering his tough position on long-term care as a mayoral candidate.

"I don't have any issue saying that I'm not a big fan of nursing homes or assisted-living facilities," Wilhite said this week. "I know they're important. And I know that there's times when people need it. But every elderly person that I know stays healthier longer, if they're in their own home.

"That's not only a win for the neighborhood and the quality of life in the neighborhood," he continued, "but that's a win for that individual or that elderly couple or family — for their mental health and physical health, because they're there in some place that they know. And we need to let the world know, quite frankly, that Akron is a community that is a great place to age."

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Summit County Councilman Jeff Wilhite is running for Akron mayor