Cleveland Heights council approves ‘no confidence' resolution amid allegations against mayor's wife
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) – Cleveland Heights City Council is taking action after Mayor Kahlil Seren's wife, Natalie McDaniel, allegedly sent and made anti-Semitic remarks and texts.
The FOX 8 I-Team has been fighting for public records related to the alleged behavior to be released, but so far the city has been dragging its feet.
The mayor has adamantly denied the anti-Semitic behavior, but at a special meeting on May 27, Councilman Jim Petras introduced a 'no confidence' resolution calling for accountability and transparency.
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It was standing room only inside council chambers on Monday night for the first public reading of the resolution.
Several were carrying signs calling for the mayor to resign.
'RESIGN Seren it's you, you're the problem,' one sign said.
Councilman Anthony Mattox, Jr. said he thought the issue should be left to voters and he expressed concerns because other members of council supporting the resolution are running for mayor.
He also said that the controversy is breeding division.
'It is affecting my family, many families up here and many of your families too,' he said.
Councilman Craig Cobb said the controversies are making Cleveland Heights, 'the laughing stock of Northeast Ohio.'
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In the end, council voted 6 to 1 in favor of the 'no confidence' resolution.
Although it's largely symbolic, the calls for the mayor to resign are expected to intensify.
Seren responded, saying, 'Even as you have lost confidence, we will still get the work of the city done just as we have this evening and all of you will continue working with me and I will continue to work to move the city forward and I am appreciate to the residents and all the city workers who have shown me care and support through this.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Of the proposed factory in Tonsley, a suburb managed by the Marion Council, one comment from the public consultation said: 'You and I both know it's getting torched every few months because of the Nazi implications. You really want that bought (sic) up every single meeting?' Some respondents referred directly to the arm gesture Musk gave in January at Trump's post-inauguration rally that commentators likened to a fascist salute. At the time, Musk wrote on his social media platform X: 'The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired.' But the memory appeared to stick with Tonsley residents and a staggering 95% of over 900 replies to the council survey rejected its plans to prepare the land for sale. However, Marion Council passed it anyway and sent it to the state government for approval. CNN has reached out to Tesla for comment. It may seem unusual that residents in a small Australian city might have issues with Musk, given their distance from his policies and decisions. And it's especially unusual given South Australia's past positive experience with the billionaire entrepreneur. In 2017, Musk offered to build the world's most powerful battery to solve some of the state's power woes within 100 days, or it would be free. And he did. South Australia is now leading the country in terms of renewable energy and is on track to hit its target of 100% net renewables by 2027. Backed by the state government, Tesla and a local power company have created a virtual power plant fitting Powerwall battery systems on homes across the state. The idea is that all the batteries would band together to support the grid in times of high demand. However, the proposed Tesla plant in Marion would not generate any power – it would be used to recycle Tesla batteries and provide a showroom for Tesla's electric vehicles (EV), sales of which have fallen in Australia. Figures from the Electric Vehicle Council show Tesla sales nationwide nearly halved in the year to May 2025. 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The locals say that, even if they can't use it, the mature trees offer a refuge for birdlife in an area almost devoid of tree canopy. More importantly, according to the Conservation Council of South Australia, the mature trees are helping to contain the contamination. 'The removal of trees puts that site at greater risk of the leakage of those contaminants into the groundwater and obviously then impacting on human health more broadly,' said Kirsty Bevan, the group's CEO, who added Tesla's promises to plant 59 saplings on the site weren't good enough. 'We are proposing that further research needs to be undertaken at that site, and remedial measures need to be put in place,' she said. 'I think that the site improvements we're looking for would come with a forest of trees.' Of the anti-Musk campaign, Bevan said: 'I don't let my personal opinions of people I've never met before interfere with being a voice for nature.' 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Of the proposed factory in Tonsley, a suburb managed by the Marion Council, one comment from the public consultation said: 'You and I both know it's getting torched every few months because of the Nazi implications. You really want that bought (sic) up every single meeting?' Some respondents referred directly to the arm gesture Musk gave in January at Trump's post-inauguration rally that commentators likened to a fascist salute. At the time, Musk wrote on his social media platform X: 'The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired.' But the memory appeared to stick with Tonsley residents and a staggering 95% of over 900 replies to the council survey rejected its plans to prepare the land for sale. However, Marion Council passed it anyway and sent it to the state government for approval. CNN has reached out to Tesla for comment. It may seem unusual that residents in a small Australian city might have issues with Musk, given their distance from his policies and decisions. And it's especially unusual given South Australia's past positive experience with the billionaire entrepreneur. In 2017, Musk offered to build the world's most powerful battery to solve some of the state's power woes within 100 days, or it would be free. And he did. South Australia is now leading the country in terms of renewable energy and is on track to hit its target of 100% net renewables by 2027. Backed by the state government, Tesla and a local power company have created a virtual power plant fitting Powerwall battery systems on homes across the state. The idea is that all the batteries would band together to support the grid in times of high demand. However, the proposed Tesla plant in Marion would not generate any power – it would be used to recycle Tesla batteries and provide a showroom for Tesla's electric vehicles (EV), sales of which have fallen in Australia. Figures from the Electric Vehicle Council show Tesla sales nationwide nearly halved in the year to May 2025. Felipe Munoz, senior analyst at auto market research firm JATO Dynamics, says that's partly due to the wait for the Model Y. It finally arrived in Australia in May, sending Tesla sales soaring 122% last month compared with the same period a year ago. Marion Council Mayor Kris Hanna says anti-Musk sentiment had intruded on a standard council consultation, which was simply about finding a use for contaminated land 'that will probably never be a recreational space again.' The site is contaminated by trichloroethylene, known as TCE, a solvent that can cause cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and is banned in the United States. 'The problem with that is, not only, for example, children playing in the dirt, but also the fumes which can rise up from underneath the earth. Sealing it with a bitumen car park or a building is a solution,' said Hanna. The site has been fenced off from the public since 2016. 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Hanna, the mayor, said councilors heard the opposition but voted 8-3 to pass the proposal because it would create 100 jobs, a 'huge number' for the area. A new business would also pay local taxes, easing the burden on residents during a cost-of-living crisis, Hanna said. 'To have a substantial new factory come into the area is very significant, and it's adjacent to a high-tech manufacturing area, which we developed in the place of an old car plant. So, it actually fits in very well to have a factory that recycles electric batteries,' Hanna said. One of the dissenting councilors, Sarah Luscombe, said she voted against the proposal because the community had sent clear and consistent feedback that they wanted more trees, and the council's own strategic vision is for a 'livable, sustainable community.' 'The people that I've spoken to in the community are just sick and tired of seeing their interests overshadowed by those of large corporations,' Luscombe said. 'More and more, we're seeing communities just saying, 'Well, hang on, I do want to have a say here, and I do want my views to be counted.'' In recent months, Tesla cars and showrooms have been vandalized in multiple countries by critics venting their anger over Musk's support of far-right parties in Europe, and other policies. Hanna said the council had received 'vitriolic correspondence' since approving the proposal, but he wasn't concerned about a violent backlash against the Tesla factory or council members and wouldn't be drawn on his own views on Musk. 'I'm speaking as a mayor, and I don't actually take any political or ideological stance,' he said. 'I just try and make life beautiful for the people in my area.' South Australian Local Government Minister Joe Szakacs told CNN in a statement that he will follow the 'usual process' to determine if the land should be approved for sale. 'Our Government welcomes investment and job creation in South Australia and is proud of its commitment to deliver 100 per cent net renewables by 2027,' he said. Any sale would require the land's owner to submit a development application and decontaminate the site to the standards set by state authorities. South Australia's Environment Protection Authority said it's held preliminary talks with the council and the developer. Addressing legacy contamination is often complex, costly and time-consuming, it added. Neon and Zane organized a snap rally outside the Marion Council building on Wednesday calling for the state government to reject the re-zoning application. More than a dozen protesters held signs, including one that said, 'Elon Musk can get [redacted].' They're determined to keep Tesla out of their area and are unmoved by the promise of more jobs. 'They're going to be jobs on contaminated land in a company that's contaminated by Elon Musk,' said Neon. 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World Bank restores funding to Uganda despite controversial anti-gay law
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