Frank Comunale

County Councilman Frank Comunale is running for mayor of Akron.

(Frank Comunale)

AKRON, Ohio -- Summit County Councilman Frank Comunale on Wednesday became the fifth candidate to file for Akron mayor.

Unlike two candidates, Democratic City Councilman Mike Williams and Republican attorney Ed Sipplen, Comunale avoided remarks about the current chaos at City Hall, where two mayors resigned in just over a week. Instead he focused on the city's progress.

"I think things in this city are good and are going to continue to get better," Comunale said in an interview Tuesday night. "Some are going to want to look and say the city is broke, I'm going to fix it. This is a time when we need to be reinvesting."

The West Akron councilman touted his business background and said he would do everything possible to continue much of the collaboration that longtime mayor Don Plusquellic built his legacy on. That's despite the fact that Plusquellic backed his opponent in his last election. (Comunale won with 72 percent of the vote.)

"Don Plusquellic was not a good mayor, he was in many ways a superb mayor...We need to focus our attention on making sure Akron doesn't look back but continues looking forward," Comunale said.

Plusquellic resigned abruptly last month after 28 years in office, in a letter blaming the Akron Beacon Journal. His successor, former City Council President Garry Moneypenny, resigned Monday after announcing he had a "too-personal" encounter with a city employee in his office. Current Council President Jeff Fusco will take office tonight.

The filing deadline in the September primary elections is today. Comunale joins Williams and Summit County Clerk of Courts Dan Horrigan in the Democratic primary. Natural Hunka Kaboom, a regular speaker at City Council, has also filed in the Democratic primary.

Comunale's ties with the Akron business world begin with his family's namesake construction company, S.A. Comunale.

According to his County Council resume, Comunale is the former president of the Akron-Summit County Public Library Board of Trustees, former president of the First Friday Club of Greater Akron Board of Trustees, former president of the Good Samaritan Hunger Center Board of Trustees, and former first vice chairman of the Towpath Credit Union Board of Directors.

Comunale has pledged his support to Fusco, as he takes over the city, and said the city administration is competent.

"The important things in our lives are based on epic periods, I think this is one, this is going to be the first change in a political election since Ronald Reagan was president," Comunale said. "There are always better ways to do things, but I think most of the people who work in City Hall do an excellent job."