Investigation: Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren faces mounting pressure as city council mulls resolution on ‘loss of confidence’

In Cleveland Heights, Ohio, what started as a significant shift in local government has turned into a series of controversies tarnishing the first term of the newly elected mayor.

Back in November 2019, voters in Cleveland Heights overwhelmingly approved Issue 26, with a 64% majority, marking the end of a council-manager government structure that had been in place for a century. Instead, they chose a “strong mayor” system, aiming for more direct accountability and clear leadership after years under the city council and an appointed city manager.

The initial transition looked optimistic as former Councilman Kahlil Seren took office as the city’s first directly elected mayor in 2022, securing almost 61% of the votes. However, what was envisioned as a more efficient form of governance has been clouded by mounting accusations involving the mayor’s wife, Natalie McDaniel. Even though she has no official role in the government, McDaniel has become a key figure in the alleged dysfunction at City Hall.

The latest and most serious development came earlier this month, when Seren’s former special assistant Patrick Costigan filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Ohio Civil Rights Commission. The complaint accuses McDaniel of creating “a hostile work environment” through a pattern of antisemitic remarks and behavior, overall claims Seren denied in a video statement posted to social media last week.

“We are not claiming that because we have Jewish friends that we are immune to the impact of being socialized in America, but I offer our backgrounds to impress upon you that any accusation of either of us hating the Jewish people is false,” Seren said.

RELATED: Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren tells council ‘I am not your Negro’ as antisemitism controversy boils over

Those allegations represent the first formal complaint filed with state or federal agencies regarding McDaniel’s conduct, but they’re not the first signs of trouble.

Internal issues began brewing last year, with city employees complaining to human resources about what they described as a “fearful” environment created by McDaniel’s presence and profane outbursts. Last December, police documented one such incident, when officers reported hearing McDaniel “screaming and cursing” inside City Hall with employees and visitors nearby.

3News Investigates tried to obtain City Hall surveillance video and police body camera video of the incident, but the surveillance footage the city released was silent, and several minutes were edited out. As for the officer’s bodycam, a city spokesperson said our request was denied because the video was “personal in nature.”

The situation escalated last March, when then Performance Coordinator Andrea Heim wrote that McDaniel had paced City Hall hallways while screaming profanities, making Heim feel unsafe. This incident led to the resignation of both Heim and City Administrator Dan Horrigan, who quit after less than three months. The former Akron mayor wrote that he had come to the “conclusion that the work situation is untenable at this point.”

Despite the mounting evidence and multiple resignations, Mayor Seren has consistently denied that his wife gives orders or directives to city staff, claiming she was “very careful to express that her opinions are not the opinions of the mayor.”

Adding to concerns about McDaniel’s unofficial role, surveillance footage shows her using what appears to be key card access to sensitive administrative areas of City Hall, and she has been photographed holding what appears to be the mayor’s city badge. This has prompted city councilmembers to discuss new rules for key card access and workplace retaliation protections during a special council committee meeting Tuesday night, hours after 3News media partner Cleveland.com published video showing the mayor himself using a car to enter the city’s law offices despite previously telling lawmakers he had no such access.

The latest development was enough to set some already angered legislators off.

“We are just being fed a whole bunch of untruths here,” Councilman Jim Posch said. “How can we possibly do our job when we are not being told the truth?”

Seren’s credibility has faced additional challenges beyond his and his wife’s alleged in-office conduct: A recent dispute with a neighbor over the condition of his own home required police intervention, and revealed that the mayor received a housing code violation in November 2023 that ordered him to scrape and paint his house and resurface his driveway with “immediate compliance.”

The city’s housing department, which Seren oversees, issued extensions, and the work remains incomplete 18 months later. A new deadline has been set for August 2025.

During Tuesday’s meeting, a number of lawmakers pushed for a “loss of confidence” resolution amid continuing calls for Seren to resign. While council states it has no real power to remove Seren from his role, Councilman Jim Petras says he began drafting such a measure with the goal of sending a message to the community.

“There is a request, a suggestion, from a lot of people that we adopt a resolution, and I think that we are at a point where that is appropriate,” Petras said.

Some of Petras’ colleagues agreed with the sentiment.

“I see that as a way forward, more so than asking him to resign, because the voters need to make that determination,” Councilwoman Gail Larsen stated, referring to this fall’s upcoming mayoral election. “So we put our confidence in our citizens that they’ll make the right decision coming into November.”

“I think we need to make it very, very clear to the community that we’ll continue doing our job, even though we’ve got a loss of confidence in this gentleman,” Posch added, referring to the mayor as he sat just feet away.

Seren was sitting in the corner of the room at the meeting with his laptop. He responded to questions from councilmembers regarding the recent news reports about his wife’s behavior and potential access to “sensitive areas” of City Hall, but also questioned the “loss of confidence” motion and its motives. 

“The ability to do something is one aspect of the committee to a particular action,” Seren stated. “But another very important aspect that you should probably consider is whether or not you should do that, not whether or not you can.”

Council also discussed several other resolutions, including one supporting city staff. The measures are on hold and will be discussed next wee in executive session before the next regularly scheduled meeting on Monday.

When confronted by 3News Investigates earlier this month about issues concerning his wife, Seren initially offered to participate in a sit-down interview, but his team failed to respond to our requests for scheduling.

Employment attorney Sean Sobel, who filed the complaint on Costigan’s behalf, characterized the situation as extending beyond workplace issues to community trust.

“This is a case about antisemitism, which has absolutely no place in our government or society,” Sobel stated. “Ms. McDaniel’s comments and actions have done measurable harm to both Mr. Costigan and to the trust the residents of Cleveland Heights put in their Mayor.”

Meanwhile, residents who voted for historic change in 2019 must grapple with whether their experiment in mayoral leadership can overcome the controversies that have defined its early years.