CORTLAND — City residents have submitted a petition with 511 signatures to recall Mayor Deidre Petrosky.

Resident Jerry Bayus and several other residents submitted the petition to Council Clerk Rhonda Horn at Monday’s council meeting, which was attended by more than 15 residents. Bayus said the residents will see that the signatures are certified by the Trumbull County Board of Elections.

Bayus, Mike Methany, Rita Dodd and others at the meeting said the petitions were circulated because of concerns about how Petrosky has acted at meetings this year, noting her “unprofessional way of working with council and overseeing operations of the city,” what she has said both publicly at meetings and in emails to council, and leaving some meetings during citizens’ comments.

“The city can’t operate this way. She has sent demeaning and scolding emails to council members after they voted against her ordinances,” Bayus said, noting one ordinance was to hire Sean Ratican as city service director, which council voted against.

Bayus said Petrosky should have voluntarily resigned.

He said many people did sign the petition, but he said others were afraid to sign it, telling him they feared retaliation if the recall effort was unsuccessful.

“When we were getting petitions, many residents asked questions and wanted to talk about all the problems. We are concerned that no one should fear retaliation for expressing their political beliefs,” Bayus said.

He questioned Petrosky on why some residents feel threatened by her and fear retaliation.

“It has got to be an unsettling feeling to know that the people you rule over in this town are threatened by you,” Bayus said.

He said residents told him they were concerned about “misuse of funds” and the mayor getting up and leaving during meetings.

Bayus asked council members Don Moore, Kathy Fleischer and Richard McClain if their decision not to seek reelection to council was because of Petrosky and her disputes with them.

The three said they had decided to not to run for reelection regardless of the mayor, with Moore saying he has served 10 years and McClain serving six years, and both deciding they want to step down. Fleischer said she also wanted to step down.

Bayus said he spoke to a representative of the board of elections and was informed that based on the 1,891 certified voters in the Nov. 4 general election, the residents needed to get a minimum of 379 signatures for the recall.

Petrosky said she did ask Council President Kevin Piros if he wanted her to resign. Piros was not at the meeting.

“I am not going to resign. We have done many projects. I have a responsibility to the city of Cortland to finish these projects,” she said.

Petrosky said in response to the recall petition, “I want the entire city to weigh in on this.”

She asked Law Director Patrick Wilson if 511 signatures was enough for a recall, noting she thought it had to be more than 800 signatures based on the presidential election year.

Wilson said the city clerk will check to make sure the signatures are certified.

McClain said if he had to vote, he would have voted yes for Petrosky to resign. He said it has been a tense year.

“I would have not hesitated to have her removed from office,” McClain said.

Fleischer said after Petrosky walked out of some meetings, she should have resigned.

Councilman John Picuri said, “the past year has been extremely challenging as a council member.”