This Saturday, the late Akron Councilman Rich Swirsky will be honored for his service to the city. For nearly a decade, Swirsky represented part of downtown and Highland Square. Now, the neighborhood’s Triangle Park will be re-named in his honor. Mayor Dan Horrigan remembers Swirsky pushing council to protect green spaces in Akron and offer more recreation opportunities.
“I think he helped a lot of people understand what that public space meant, because it made an investment into their neighborhood," Horrigan said. "That was Rich’s gift: to say, ‘look at these things and how valuable they are, and this is why.’ I think that’s part of what good public service is. And that’s definitely what Rich brought to his constituents in his Ward.”
A lifelong Akronite, Swirsky also taught in the city’s public schools and worked with Ohio Citizen Action on labor and environmental issues. He died last May after a six-month battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
