Houston fires embattled police officer

HOUSTON —Sgt. Charlie Seidl was fired from the Houston Police Department Thursday night after the city council voted 4-2 to accept an annual performance evaluation calling for his termination.

Because it is a personnel matter, the performance evaluation report was not open to the public. However, Seidl elected to have the hearing conducted in the open.

From the council’s debate, the report seemed to allege Seidl had not completed official reports, jumped the chain of command and left the city without police protection by not informing the Alaska State Troopers about changes to his schedule with enough advance notice.

The performance evaluation was written by Houston Police Officer Charley McAnnaly. McAnnaly was hired to the police force after Seidl and has yet to go through his initial performance evaluation to come off his probationary status.

However, Houston Mayor Roger Purcell appointed McAnnaly as head of the police department after Seidl came off of a suspension last month.

Seidl was originally suspended in the wake of eight animals being shot at the Houston Animal Shelter. He claimed he was ordered to shoot the animals by Purcell. Purcell denied the claim and the council voted 4-3 to retain Seidl.

After that vote, Seidl was placed on suspension pending a legal review by the city’s attorney. The suspension was eventually lifted, but Seidl was no longer the department head.

At Thursday’s meeting, the council members were handed a copy of McAnnaly’s review of Seidl’s performance. Councilwoman Ruth Blanchard said she had seen proof for herself that Seidl had not been doing his job. Deputy Mayor Lance Wilson said he didn’t see anything in the review he had not seen before.

Councilwoman Natasha Schachle said this was the first time she had seen any of the documents. Councilwoman Virgie Thompson agreed, saying it is not the responsibility of individual council members to check on the performance of each employee. That is what department heads are for, she said, and she asked for time to read McAnnaly’s 30- to 40-page evaluation of Seidl.

Schachle agreed, and made a motion to delay voting on the performance evaluation until the council had adequate time to read the report. That motion failed 4-2 with only Schachle and Thompson voting in support.

Because of the format of a performance evaluation, Seidl was not given a chance to respond to the allegations in front of the council. However, after the meeting Purcell said Seidl had almost three weeks to respond and chose not to do so other than some minor notes in the margins of the report. Purcell also said Seidl has received three previous disciplinary citations in addition to the charges in McAnnaly's report.

Whatever the case, Blanchard, Wilson, Purcell and councilwoman Rosemary Burnett voted to accept McAnnaly’s recommendation to terminate Seidl. Schachle and Thompson voted against firing Seidl. Councilman Lee Himes was excused earlier in the meeting for health reasons.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252

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