Cortland residents have submitted a petition calling for the recall of Mayor Diedre Petrosky from office during City Council's meeting on Monday night.

During the meeting, Cortland resident Gerald Bayus, who has shown up to meetings in the past to raise concerns about Mayor Petrosky, said 511 people have signed the petition.

Bayus added that there were a total of 1,891 certified voters in the last election, of which 379 signatures are needed for a recall.

Bayus tells 21 News that the petition was three months in the making and comes after several concerns about Mayor Petrosky were raised at previous council meetings, including accusations of her bullying employees and misusing city funds.

"The city should not be going through this," Bayus said. "The city shouldn't have a mayor that has just bashed council in the head and cut them out of projects and told them what to do and threaten them with lawsuits. That is just not the way to run a city. I think the community should be in charge not the politicians and I don't think anybody should fear retaliation from any politician for voicing their opinion or concerns for something," he said.

Following the presentation of the petition, Bayus asked Councilman Dick McClain if he would like for Petrosky to resign, to which he replied, "Absolutely yes."

"Many of the reasons that you've cited and many of the things that we've experienced here in these past seven or eight months, I wouldn't hesitate to vote to have her removed from office," McClain said before multiple residents in attendance applauded.

Councilwoman Kathy Fleischer also voiced her desire for Mayor Petrosky's removal, and was also met with applause.

Other council members like John Picuri and Scott Rowley did not directly answer the question, but did weigh in on their experience over the past several months.

"The last year has been extremely challenging as a council member," Picuri said.

"I have to agree with John. I mean, you're outlining everything that you've seen and what's coming from the public, so things would definitely be smoother," Rowley added.

Petrosky responded to Bayus and council, saying she was not going anywhere.

"I'm not going to resign. We've got many projects ... and I have a responsibility to the City of Cortland to finish these projects," Petrosky said.

Petrosky added that she would like all of council and the entire city to weigh in on this matter.

Now that the petition has been given to the clerk of council, the next step would be to have the signatures certified within the next 10 days.

Bayus said Petrosky should have resigned voluntarily "if she was truly interested in the best interest of the city." He believes this move will go exactly the way they want it to.

"I am confident it will plan out. We didn't set out to do this to fail," Bayus said. 

You can read much more about residents' and council's concerns about Mayor Petrosky, and Petrosky's response to the allegations against her in our related coverage below.

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