Candidate Profile: Kahlil Seren For Cleveland Heights Mayor

Kahlil Seren

Age (as of Election Day)

42

Position Sought

Cleveland Heights Mayor

Party Affiliation

Democratic Party

Family

-

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Master of Science in Urban Studies, Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University

Occupation

Policy Advisor - Office of Cuyahoga County Council (2011 - Present)

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Cleveland Heights City Council Member (2015 - Present); Council Vice President (2020 - Present)

Campaign website

https://www.SerenForMayor.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

Cleveland Heights is at an inflection point; we can continue the status quo under a different set of titles, or we can fulfill the promise of change that we demanded when we created this elected mayor position. I have worked for years to push our government to reflect our community’s priorities more faithfully. I am running for mayor because I have values that match our community’s values, skills and experience that match our challenges and opportunities, and the courage to overcome status quo thinking. This role is too important to risk on untested candidates whose lack of experience will make them unable to provide true leadership, or whose lack of values and courage will make them unwilling to take necessary steps when faced with tough decisions. I am running because we deserve a mayor that is committed and equipped to do the job well on day one.
The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Upon taking office, my primary priority will be assessing, optimizing, and building capacity in city government. This is my primary priority because every other municipal priority relies on the capability of the administration to effectively implement policies and programs of the city. Bolstering the ability of the government to meet the expectations of its residents (i.e. effective municipal service provision), will provide the requisite degree of confidence in basic municipal functions which in turn engenders more widespread support for more expansive and progressive municipal programs. For years, the city administration has been operating well under capacity in terms of raw staffing numbers, capital investment, and process efficiency/performance management efforts. This lack of capacity has led to the outsourcing of functions of our Building and Housing Departments to a private corporation, and almost led to the privatization of the city’s water utility. The government must get the basics right before the people will trust us to do more.

The first step is a series of conversations with groups of stakeholders: 1) staff (including but definitely not limited to directors) within the departments about their work, support their needs from the Mayor’s Office, and any improvements they would make to their internal processes to make their jobs easier and to do the work better, 2) members of Council about their priorities generally, and specific to this initial priority of capacity building, and 3) residents of the city (with proactive outreach to historically neglected neighborhoods) to create a better understanding of public priorities, complaints, compliments, and suggested improvements to incorporate into our planning efforts. The next step is a resource/needs assessment within the organization to determine how we might redeploy current financial resources and staff members to more appropriately address the priorities outlined in those conversations and to provide an understanding of what resources we still need to develop (funding and personnel). And then we will begin to implement those changes in the administrative branch of the government. This is a public implementation process with regular reporting out to the staff, Council, and residents, with continuous opportunities for feedback and course correction. This is also an iterative process and the plan is a living document to allow for the inclusion of perspectives from people in the city that may be initially reluctant to participate or may be less immediately accessible than those people that tend to self-select for these kinds of efforts.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My experience and expertise in local government, economic development, and housing policy distinguishes me from the other candidates. I have the most government experience in this race, and I am the only candidate with substantial elected experience. I have spent years working on behalf of Cleveland Heights, as a volunteer on our Citizens’ Advisory Committee and then as a City Council member. I have shown a dedication to Cleveland Heights that other candidates have not, with a track record of success in moving our city forward. Professionally, I have worked as the primary advisor to County Council on issues of economic, workforce, and community development for a decade – designing and implementing policies and programs that have helped our entire county. I am the only candidate that has been involved in a government transition from one form to another, through my experience guiding our new charter county government since it began. Additionally, I serve alongside Mayors, business leaders and other regional stakeholders on the Board of the County's Community Improvement Corporation, on the Board of the Cuyahoga Land Bank (serving in the Council President's place), and on the County Planning Commission (serving for Councilmembers Sunny Simon and Shontel Brown). This current, relevant experience and my substantive professional connections are a unique factor in this race and will provide the City of Cleveland Heights greater access to opportunities for progress under a Seren Administration.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

There is no current officeholder. This will be the first elected mayor in Cleveland Heights' history.

How do you think local officials are performing in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I believe that our administration under the current City Manager/Council form of government has performed adequately under the responsibilities that a suburban municipal government has in a national health crisis. The city made difficult decisions to close certain facilities to the public in an effort to inhibit the spread of COVID-19, adapted to the new technological requirements for remote meetings to keep public decision-making accessible to the public, and collaborated with regional health officials to make vaccinations available. We have also, as a local government, worked to help our local businesses by assisting with financial and regulatory aid (e.g. access to loans/grants, extending free business district parking, placing a cap on food delivery fees). We are also participating in the regional expansion of the tenant assistance program offered through the Legal Aid Society and Cuyahoga County to help Cleveland Heights residents who need representation on rental issues, and to connect landlords and tenants to financial rental assistance.

As Mayor, I would have been more proactive in recognizing and responding to the urgency of the situation. I would have provided more vaccination assistance, either through transportation services to our mass vaccination locations or through additional vaccination events in multiple neighborhoods (possibly in coordination with CHUH Schools and Heights Libraries). I believe that one or more Mask Giving Tree locations in Cleveland Heights, especially early on in the pandemic, would have been helpful to reducing the spread and effect of the virus as well. I would have also provided for a more integrated approach to the remote meeting technology to allow public comment to be included directly within the meetings from the public during the remote meetings instead of being provided in writing and read into the record. We are still experiencing this pandemic, and we will likely continue into my administration as mayor. Upon entering this new role, I will bring that proactive approach to promoting vaccination, supporting residents and businesses, and hopefully opening our community back up economically and socially in the new year.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

My Heights H.O.P.E.S. Plan to create a more Healthy, Open, Prosperous, Equitable, and Safe Cleveland Heights addresses the priorities of our city government - how and where we expend public resources. The priorities and underlying values outlined above are a prerequisite for effectively addressing the specific issues/needs in Cleveland Heights:
1. Maintenance and improvement of existing housing through targeted enforcement on investment properties and proactive support for homeowners
2. Resident poverty levels which the city can help to reduce through active engagement with residents to connect them with job training and placement services to increase economic opportunity
3. Development of new housing to diversify the types of housing we offer, allow aging in place, and attract new residents to our city
4. Support for our public school system to provide opportunities for additional educational and experiential learning that becomes a sought-after amenity in our community
5. Strategic economic development that focuses on existing small businesses in a more geographically and racially equitable way, with a parallel goal of providing neighborhood facing amenities that strengthen housing demand in historically neglected neighborhoods in our city.
6. Redevelopment of the Severance property.
7. Compliance with the demands of the Clean Water Act and the ongoing consent decree negotiation with the Environmental Protection Agency.
8. Transition to renewable energy, reduction in energy use, and protection of our natural resources.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have served on City Council for the last six years. Over that time, I have shown my dedication to the city, my firm grasp on the issues that we face, my personal alignment to our community’s values, and my willingness to embrace new ideas to move us forward. Professionally, I work as the chief advisor to Cuyahoga County Council on economic, workforce, and community development. I have spent the last ten years crafting policies and successfully leading the implementation of programs in local government that have had demonstrable positive impact on people’s quality of life in the region. Also of note, I joined the staff of the County Council at the beginning of the transition to our new form of County government. I have a deep understanding and substantive experience with a transition of government, and I am prepared to use that experience to help Cleveland Heights undergo our own transition in form of government. I have been trained in this work, having earned a Master of Science in Urban Studies from CSU’s Levin College (the #2 school in the nation for Urban Policy), along with a graduate certificate in Urban Economic Development. Beyond classic education, I’ve continued my professional development through the Levin College Leadership Academy, Lean Six Sigma process improvement certification, and certification as an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) through the National Development Council (NDC).

Before taking a role on City Council, I served for two years as a member of the Cleveland Heights Citizens Advisory Committee, advising Council on how to use our allocation of Federal Community Development Block Grant dollars. This experience, over time, allowed for important insight into the needs of our community, the operations of the city government and our various non-profit partners in providing services to the people of Cleveland Heights.

My professional experience designing policies and programs, and then seeing those designs through to implementation on the ground as a Policy Advisor for Cuyahoga County Council, has given me a unique perspective on how both the design and the implementation of good policy need to combine to create positive change in people’s actual lives. I created and helped staff the County’s Departments of Sustainability and Consumer Affairs from scratch and went on to design the County’s $50M Demolition program which has attacked blight in our city and literally paved the way for infill housing projects in Cleveland Heights.

I am especially proud of my service on City Council since 2015, where I have maximized on my policy work and demonstrated my ability to apply a legislative lens to the work of the city. I recognize a need, or a need is brought to my attention through communication with residents, and I work to address it through official action. My work as an elected representative of the people - withstanding the intense institutional inertial of the status quo, and under public scrutiny - proves that I possess the temperament, expertise, values, and courage needed to be the first elected Mayor of Cleveland Heights.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

“Smart is something you do, not something you are.” My mother first shared these words with me when I was 8 years old, and throughout the years we have discussed what that phrase means to us in a practical sense as we navigate various paths to social justice. For me today it means that all our qualities (intelligence, courage, strength) are revealed through our actions. How we impact and change the world around us is of the utmost importance. We have a responsibility to make the theoretical real, to turn values into action, and bring our gifts to bear to address the challenges that we all face.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Through my work as an elected official and as an appointed public servant, I have garnered wide ranging support within our community and beyond. Notable examples include Senator Sherrod Brown, State Reps. Janine Boyd, Terrence Upchurch, and Monique Smith, State Sen. Nickie Antonio, State Board of Education member Meryl Johnson, County Council members Cheryl Stephens, Pernel Jones, Jr., Sunny Simon, Yvonne Conwell, and Dale Miller. I have been endorsed by the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, which means that I am the Endorsed Democrat in the Mayoral Race. I have also earned the endorsements of the Plain Dealer, Northshore AFL-CIO, Cleveland Building & Construction Trades Council, Ohio Environmental Council, Northeast Ohio Young Black Democrats, Our Revolution, Cuyahoga County Young Democrats, Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, and more. This support is a testament to my values, knowledge of the issues, and my ability to create progress in Cleveland Heights.

I have been described as thoughtful in my decision making and I have been open with the community about my stances on policy and social issues. I outline my rationales for my decisions publicly and I have always been willing to listen, learn, compromise, and evolve in my position as new information and context is provided. I believe that this thoughtful approach to governing is right for Cleveland Heights, and I hope that you agree.