It was hoped that the 2019 Cleveland Heights vote, which ended 99 years of city manager administration in favor of an elected mayor answerable to the people rather than the city council, would bring creative leadership to a city in dire need.
In light of this, our editorial board supported Kahlil Serenas, the city’s first mayor, in 2021, praising his background, knowledge, zeal, and yes, future-focused outlook. With 60% of the vote, Seren was elected because the electorate agreed.
Regretfully, Seren didn’t offer many of the aforementioned attributes. Instead, the historic suburb experienced nearly four years of disorder, pointless quarrels, and unnecessary strife. Seren and Natalie McDaniel’s strange behavior stalled advancement, compelled qualified individuals to leave his administration, and led to litigation, some of which were centered on McDaniel’s disruptive, profanity-filled behavior in City Hall.
We don’t think the new system was the issue. It was the new boss.
Voters in Cleveland Heights now have an opportunity to start over. They can begin that process in the primary on September 9th, which will narrow the field of five formidable contenders to two for the general election on November 4th, and perhaps make a better selection this time.
The following will be on the main ballot:
Deanna Bremer Fisher, 58, is the city of University Heights’ chief of staff. She has a lengthy and diverse experience of success in marketing and business.
Before relocating to Cleveland Heights, Marty Gelfand, 65, an associate prosecutor in Cuyahoga County, served as general legislative counsel for former U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich. He also served on the South Euclid City Council for nine years.
Laura Kingsley Hong, 66, has lived in Cleveland Heights for almost 40 years. She was a partner at Squire Patton Boggs (previously Squire Sanders) for 20 years before joining Tucker Ellis as a partner.
The 35-year-old Jim Petras, who was elected to the Cleveland Heights City Council in 2023, is currently the project manager at Case Western Reserve University.
Davida Russell, a 67-year-old labor activist who works as a substitute teacher and bus driver for the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District, was chosen vice president of the Cleveland Heights City Council in 2019.
Any one of the five would be an improvement over Cleveland Heights’ current situation, but we think Hong is the obvious choice to guide the city forward, in part because of her public-spirited approach, which has motivated her to resign her legal practice in order to, as she stated, put city government back on track for success.
Hong is a seasoned leader with a stellar track record with two prominent law firms. He exudes the ideal balance of brilliance, maturity, and decisiveness. She was a key figure in the national organization, serving as president for a time, and she co-founded the Asian American Bar Association of Ohio. Her record is filled with accolades from her peers. Her methodical and straightforward approach is just what Cleveland Heights needs right now.
Seren will be on the ballot on September 9th as well, but not as a candidate. By adopting the Issue 2 recall initiative, Cleveland Heights voters may do themselves a great favor and put a stop to the chaos in City Hall by removing Seren, who will be replaced by a temporary mayor until the new administration takes office in January.
The suspense should be minimal. The recall effort was successfully put on the ballot with 3,845 signatures, despite Seren’s attempts to block it. Compare that to Seren’s inability to gather even the 342 signatures required to seek reelection.
By supporting Laura Kingsley Hong for mayor and endorsing Issue 2 to give Kahlil Seren his walking papers, the city’s voters may take a significant step on September 9 toward restoring professionalism and decency to their mayor’s office. Primary early voting has started.
All five of the candidates for Cleveland Heights mayor in the Sept. 9 primary attended an endorsement meeting hosted by The Plain Dealer’s editorial board and cleveland.com on August 13 as part of their endorsement process.Attached is a video recording of that interview.
About our editorials: The editorial board of Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, as well as the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff, express their opinions through editorials, including endorsement editorials. Editorials are unsigned and meant to be interpreted as the news organization’s voice, as is customary.
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Additional voting resources:
Voters’ handbook, League of Women Voters Vote411.org.
