CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio – Council President Tony Cuda was sworn in as the city’s interim mayor Wednesday, officially ending the turbulent term of now-recalled Mayor Kahlil Seren.
Cuda, a retired history teacher who has lived in Cleveland Heights since 1961 and served on council since 2022, will finish the final three months of Seren’s term before handing over the office to the winner of the Nov. 4 mayoral election.
Cuda wasted no time getting to work.
Just after taking the oath at 9:34 a.m. with his wife, Sandy Moran, by his side, Cuda nominated former city of Cleveland Finance Director and Chief of Staff Sharon Dumas to serve as the interim city administrator – a position that has sat empty since former Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan resigned in March following complaints about the behavior of Seren’s wife, Natalie McDaniel.
Council members, including Councilman Anthony Mattox Jr., lauded Dumas’ appointment.
“This is going to allow us to be able to right the ship,” said Mattox, who frequently sided with Seren during numerous spats with council.
Dumas said she was excited about the opportunity and that she and Cuda share a similar vision when it comes to serving residents.
And minutes after the meeting ended, Cuda fired Communications Director Frances Collazo. Collazo is a longtime friend of both McDaniel and Seren who he appointed after she was awarded multiple lucrative graphic design contracts.
Collazo collected her belongings and turned in her city keycard to police who waited outside her office. She declined to comment to reporters as she left the building, covering her face with a piece of paper to avoid TV news cameras.
Collazo sent out a statement from her personal email address later Wednesday morning in which she defended her time as communications director and urged residents to “remain vigilant.”
“This department was never meant to be a political stage,” Collazo said.
The clerk of council received the certified election results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections at 8:04 a.m. Wednesday, officially removing Seren from office.
Council passed the resolution declaring the office vacant and appointing Cuda – which was moved by Mattox – at 9:32 a.m., meaning the city was without a mayor for 88 minutes.
Seren, who did not submit enough valid signatures to qualify for reelection as the city’s first-ever mayor, saw more than 82% of voters in the Sept. 9 primary approve his recall and throw him out of office three months early.
Once a rising figure in the progressive wing of the county’s Democratic party, Seren’s term came to be defined by a series of at times bizarre scandals that mounted over his final year in office.
The city and McDaniel are being sued by a former staffer on claims of antisemitism, Seren remains under investigation after members of his law department accused him of attempting to surreptitiously record interviews as part of a human resources investigation into McDaniel, and McDaniel is currently under indictment on a felony trespassing charge that accuses her of entering a home with a “Recall Seren” sign on its front yard.
Seren did not attend Wednesday’s meeting.
Cuda, who has lived in Cleveland Heights since 1961, said in remarks during the meeting that he hoped to put the city’s turbulent era behind it, as voters prepare to choose between either Council Vice President Davida Russell or Council Member Jim Petras as the city’s next mayor in the Nov. 4 general election.
“My goal is simple: to steady the ship and prepare Cleveland Heights for its next chapter,” he said.
Cuda said he plans to prioritize preparing the 2026 city budget and public safety and support the city’s first responders and police officers, a line which drew applause from the crowd. Seren had publicly attacked the department and Chief Chris Britton following the accusations against McDaniel.
City Council voted to name Councilwoman Gail Larson as its president while Cuda finishes Seren’s term. Mattox had suggested Russell for the position to “continue to work together” with Cuda, but council members Jim Posch and Craig Cobb said they worried that Russell – or any member who is running for mayor or reelection – would be too distracted to focus fully on the demands of being the council president during an unprecedented time in the city’s government.
That left only Posch and Larson, who are not up for reelection this year. Posch nominated Larson.
Russell said that she respected council’s decision, but she cautioned them against assuming that others cannot manage their time effectively. She and the other five members voted for Larson. Council is now accepting applications for the open seat created by Cuda. They will meet later this month to consider applicants.
Even after the morning’s dramatic moves, City Hall had more unfinished business.
One of Seren’s last acts in office was to fire Law Director Bill Hanna, a move he announced at 4:54 p.m. Tuesday. Collazo released a 5-page termination letter – as well as 28 pages of emails, several of which were marked “attorney-client privilege” that she later acknowledged should not have been sent out – that included several accusations against Hanna.
Cuda told reporters after the meeting that the act “appeared to be a vindictive, last-minute stunt,” but said that he needs more time to review the matter.
Council called an emergency meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday to go into executive session to discuss a “personnel issue.”