CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — There is a loss of confidence in the Cleveland Heights Mayor to run the city, and now there's legislation saying exactly that.
On Monday night, City Councilmember Jim Petras introduced a 'Loss of Confidence' Resolution.
The legislation states, "recent developments have raised substantial concerns regarding the conduct, transparency, and decision-making of the Mayor." It also reads, "The Council affirms the right of all city employees, officials, and residents to raise concerns about workplace conditions and conduct and reiterates its commitment to ensuring that such concerns are met with respect, seriousness, and protection from retaliation."
Cleveland Heights resident, Drew Herzig, described the legislation as "misguided."
"It's being brought by a person who is running for mayor. He (Jim Petras) should at least recuse himself from voting on that, let alone bringing that to the council. That seems to me really exactly what we were saying about making this a political issue," Herzig said. "I think it's a huge conflict of interest."
The Resolution comes as the last few months have been riddled with accusations involving the mayor and his wife, Natalie McDaniel.
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Additionally, a lawsuit was just filed last week on behalf of former Cleveland Heights city employee, Patrick Costigan. It alleges discrimination.
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Herzig said, "They are currently allegations, and what's really interesting is that some of them are about events that happened months ago and why they are suddenly coming out now in the election season seems a little bit odd to me."
He also stated that while the accusations don't seem entirely political, it's being used in a political manner.
"The fire is being fanned by people who have political ambitions," he said. "It would be nice if we could actually get the facts, a timeline, see what actually happened, not just so and so says this and that kind of thing, and reporter fuzzy cameras or photos."
Before council took a vote on the resolution, Mayor Kahlil Seren responded to it with a brief statement.
Seren spoke directly to city staff members in that statement, saying he is still working with them.
"I know a lot of this is distracting, but we are getting the job done," Seren said. "No matter what, I am still dedicated to doing my best to put this city on the right path."
The Resolution passed with one no vote from Anthony Mattox Jr.
The legislation now takes effect immediately, as it was declared an emergency.
As city council has now formally stated its loss of confidence in the mayor, there is a recall petition making the rounds.
According to one of the petition organizers, Josie Moore, the recall currently has 1,200 signatures as of Monday night.
When we interviewed Moore last week, she said the petition needs at least 2,900 certified signatures to be approved by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
From there, Seren will have five days to either resign or allow the recall to go to the ballot, according to the City Charter.
In Article IV, Section 10 of the City Charter, it says that if the office becomes vacant, “the President of Council shall become Mayor, and shall cease to be a member of Council. If the President of Council is unable to assume the duties of Mayor, the Vice President of Council shall become Mayor, and shall cease to be a member of Council. If the President and Vice President are unable to assume the duties of Mayor, Council shall elect from its members a Mayor, who will cease to be a member of Council. If none of the members of Council are able to assume the duties of Mayor, the Council shall appoint a Mayor.”
The goal of the recall petition is to have Seren's name removed from the September primary election ballot.
The general election, in which the next Cleveland Heights mayor will be chosen, will take place in November.
Seren is currently petitioning for re-election.
Herzig said he plans to vote in favor of a second term for Seren as he believes the Mayor has done a lot of good for the city.
"They're working on the severance center. This has been a albatross around the city's neck for years.
They're finally dealing with the Tudor Fairmont — trying to reprove that. We had that fire over there on Lee, but that's coming back. Then the stramp at Cain Park, making that more accessible. There are so many things and that's just the start of it. There are so many things that he's been doing and being the person he is, he doesn't toot his horn a lot about this. He's just kept his shoulder to the grindstone kind of thing, and that to me is part of the the issue here. He's not a self-promoter and that means that a lot of his accomplishments and projects in the works are not getting the coverage."
Herzig is also part of the LGBTQ+ community and said he appreciates all of the mayor's efforts to recognize Pride.
