CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Cleveland Heights residents — buckle up.
As Mayor Kahlil Seren has just filed for re-election, a recall petition to remove him from office is starting to make the rounds.
The recall petition comes as Seren has continuously been under the microscope of scrutiny.
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Not only has there been a civil rights complaint filed against the City of Cleveland Heights due to Seren's wife allegedly making antisemitic remarks regarding former city employees, current officials, and residents, but residents are citing a failure in the budget process and a high staff turnover rate as reasons the mayor needs to vacate his position.
Residents have also expressed concern over the mayor's response to the antisemitic accusations.
Seren posted a 15-minute video on social media that didn't sit well with many, including longtime Cleveland Heights resident Michael Bennett.
"He basically said some of my best friends are Jews and my wife's. Therefore, we can't be antisemitic. That's not an apology. That's not what the city needed," Bennett said.
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"One area where my wife and I are in very clear alignment, it is in our shared belief that anti-Jewish hatred and antisemitism, as described in the IHRA working definition, has no place in our community or any other," Seren said in the social media video containing his statement. "Some of the most important people in our lives are Jewish people. My wife grew up here in the Taylor neighborhood playing with Orthodox Jewish kids on the block, developing friendships with Jewish people throughout her life. And for my part, my godmother is Jewish. In fact, her family still lives here in Cleveland Heights."
Additionally, Seren has been questioned recently over accessing the city's law department despite saying his key card didn't allow him access.
"He (Seren) has, again, proven himself unworthy of governing Cleveland Heights. He really has done that over the years since he's been in office. I think a lot of us were giving him a chance. It was a new form of government, new mayor, let's be graceful and see how things evolve. Instead of evolving, they kept devolving," Bennett told me on Thursday.
City Council does not have the authority to remove Seren from office, but members can file a resolution giving their perspective on the mayor.
A 'Loss of Confidence' resolution was drafted and proposed as a possibility on Tuesday during a special council meeting.
"It was a tough meeting. I don't think any of us really wanted it to come to this, but with the number of stories recently coming out, I felt that it was important for us to stand up and express our loss of confidence in the mayor," Councilmember Jim Petras told me after Tuesday's meeting.
With all of this weighing on residents' shoulders, a dozen of them have started a recall petition this week in an effort to remove Seren from office.
"We have been trying to figure out what we can do to affect the change that we would like to see and to try to get our city to start healing and recovering and getting back in shape. We strongly believe that starts with Seren getting out of office," Josie Moore said.
Both Moore and Bennett are part of the group raising awareness about the petition.
"We believe that every day he is in office the city continues to be harmed and put at risk, and so we think it is important that we hasten that exit as much as possible," Moore stated.
The idea for a recall effort popped up on Monday. Since then, the group has been out trying to collect as many signatures as possible.
According to the City Charter (Article IV, Section 11), “at least twenty-five percent of the electors of the City that voted in the most recent mayoral election" are needed for the recall petition to be approved by the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
Moore told me the bare minimum goal is to get 2,900 signatures.
"It's always good practice to get about 150% of that so our target is 4,350," Moore explained. "We've definitely calculated how many sheets each one needs to fill and we think we can do it rather quickly."
So far, nearly 200 signatures have been collected in roughly 48 hours.
"There's just a lot of energy for it. People are excited about it. I think just a lot of people feel really hopeless and helpless because all of this is happening in our city and it feels like no one has the power to do anything. We just want to put that power back into the people's hands," Moore said.
Moore and Bennett are hoping to get the necessary certified signatures within the next seven to 10 days.
From there, Seren will have five days to either resign or allow the recall to go to the ballot, according to the City Charter.
"Somewhere in his (Seren's) mind I hope he rises to the civic duty and the oath he swore to serve Cleveland Heights to the best of his ability and if the recall is certified, the best of his ability would be to get out of the way now and not cause more damage," Bennett said.
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.”
Bennett told me despite the growing concerns surrounding this mayor, it doesn't discourage him from looking ahead to who might hold the office in the future.
The next mayor of Cleveland Heights will be the second mayor this city has ever had.
"I'm still a firm believer in the system of government that we changed to that resulted in an elected mayor. This is not a fault of the system. This is not a fault of council," Bennett detailed. "I'm not at all worried. What I am worried is if he stays in office any longer than absolutely necessary, which is why we're doing the recall effort. My only regret, and I have very few regrets in life, is that we didn't do this a year ago."
The petition organizers are holding several signing events this weekend:
- Friday, May 30 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. — mini park between Cedar Lee Theater and Boss Dog
- Saturday, May 31 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. — Noble Roanoke Park
- Saturday, May 31 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. — CLE Urban Winery
- Sunday, June 1 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Millikin Playground at Severn and Maple
- Sunday, June 1 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — in front of Gigi's
- Sunday, June 1 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. — Caledonia Cultural Center
The group will also have petitions available at the Coventry Kids Day at Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Park on Sunday, June 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
I reached out to Seren's office for a response to the recall petition, but one was not provided to us.
At a special meeting last Friday, though, he told News 5 he plans to stay in office.
"Despite the slings and arrows here that I’ve been faced down with for the last 10 years of service to this city. I’m gonna keep doing that work because I care about this city. I’m gonna keep fighting through whatever the difficulties are presented," Seren said.
The goal of the recall petition is to get Seren's removal on the September primary election.
The general election, where the next Cleveland Heights mayor will be chosen, will be in November.
