CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — It's been a bumpy year in Cleveland Heights politics, and now again, residents are feeling mixed emotions.
The current mayor, Kahlil Seren, pulled petitions in hopes of filing for re-election a couple of weeks ago.
Seren needed 342 valid signatures in order to get his name on the September ballot.
He collected 457 signatures by the June 11 deadline, but only 303 were valid, which has now rendered him ineligible for back-to-back terms.
According to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, there were a variety of reasons for the 154 invalid signatures:
- Black Lines — 22
- Candidate signed — 1
- Duplicate signer or Petition — 2
- Linked Duplicate — 47
- No Address — 3
- Not a Genuine Signature — 14
- Not a Registered Voter — 34
- Not Registered at Address Slated on Petition — 25
- Wrong District — 6
"I don't think Mayor Seren himself had decided until last minute. It seemed like he was just ready to give up," Alice Jeresko told me. "We were just on the sidelines, my husband and I, watching the things that had been unfolding, realizing that it seemed truly just over the top in terms of the anger, the accusations, no proof, lots of just allegations that people were so ready to believe that we thought was almost like a moral imperative to be like, hey, we have to counter some of this."
Jeresko said she circulated Seren's petitions in an attempt to get him on the ballot.
Once she learned the news that they didn't get enough signatures, she felt a wave of disappointment.
"I feel personally that I didn't go out there and get enough signatures. I think all of us could have done better. I don't think any of us were like big political people thinking that this is our guy and he's got to win. We were thinking something wrong is happening in Cleveland Heights," Jeresko added.
Drew Herzig, another resident of Cleveland Heights and supporter of Seren, told me he's heartbroken over the outcome.
"I really wanted the mayor to be able to make his case to the public at large, not through social media posts and back and forth on Facebook," Herzig said. "I think we deserved a healthy debate on these issues, not just being kind of shuffled off the stage kind of thing, so it's really frustrating."
I reached out to Seren's Communications Director on Tuesday, but did not hear back.
Seren recently sent the following statement to Cleveland Heights city employees:
Cleveland Heights Team,
I am writing all of you to let you know that I will not be on the ballot in the Mayoral election this year, which means that you will all have a new Mayor in 2026. I was not able to collect enough valid signatures to participate as a candidate in this election, unfortunately there were about 44 people who signed other candidates’ petitions first, which meant that I was 39 signatures short.
I have been honored to work with you on behalf of this city over the last three and a half years, I hope that I have been of benefit to you and your work. I know that budget and staffing cuts, disinvestment in equipment, vehicles, and facilities has made the job harder than it needs to be, but you all have gone out there for years working hard for the City in spite of that. We’ve just begun turning it around, and I hope that we continue to after my time here is done. I believe that we have accomplished a lot, against some pretty strong headwinds, and I thank you for the work that you do. I will keep working with you for as long as I am in this seat, and I feel certain that for the rest of my time with the City of Cleveland Heights, we will get more good things done.
Although saddened, both Herzig and Jeresko believe Seren will finish his term strong.
"He's gotten great energy contracts to reduce costs over several years, many millions to save the city," Jeresko explained. "He's been hiring new people on staff. The staff apparently really does like him in spite of all the allegations. He's brought the building inspections back in house instead of outsourcing it. The roads are getting fixed and they handled ARPA funds with all kinds of public engagement."
Herzig added, "The good he's doing in this community is really remarkable, and he's going to keep moving those forward."
Seren is to remain as mayor until January 2026.
While those we interviewed about Seren's failed petition on Tuesday say they believe having a mayor is still the best practice for running the city, Seren's time in office may be cut short if a recall petition passes the September ballot.
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.
Petition organizers have previously told me the bare minimum goal is to get 2,900 signatures.
As of Tuesday afternoon, one of the petition circulators, Josie Moore, said they've collected more than the bare minimum.
"The reasons for the recall remain the same, and that is that he needs to be out of office as soon as possible because again, it is our position that every day that he is in office our city is at risk of harm," Moore stated.
Moore said there's a lot of energy from residents to sign the petition, especially from folks who were reluctant to sign it initially.
"I think the interesting part is that when we started it, there were a lot of people who thought, 'I'm not going to.' And then he pulled petitions, and then they thought, 'Oh, he's tone deaf,' and so then they decided to sign and the more he does, the choices he made, the more people just feel like, no, this has to stop. Enough is enough," Moore shared.
Moore told me several people asked what would happen if the recall was successful on the September ballot, but at the same time, Seren makes the final two for mayor and advances to the November ballot.
"Now that question is moot. We know that that won't happen and so that's a relief seeing the people who are running for the second Cleveland Heights mayor," Moore added.
Moore said she is continuing to push for the recall because there is still a lack of accountability from Seren.
"The orthodox community continues to wait for some kind of admission of accountability or even just an admission that what was said was wrong and they continue to wait for that. I do have to say it floors me that the antisemitism that came out is not as important to as many people as I thought it would be because to me, it was a game changer," Moore said.
Seren has adamantly denied all accusations of anti-antisemitism on behalf of his wife, Natalie McDaniel.
RELATED: Cleveland Heights Mayor finally responds to allegations of his wife making anti-Jewish remarks
Jeresko described the recall petition as a waste of time.
"A recall really is disruptive to city business. Let the mayor focus on his work. He's had distractions for at least three years and they've escalated in the last five months. Let him focus on his job and do his best for the city. That's where his heart is," Jeresko said. "To Mayor Seren, you did a great job. You're still doing a great job. You've moved the city forward."
Herzig is grateful for the mayor's time in office as well. He blames a lack of time and politically motivated allegations as the reasoning behind the mayor not getting enough valid signatures.
"I think another flaw is that most people didn't realize for the mayoral petitions you can only sign one set of papers, unlike city council where you can endorse multiple candidates," Herzig said. "I think a lot of the signature gatherers for other candidates possibly were not informing the people that they were getting signatures from that if you sign this, you cannot endorse any other candidate."
As for the candidates running, there are five on the list:
- Deanna Bremer Fisher — former executive director of Future Heights.
- Marty Gelfand — an attorney and former South Euclid City Councilman.
- Laura Kinsley Hong — a Cleveland Heights trial attorney.
- Jim Petras — current Cleveland Heights councilman.
- Davida Russell — current Vice President of Council.
"All of them have different strengths. I think it's just going to come down to how they present their strengths and their experience and their vision and then what the people of Cleveland Heights are really looking for. I'm excited to see how their campaigns develop," Moore stated. "We've got some really good candidates."
Herzig told me he's concerned with some of the candidates on the list.
"I'm afraid the council and the city are going to go backwards," Herzig said. "They're gonna become more conservative, socially conservative in a way that we're seeing happening in University Heights."
Because Moore said they have gathered enough signatures to ideally unseat Seren in September. The goal is to turn in the petition on Friday to have it verified.
We'll follow through.
