CORTLAND — Voters in the city will decide just one question in a special election today: Shall Deidre Petrosky be allowed to continue as mayor of the city of Cortland?

Just over 5,200 voters are registered in the city. There are two polling places in the city — the Cortland Christian Church and the Cortland Masonic Lodge. Polls will be open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Petrosky was first elected as mayor in 2019 and then reelected in 2023. The only other jurisdiction in Trumbull County to have a recall election in recent history is Newton Falls, where four separate recall elections have taken place since 2010, according to Ballotpedia.com. Councilwoman Tesa Spletzer was recalled in 2023, councilwoman Sandra Breymaier in 2021, councilman Jim Luonuansuu defeated a recall in 2011 and mayor Pat Layshock was recalled in 2010.

Cortland residents Jerry Bayus and Rita Dodd have been vocal in calling for the recall of the mayor, saying she has an unprofessional way of working with council and overseeing operations of the city, and others have pointed to a controversy that erupted when council decided not to hire Sean Ratican as city service director on her recommendation. Residents also said they felt she didn’t handle contracts properly.

At Monday’s council meeting, Bayus and council Vice President Jim Bradley both remarked that council was being asked to vote on resolutions connected to projects with due dates of June 30 of this year. Bradley voted against one resolution — a boat ramp improvement project at Mosquito Lake — because he felt there wasn’t enough time to complete the project in the time remaining in the funding cycle.

The mayor did not directly address the recall election at Monday’s council meeting, instead making comments about ongoing projects, wanting to finish the work and how she would proceed in the future on some of the projects.

The special election will cost the city an estimated $7,000 to $10,000 to conduct. The residents called on her to resign instead of waiting for the recall election.

At a November council meeting, Petrosky refused to resign.

“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 at the time. “I want the entire city to weigh in on this.”

At Monday’s meeting, the mayor taped updates of the projects on the wall, highlighting the due dates and status of each. The projects included the Cortland Outdoor Education and event space, the proposed safety complex and the ongoing salt dome project, among others.