Speeches

Speech for National Night Out – August 4, 2009

Akron Beacon Journal Article (includes quote from Tina)

Good evening, I am Tina Merlitti, Ward 7 Councilperson.  On behalf of City Council and Ward 7 I would like to welcome everyone to Firestone Park.

I know many of you have come from all over the city of Akron and I would like to thank you for your support of the Alchier and Marshall families by kicking off Akron’s night out against crime in Firestone Park.

Tonight we are here to let all victims and their families that we as a community support them in the healing process.

Firestone Park is a neighborhood made up of good, hard working, people who strive to raise their families in peace.

I have thought about what I could say to make people feel alright after the attack that happened in our neighborhood following the Fireworks on June 27th but it is not alright.  We had a terrible crime happen in our neighborhood and people are angry and fearful.

I am not going to tell people to forget about what has happened but eventually you will need to learn how to deal with what happened and move on. We can not let one event define our neighborhood, our community, our city.  When crime disturbs the peace in our neighborhood it is up to us as a community to come together to support each other, to stand up for each other and to actively fight for our families and neighborhoods.

Many people have come forward to ask what they can do to keep this from happening to someone else.  They want people to know that the attack on these families is not common occurrence in our neighborhoods.  In fact, I believe that it is the unusual nature of this terrible attack that has brought so much attention to our community.

The answer is, all of us coming together as block watches, as neighborhoods, as citizens of Akron.  There are many people here tonight to answer your questions about how to prevent and respond to crime.  There are people here to offer words of healing and encouragement to help us move on and heal.

We have our young peacemakers here tonight, to show that they do not support teen violence in our streets or in our schools.  I want to thank them for standing up for what is good in our community and to lead the way for the next generation.

The point of tonight’s Night Out against Crime is not to sugar coat things but to get people actively involved.  To Arm ourselves with information about crime prevention and how to respond to crime when it occurs.

As a community we can not just stick our heads in the sand and pretend that there is no crime but we instead must decide how we want our society to be and work toward a better tomorrow.  It will not be easy but we can do it together. Tonight’s event is about taking back our streets in a positive way.  I hope these events have brought awareness to our community and will bring us closer together.