Politicians can't campaign door to door at AMHA properties, organization says

While political candidates and their supporters can knock on doors in most parts of the city, door-to-door campaigning on Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority properties is prohibited, as one local political activist discovered while campaigning for mayoral candidate Tara Mosley.

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With weeks to go before the decisive primary election for mayor of Akron, Mosley, the only woman in the race and potentially the first Black person and first woman to be elected mayor, was told her campaign can't go door to door at the city's public housing properties.

It is a long-standing policy, last revised 2015, but Mosley said she hadn't been aware of it until this year when she received notice from AMHA.

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The May 2 primary election would likely be decisive, as no Republican has filed to compete in the November general election and there are no other obvious competitive candidates.

One of Mosley's opponents in the race is Marco Sommerville, who also happens to be chairman of the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority's board of directors.

Sommerville said that as an AMHA director, he has no say in the day-to-day operation of the housing authority, and had no idea Mosley had been told not to canvass. He said he is familiar with the policy, which allows political candidates to arrange times to meet with residents in community rooms and common areas, but prohibits knocking on doors.

"I have no idea that she was told or anything. I mean, I knew nothing about it. Don't know nothing about it. Still know nothing about it," he said. "You know, the policy has been in place for years and years and years."

Pete Zeigler, deputy director of the Summit County Board of Elections, said private property owners such as AMHA are free to put their properties off-limits to political campaigning, along with other solicitors.

Mosley, a member of City Council representing Ward 5, said she was unaware of the policy until recently and has campaigned door to door over the years at AMHA's Joy Park and Valley View Apartments property, as well as other properties, without being admonished by the housing authority.

"We literally just did Edgewood on Presidents Day," she said, referring to Edgewood Village apartments, another AMHA property.

That was until the Rev. John Beaty dropped off literature at AMHA's Summit Lakes Apartments stating "Register to Vote at any B.M.V. by Monday, April 3rd. Get a free Ohio I.D. Vote on Tues. May 2nd or sooner by Absentee."

Beaty said he believes AMHA residents are among the poorest in the city, besides the homeless, and have the lowest voter registration and turnout rates.

"Voting is power in democracies," he said, adding most people were receptive the day he dropped off flyers.

"There was one man, standing by a cart who yelled, 'We don't need no politicians around here,'" Beaty said.

AMHA Executive Director Herman Hill said he wasn't sure who called in the complaint about Beaty canvassing, and said it may have been an anonymous call. He also said the policy has been in the books for decades. So long, in fact, that nobody at the agency knows exactly why it was put in the books.

"My guess is that to really have some level of uniformity between our high-rises, which are restricted, you know. Just a person off the street can't walk into our high-rise unless you you know someone and they allow you into the building to visit them," he said. "I'm thinking there might have been an effort to bring some level of uniformity across all of our public housing units and not separate our high-rises from our family developments.

"Personally, I don't have a problem, you know, with candidates canvassing our family sites. I certainly don't have a problem with that, but you know, I'm left to follow the policy. At some point I'm sure we'll revisit it and see if we still want to keep the policy in place or or revise it."

Eric Marotta can be reached at emarotta@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: AMHA says politicians can't campaign door to door at properties