CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- A now-former city employee wrote in an email that she felt unsafe after she heard the wife of Mayor Kahlil Seren repeatedly shouting expletives and pacing in a City Hall hallway last month.
The employee, Andrea Heim, recounted in a March 13 message to the city’s human resources officer Tanya Jones that Seren’s wife, Natalie McDaniel, walked through the mayor’s wing past several employees’ offices that same morning screaming “f--k you, f--k you, the f--k I’m not allowed in that meeting.”
Heim wrote that McDaniel did not direct any of the profanities at her or even make eye contact with her.
However, Heim said she could continue to hear the expletives after McDaniel entered Seren’s office and closed the door, three offices away.
Heim said she packed up her things and went to the community center because she no longer felt safe.
“I do not feel comfortable returning to City Hall until I am assured that the Mayor’s wife, who is NOT and[sic] employee and who is NOT an elected official is no longer present and exerting her influence in the space and directly in meetings,” Heim wrote.
The email, which the city released in recent days in response to public records requests, sheds light on the now-infamous March 13 incident that has led to the resignations of two employees, at least one outside investigation and caused a political hailstorm months before the city’s second-ever mayoral election.
Then-City Administrator Dan Horrigan, who joined the city in January, sent several emails to Seren urging him to address the incident and, citing the mayor’s inaction to address a “hostile work environment” caused by McDaniel, abruptly resigned on March 17.
Seren hired an attorney from the Cleveland-based employment law firm Mansour Gavin to investigate Heim’s complaint. He wrote in a March 27 email to Heim that he consulted with the attorney and decided to place her on paid administrative leave that same day.
“Please understand that this decision is not punitive or intended to cause harm, but is in the interest of ensuring that safety and security is maintained for you and all others in the office environment,” Seren wrote in the email.
Seren hired Heim last year as the city’s performance coordinator, meant to improve government efficiency. He praised her in his November State of the City address as having made “great strides” in her mission to help the city buck the excuse of “we’ve always done it this way.”
She resigned from the city effective April 15.
Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to the city for comment and asked why Seren chose to place Heim on paid leave rather than assuring her that McDaniel would no longer be at City Hall.
In a statement, a city spokeswoman said the incident remains under investigation and that “the City is not in the habit of reporting on matters related to current or former personnel for the protection and privacy of those involved.”
“All parties have followed the administrative process according to proper procedure from the beginning,” the statement said.
Seren, previously a City Councilman, is the first elected mayor in Cleveland Heights after voters in 2019 approved abandoning a council-city manager form of government.
The city will hold a primary election in September, with the top two vote-getters facing off in the November general election, regardless of party.
City Council has called multiple special committee meetings to address the incident and raise questions about the scope of the role that McDaniel plays in city government. One resident who is an outspoken critic of Seren shared on social media a photograph of McDaniel standing in the back of council chambers during a December meeting holding Seren’s ID and security badge in her hand.
Council is now considering passing legislation to ban non-employees from having access to security badges.
Council also is mulling whether to hire their own outside human resources firm to investigate and report on concerns about the work environment in Seren’s administration.
Seren, who publicly has referred to McDaniel as “The First Lady,” said he frequently seeks her counsel on governmental decisions and has allowed her to sit in on meetings. However, he denied that she has ever given orders to city staff.
“She knows she is not the mayor,” Seren said at a special committee meeting earlier this month.
Heim wrote in her email that McDaniel had “consistently” come into the mayor’s wing of City Hall yelling and screaming over the previous three months.
She acknowledged in the email to Jones that the situation was sensitive because Seren is technically Jones’ boss.
“I also know that several others throughout the municipality have been affected by her presence and nearly all of us feel as though we will lose our jobs should it be brought up,“ she wrote. ”I too feel that my position is in jeopardy, but my physical safety is now taking precedence over my financial security.”
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