In 2019, voters in the City of Cleveland Heights approved a referendum to change the form of government from the “council-manager” system to the “mayor-council” system most common to Northeast Ohio.
The new system of government and its newly elected officials took effect on Jan. 3, 2022, with the first elected mayor, former Cleveland Heights City Council member Khalil Seren.
The first mayor-council administration in Cleveland Heights has been marred by infighting and employee misconduct, most recently involving allegations against Seren’s wife, Natalie McDaniel, of creating a hostile work environment at City Hall and making antisemitic remarks.
Residents addressed Seren directly at the May 19 Cleveland Heights City Council meeting. Resident Karen Lash questioned the new mayor-council system she said she had supported.
“Boy, did we mess up,” said Lash, followed by murmurs of agreement from several other residents. “We had such high hopes.”
Another resident who is a member of Citizens for an Elected Mayor, the organization behind the referendum, said she wanted to speak about the mayor-council system residents voted for and “not the one we got.”
What did Cleveland Heights residents vote for?
The “mayor-council” system of government is led by one public official elected by constituents to be the mayor of the city. The city council is also elected and shares power with the mayor’s administration to pass budgets and other legislation and to provide oversight to city departments. The city’s charter often determines how much official power the mayor actually has versus that of the city council.
All cities within Cuyahoga County are governed under the mayor-council system except Bedford, which now is the only city in Cuyahoga run under the council-manager system. However, nationwide, the council-manager system is the most popular form of local government in the United States. About 59% of U.S. cities follow this structure.
What is the ‘council-manager’ system?
The council-manager system Cleveland Heights left behind is led by the whole city council with one person acting as the mayor and council president with about the same amount of power as the rest of the council. A city manager, or CEO, is often appointed by the council to run daily operations. The council has sole power over budgets and other legislation.
If Cleveland had a council-manager system, Council President Blaine Griffin would also be the mayor and all the executive powers Mayor Justin Bibb currently has would be instead shared by the full Cleveland City Council.
Why did Cleveland Heights change their form of government?
According to the Citizens for an Elected Mayor’s campaign in Cleveland Heights, elected mayors are directly accountable to their electorate, making them more responsive and transparent with the community than appointed officials. The group also believed electing a mayor could increase civic participation among residents.
Cleveland Heights voters approved the measure by 64%.
How did they change to the new system?
Cleveland Heights City Council President Tony Cuda, who was also the campaign manager for Citizens for an Elected Mayor, said the group was responsible for much of the early decision-making, which was done prior to getting into the weeds of the transition.
“So what we did was, we gave an elected mayor executive authority. And we had to make all kinds of decisions. You know, did we want term limits? We decided no. How much does the mayor get paid? Are they full- or part-time? What powers do they have?”
Elected officials and staff then started managing the inner workings of the transition After the new government was seated in 2022.
Cleveland Documenter Laurie Redmon has more from the May 19 Cleveland Heights City Council meeting, including:
- Details about a Pathway to Home Ownership seminar at 6 p.m. June 9 at Noble Road Library.
“The first thing we did was the clerk of council,” said Cuda. “This is an odd thing. The clerk of council worked for the city manager, not for council. So now the clerk of council was working for the mayor. That’s the first charter change. We put that on in May of 2022.”
A charter review commission was established to look at changes needed to the city’s charter.
“[The commission] met for a year, and then they gave us their recommendations. Many. I mean, it’s maybe a hundred.… Now council is kind of massaging that into legislation, and those charter changes will be on the ballot in November of this year.”
What are the major differences in the power structure between the two government types?
In a mayor-council system, voters directly elect the city’s chief executive, the mayor. In a council-manager system, the city council appoints the city manager from a pool of candidates.
The mayor has executive powers in a mayor-council system, while the city council acts as the legislative body. In a council-manager system, the mayor has little to no power beyond that of any other council member. Power is distributed between the mayor, the rest of the city council, and the city manager.
Was it a mistake for Cleveland Heights to change its form of government?
In both systems, the top authorities are elected by the people. Only city managers in the council-manager system are government appointees. Constituents can petition to recall city council members or mayors in either system, lobby them to resign, or just not vote for them again.
Former Solon Mayor Bob Paulson said in a recent Cleveland.com op-ed, “The current situations in Cleveland Heights…[prove] my theory that it’s not the title of the person in charge but rather temperament, disposition and judgment that matter.”
Said Cuda: “The system we have is fine. You’re always going to have people problems regardless of what form of government you have. Although we’ve had some struggles in the past three and a half years now, it’s not had anything to do with the system of government.”
An effort to recall Seren is underway, with some petitioners saying they’ve collected hundreds of signatures so far. They’ll need 3,000 signatures by June 11 to get the recall on the next election ballot in September.
