CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — For weeks, dozens of Cleveland Heights residents have hit the streets to try and collect signatures in an effort to remove Mayor Kahlil Seren from office, and now they've turned in the petition for validation.
On Monday, petition organizers met at Cleveland Heights City Hall to hand over the 279-part petition to the city's Clerk of Council, Addie Balester.
The petition was then turned over to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (BOE) before noon.
"This is important because we have zero confidence in Mayor Seren's ability or willingness to conduct city business, lead City Hall, or execute the mayor's duties in accordance with the city charter. Each day that he holds office, the city of Cleveland Heights continues to be put at risk and harmed," one of the petition organizers, Josie Moore, told us on Monday.
In order for the recall to go to the September ballot, 2,900 valid signatures are needed.
Petition circulators gathered 4,425 signatures to provide a cushion for inevitable invalid signatures.
"I feel relief, but we also know that this is only the first step, and there's a lot of work to be done," Moore said. "If we do not do this, he (Seren) will be overseeing the 2026 budget process and after what happened last December, we cannot allow that to happen and in particular we want to make sure that the next mayor has a budget that they can work with in order to bring their vision into reality."
The BOE now has up to 10 days to return the recall petition to the city.
"We don't expect to take that long, but we are also managing candidate filings daily," Cuyahoga County BOE Candidate and Petition Services Manager, Brent Lawler, told me.
From there, the Cleveland Heights Council President explained that if the recall is successful, the Clerk of Council will certify verification to council at the June 30 meeting.
The Clerk of Council will then notify the mayor on June 30 of the recall, both in person and by email.
The clock will start after that, in which the mayor will have five days to resign.
If Seren chooses not to step down, city council will vote to put the recall on the ballot during the July 7 meeting.
If city council agrees to put the recall to the voters, it will appear on the Sept. 9 ballot.
"I just want to reiterate this is not a special election, so it will not cost the people of Cleveland Heights any extra money. It's going on the same ballot as the mayoral primary," Moore shared.
If Seren is recalled, he will be removed from office after the election is certified by the BOE, which is likely seven to 14 days, according to Cuda.
In the event this recall fails to make it to the ballot, Moore said it would be upsetting.
"We do our best and there are no guarantees but we're very lucky that we have someone who is actually with the group of the citizens for an elected mayor that put the charter amendment on the ballot and so he checked every single sheet very, very closely to make sure that we're not making any mistakes on the sheets," Moore explained.
This recall petition rides on the tail of months-long allegations of workplace hostility regarding Seren's wife, Natalie McDaniel.
McDaniel has also been accused of making antisemitic remarks regarding former and current city employees, as well as a resident.
Seren petitioned for re-election, but the BOE confirmed he failed to get enough valid signatures.
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
RELATED: Cleveland Heights Mayor not eligible for re-election
I reached out to Mayor Seren and his communications team several times on Monday for an interview. Rather than answering my questions, he sent a press release shortly after 6 p.m.
To the residents of Cleveland Heights:
Today, I want to address the recall petitions that have been submitted against me.
Cleveland Heights is a city rooted in civic participation, and I honor the right of residents to petition their government. But I would be doing a disservice to the people I serve if I did not also speak plainly about what’s happening here.
This recall effort is not about my performance in office. It’s not about ethics. It’s not even about disagreement. It is a political maneuver rooted in misinformation and fueled by personal ambition. It is the most recent evolution of an ongoing attempt to undermine an administration that has prioritized aggressive progress, new investment in underserved areas, and more accountability and reform in government.
There are individuals who view the current climate not as a challenge to meet together; but as an opportunity to exploit. They have used their platforms to sow doubt and bias, distort facts, and rally outrage. In the absence of actual wrongdoing, they have chosen to elevate accusation over evidence. And now they hope that confusion will do what credibility cannot.
I remain fully committed to the work we’ve done and the work that lies ahead: strengthening public safety, investing in our neighborhoods, and building a more equitable future. I did not run for mayor to do what is easy, I ran to do what is necessary.
I invite every resident to look past the headlines and sensationalist tactics and remember what this recall would actually do: distract from actual service to residents, inject chaos into our government, and allow a small group of political actors to seize power through disruption rather than dialogue.
You elected me to serve a full term. Unless you decide otherwise through due process, that is exactly what I intend to do.
I am so proud of what we’ve built together – and I will continue to lead with vision, integrity, and resilience.
We did chat with a supporter of Seren's Monday afternoon, who calls the recall a waste of time.
"He has to devote all his time and energy to making sure all his projects are ready to hand off to the next mayor. That's going to take a lot of work and if he's fighting a recall at the same time, that's going to really distract him," Drew Herzig said. "Their claim is that every day he spends in office does irreparable damage to the city, which is ridiculous. I mean, they started a fire. They poured gasoline on it, and now they're blaming the mayor for the smoke. I think this is ill conceived and it will do damage to the city if they can move forward with it."
Herzig told us he isn't surprised by the number of signatures gathered for the recall petition.
"I have to compliment them on the energy they put into this. They had people gathering signatures everywhere. Interestingly, mostly in white neighborhoods," Herzig said.
Herzig deems the handling of this recall petition and its implications to be racist.
"This is a racist system going after a Black mayor, and it's really, really hard for Cleveland Heights to see that, but as an outsider, I can see that," Herzig stated.
Moore responded to the accusation of racism by saying, "Our group itself is diverse, and we found that people of all backgrounds expressed similar responses. Some enthusiastically signed, some asked questions (and then 9 out of 10 signed), a few said they didn’t have enough information, and a small number said no — and this distribution of responses was consistent across differences in race, religion, etc. Cleveland Heights is a diverse, largely integrated city. Pitting groups against each other and sowing division doesn’t fly here, and it’s not a winning campaign strategy for a campaign."
If this petition goes on the September ballot, Herzig plans to vote no.
"I think this recall effort does not look good for the city and since they keep fanning the flames they are doing the damage by trying to make this a national scandal. They're doing everything they can to grab the headlines with this recall effort and that's what's doing harm to the city, not the mayor being in office," Herzig shared.
Herzig believes what paved the path for this petition is the constant butting of heads between city council and the mayor.
"There was always a fight between the city council and the mayor, and they were just waiting for a Hunter Biden laptop or Hillary's email sort of thing to come along, and that put the wind in their sails," Herzig said. "The recall people will disclaim any hint of racism, but you don't have to call yourself a racist to be part of a racist system."
Now, residents wait on the edge of their seats for the results of this petition.
The BOE will not post the petition signature attestation form.
"Once we complete our review, we give the petitions and the form to the City for further action," Lawler said. "Until such time as our Director signs the attestation form and we have notified the City of our review we do not release information."
I will continue to check with the BOE for updates.
