CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Monday night's Cleveland Heights City Council meeting was, once again, filled with frustration and confusion.
On Sunday, we revealed that Mayor Kahlil Seren had previously reviewed council members' emails without their knowledge or consent.
Activity logs through the city’s servers show Seren searched a year's worth of emails involving two council members.
Those records indicate Seren performed a search once in December 2024 and twice in May of this year.
Council member Gail Larson said her emails were audited by Seren twice in 2024, too, and that she only knew due to a public records request.
Seren told me it shouldn't come as a surprise that he was reviewing council emails, as he had repeatedly asked members to voluntarily turn those over as part of his investigation into whether council had violated the Open Meetings Act.
"Unfortunately, for the last year, council members have refused to cooperate voluntarily in an investigation into how council does its business," Seren said.
He explained the investigation began through a request for assistance from the clerk of the council.
"The council clerk was mistakenly provided information that shows their sort of secret meeting behavior. Their (city council's) employee reached out to the administration for assistance. Shortly after receiving that information, they were contacted by council leadership related to that and were told to assist in covering it up," Seren said. "This isn't something we take lightly."
Not only does it appear Seren is independently investigating, but so is Cleveland-based law firm Flannery Georgalis LLC, which is costing the city $375/hour.
A spokesperson for the city confirms the investigation is "being closed but has not been closed yet."
"I think it's creepy," an attorney representing four Cleveland Heights council members, Michael Ungar, said. "I am aware of no legal authority that allows the mayor to do that. There is a proper way to go about requesting. Our mayor knows darn well how to do it. He has too much time on his hands."
Ungar claims Seren's allegations that council has not cooperated with the investigation are false.
"The whole thing is offensive to me," Ungar said. "I was there. I know that, that is not correct. He was sitting right next to me at the meetings, and I'm here to make sure that everybody knows and understands the four members of council that I represent, and indeed I believe the vast majority of council members, are committed to addressing whatever issues need to be addressed and moving our city forward."
While the finer details of Seren's independent investigation have not been released nor completed as of yet, he mentioned Cleveland Heights Council President Tony Cuda sent an email referencing a previous Saturday's meeting minutes.
Again on Monday, Council member Anthony Mattox, Jr. referenced that Saturday meeting during the Council of the Whole meeting.
Mattox, Jr. said he was not in attendance at that meeting and claimed at least three members were present.
"This has to stop! This has to stop tonight! The leadership in this city needs to start operating with integrity in the light of day," Mattox, Jr. exclaimed during the City Council meeting. "It is clear things are happening out of the light of day."
I asked Ungar about the accusation that council members have violated the Open Meetings Act.
"As Kahlil knows, I've explained to him and I've explained to his legal team time and again, there's always room for improvement and we were working really hard and really well together to try to improve the process, but at no point in time did four council members get together and engage in a deliberative process," Ungar said.
Ungar described the investigation as unwarranted and unjustified, but Seren told council on Monday during the City Council meeting that it was necessary.
"This is no secret that the investigatory powers of any mayor would extend to being able to review public records in a way that can ensure that the way that we do things is the way that we're supposed to," Seren told me on Sunday.
In a unanimous vote Monday, an ordinance prohibiting any unlawful and non-consensual review of city emails was passed by emergency.
Also, passing on a first reading, city social media accounts and email systems can no longer be used for "political messaging."
Ungar said, as of right now, no legal action will be taken against the mayor for allegedly making publicly false claims about council members meeting in private and their cooperation.
"I think that the vast majority of council members are committed to doing what's right for this community, and I would rather wait and see what they do first. I have confidence that they will figure it out. I think the leadership is working hard to figure it out. I'd defer on that question until they announce what it is that they're going to do and we'll see from there," Ungar said.
The mayor had five days to decide whether to resign following the recall effort gaining enough valid signatures, but clearly did not, as he was at Monday's meeting.
Council has now moved to advance the recall initiative on the September 9 ballot.
RELATED: Board of Elections says Cleveland Hts. mayor recall petition has enough signatures to move forward
