Cleveland Heights residents look to recall mayor

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The debate over whether one Ohio mayor should keep his job continues. 

Allegations of a hostile work environment, concerns over the budget, and a pending lawsuit are all parts of the ongoing controversy in Cleveland Heights.

A group of residents gathered at a library Monday evening in hopes of gathering more signatures for the petition to recall mayor Kahlil Seren.

Employees of city hall have remained quiet for months until Monday when they responded by putting out a letter saying, in part, that the allegations are not a reflection of their experience and that they are being used as a political weapon. The letter added that there has been tension, not because of abuse but because, “change is uncomfortable – especially for those used to calling the shots without accountability.”

Seren is the city’s first mayor.

Several council members and those looking to run for mayor attending the meeting

Residents who attended the meeting received these flyers explaining the recall process and the reasons for one.

Organizers spent the first part of the meeting going over a timeline of events since the mayor took office, including budgets concerns and numerous city employees leaving their roles.

The mayor’s former special assistant Patrick Costigan has filed a lawsuit against the city and Seren’s wife Natalie McDaniel. The lawsuit claims McDaniel made antisemitic as well as homophobic remarks.

 “We don’t want our incoming mayor to inherit a dumpster fire,” said Josie Moore, one organizer who spoke.

Most of the people who showed up at the meeting have already signed the petition to recall Seren.

Organizers said they want a new city administrator to come in.

“So, when our new mayor comes in, they don’t have to spend the first year cleaning up a great big mess,” Moore said.

“This isn’t just about bad services or maybe not doing a great job. He’s actually put the city at risk with multiple lawsuits, increasing legal fees and potentially other issues,” said Cleveland Heights resident Jeanne Gordon.

But not all at the meeting were on board and at one point things got heated, with several people showing frustration toward one member in support of Seren.

Alice Jeresko said requesting a recall was just a distraction.

“He’s done a tremendous amount of development work. He’s got us a climate action plan that many people who were here wanted and they don’t seem to recognize any of the gains that the mayor did make,” Jeresko said.

Drew Herzig, who wasn’t able to attend, said the timing seemed suspect. The meeting comes just fives months before elections in November. Seren has filed to run.

“If some of these events happened months ago, why are they only suddenly being reported now? It makes me wonder what the agenda is behind a lot of this,” Herzig said.

Organizers said they have gathered 2,200 signatures. They need 2,900 to get the recall on a ballot. They said their main concern is the budget.

“His last budget process was inefficient, and we are concerned about what he would do in the next budget process,” Gordon said. “We are not functioning efficiently and this is the moment where we have to take action.”