Akron voters will decide three separate charter amendments on the November 3 ballot that would rewrite the city's rules on rental housing and police accountability, locking the changes into the charter itself so they cannot be undone by a future mayor, City Council vote, or administration. Issues 11, 12 and 13 emerged from a signature-gathering campaign involving Freedom BLOC, the Akron NAACP, and other local groups, and they now head to voters after months of petitioning.
According to Cleveland.com, Freedom BLOC, the Akron NAACP, the Greater Akron Fellowship of Clergy, and other tenant, housing, and community leaders submitted roughly 13,000 signatures to qualify the measures. The Summit County Board of Elections provides a 60-day issue synopsis detailing the proposed charter amendments for municipalities across the county, and the outlet's reporting lays out what each of the three issues would actually change if approved.
Security Deposits and Screening Fees Under Issue 11
Issue 11 would require landlords to offer tenants three- or six-month installment plans for security deposits, rather than demanding the full amount upfront. The measure would also prohibit landlords from retaliating against tenants who choose to use those installment plans, per the same reporting.
The proposal further targets fees charged during the rental application process. Issue 11 would prohibit application, screening, credit-check, and background-check fees that price working families out of housing, according to the report. Akron's homeownership rate stood at 50.7% in 2024 census data, according to Data USA, and a June 2026 analysis by USAFacts found renting households in the Akron metro area spent a median of 30.4% of their monthly income on rent between 2020 and 2024.
Issue 12 Would Add Protected Classes and Shift Enforcement
Issue 12 would establish criminal history and source of income as protected classes in housing, according to the reporting, while excluding convicted sex offenders and arson offenders from that protected-class coverage. The measure would also grant the Akron Civil Rights Commission jurisdiction over all real estate discrimination claims arising in the city.
If voters approve Issue 12, City Council would be required to enact corresponding legislation within 90 days of the amendment's passage, the outlet reports. Together, Issues 11 and 12 are described as offering immediate financial relief and anti-discrimination protections to renters.
Issue 13 Targets Police Oversight Structure Born From Jayland Walker's Death
The third measure, Issue 13, would strengthen Akron's civilian police oversight structure, which followed the 2022 police shooting of Jayland Walker. That existing oversight system, made up of the Citizens' Police Oversight Board and the Office of the Independent Police Auditor, was originally created when Akron voters approved Issue 10 during the November 2022 general election, according to Ballotpedia.
Issue 13 would reduce the number of Citizens' Police Oversight Board members appointed by City Council and change the board's overall composition and appointment process. Under the measure, the board would select one-third of its own members from a preselected list, with that list provided by a committee composed of members of a qualifying civil rights organization.
The proposal would also grant the Office of the Independent Police Auditor charter-level subpoena power and establish procedures and timing requirements for the mayor, chief of police, and City Council to respond to recommendations from the auditor's office. That timeline provision speaks directly to a breakdown documented by Signal Akron, which reported that in June 2024, Independent Police Auditor Anthony Finnell said neither the mayor's office nor the police department had responded to three separate use-of-force investigation reports his office had submitted.
A System Born From a $4.85 Million Settlement
The oversight structure Issue 13 seeks to expand traces directly back to Walker's death. Eight officers fired 94 rounds during the June 2022 encounter, and the City of Akron agreed in October 2024 to pay a $4.85 million settlement to Walker's family, Signal Akron has reported. The civilian oversight system voters approved later that year was connected to the shooting.
Finnell, who leads the auditor's office, served as president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement in 2024, according to a report from the City and County of San Francisco. Tensions over how far that oversight authority should extend have already surfaced at City Hall: in February 2025, Akron City Council voted 9-4 to reject Mayor Shammas Malik's $640,000 proposal to hire outside consulting firms for a use-of-force policy review, with council members arguing that responsibility belonged to the auditor's office, per WKYC.
The measures ultimately qualified for the ballot after a signature drive.
Charter Status Means Voters, Not Council, Hold the Final Word
Because all three measures would be written into the city charter rather than passed as ordinary legislation, they cannot be repealed by a mayor, a City Council vote, or a future administration. Only the voters themselves retain the power to repeal the amendments, according to Cleveland.com's reporting.
Akron's police oversight system and accountability remain issues of public attention. Voters will settle the fate of Issues 11, 12 and 13 when they head to the polls on November 3.
