Hoover City Council President John Lyda on Tuesday called Monday night’s unsuccessful effort to remove him from his post a “political sideshow.”

A motion to oust Lyda as council president was made by City Councilor Steve McClinton, who proposed that City Councilor Casey Middlebrooks replace Lyda.

The motion failed by a vote of 3-1 with two abstentions.

Lyda, who is vacationing in the Bahamas, was not present at Monday night’s meeting, but sent the following statement to AL.com on Tuesday:

“Hoover has been fortunate to be a city where only a handful of times in our history have we seen a political sideshow like this. We have a mayor and majority council with executive business level experience who are laser focused on meeting the needs and expectations of our residents in maintaining a top tier education system, delivering world class public safety, and creating a quality of life experience that is second to none in the United States. That focus remains the same and we’ll continue to strive to exceed those goals and not be distracted by political games that attempt to derail our mission.”

McClinton did not explicitly state why he was calling for Lyda’s ouster.

The move came nearly a month after Lyda stirred controversy by calling Stadium Trace Village developer William Kadish a “convicted felon” who he couldn’t trust.

“Well, actions have consequences and I believe Mr. Lyda has shown that already, and so I take no joy in doing this. But it needs to be done,” McClinton said during Monday’s council meeting.

Lyda, who was not present at the meeting, had called for Kadish, president of Broad Metro LLC, to be removed from the second phase of the development over his criminal past.

“We are dealing with a convicted felon,” Lyda said at the council’s April 1 meeting. “I will not waver when it comes to doing business with a known felon.”

Kadish, who was not allowed to respond to Lyda’s allegations, released a video statement explaining the conviction stemmed from a “mistake I made 24 years ago.”

He said he was prescribed opioids in 2001, which led to gambling problems.

Kadish pleaded guilty to grand larceny in New York in 2002 and was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $655,000 in restitution, WRBC reported, citing court records.

Kadish said he had his criminal record in New York sealed in 2021 under a new state law to ensure people of “good moral character would not be prejudiced from doing business.”

City Councilor Khrysti Driver criticized McClinton for going forward with the motion while Lyda was not at the meeting.

“Where I come from, having leadership courage includes doing things like this when the person is present in the room, and I’m very much opposed to moving forward with this tonight,” she said before the vote.