Hubbub in Houston

HOUSTON — After a sometimes heated back-and-fourth between himself and the city council, Sgt. Charlie Seidl will continue to serve on the Houston police force.

A Monday night performance evaluation of Seidl took on the tone of a trial, as council members asked him about his involvement with two separate incidents. The police officer was suspended from duty earlier in the day, and although a narrow 4-3 vote allows Seidl to keep his job, that support come without some hard questioning.

First, he responded to questions surrounding the shooting of eight animals at the city’s animal shelter last week. Seidl was the officer who euthanized the four cats and four dogs.

“Were you given a specific order to shoot these animals?” asked Deputy Mayor Lance Wilson.

Seidl said he received a call from Mayor Roger Purcell on Jan. 29. The mayor asked him if the animals — that had been there since November — were still in the shelter. When he said they were, Seidl said Purcell asked him why the animal control officer, Dennis Lords, had not euthanized the animals yet. Seidl said he responded Lords did not have the proper firearms training.

Seidl said Purcell ordered him to shoot the animals when he got back to work on Tuesday, Feb. 2.

“I made sure he meant for me to shoot them. … I would not have done that without his direct and specific order,” Seidl said.

In response, Purcell said he never ordered Seidl to shoot the animals.

When Seidl responded that was a “bold-faced lie,” the packed city hall erupted in applause. Purcell tried to move the meeting into executive session, but Councilwoman Vergie Thompson and Seidl himself refused.

The questions moved on to what responsibility Seidl had for the upkeep of the animal control shelter. The city received a complaint in December about unsanitary conditions at the shelter. Two members of the council toured the facility and said they were shocked at what they found, then drew up an action plan for how the shelter should be fixed.

“Is it not your responsibly to make sure (the shelter) is in clean conditions?” asked Purcell.

Seidl said it was, and he took responsibility for the conditions of the shelter. But, he said, by the time he was aware of the complaint, the council members had took it upon themselves to remedy the problem.

“I wasn’t really kept in the loop,” Seidl said.

Councilwoman Natasha Schachle responded that as the supervisor of animal control, it was Seidl’s responsibility to know what was going on.

Seidl was then asked his involvement with a video posted to YouTube allegedly showing Purcell driving the Houston Police SUV to Fairbanks and at times using the vehicle’s emergency lights. The YouTube video came form Seidl’s car. He said he was the only one who had access to the slot holding the camera’s memory card; you need a key to get to it and Seidl is the only one who had the key.

Prior to Monday’s meeting, Purcell said the video was a “smokescreen” to distract attention from the incident at the animal shelter and questioned the video’s validity. He said he did go to Fairbanks to hand-deliver a 200-page grant application, and he had to use a city vehicle for the trip.

Wilson asked Seidl if he thought it proper to release information to the media that could potentially be used for a criminal investigation. Seidl responded that he was not the one who leaked the video to the media, to which Wilson responded that Seidl did, in fact, give interviews to the substance of the video.

Thompson, who Seidl gave the video to, stepped in and said it was never her intent to give the video to the media. However, she said, all indications were that the district attorney’s office and the Alaska State Troopers were not going to investigate the incident, saying it is not a priority right now.

“I thought this was a priority. … It was my choice, not Charlie’s, and I do not regret that,” Thompson said.

Purcell asked Seidl about the number of open cases he currently has and if the backlog forced Seidl to actually close the department for a week to catch up. Seidl said it wasn’t so much him falling behind as it was trying to complete work that was unfinished when he arrived at the department. He got approval to close the department for a week in an attempt to start with a “clean slate.”

In conclusion, Councilman Lee Himes asked Seidl if he would like to remain with the Houston Police Department.

“I enjoy the city. I enjoy my job. I would like to stay here,” Seidl responded.

Purcell then made a motion to terminate Seidl’s employment with the city based on failure to follow established protocol. Wilson seconded the motion.

The council members were deliberative in their votes, a few pausing as if their minds were not completely made up. When the vote came down to keep Seidl employed, the audience cheered loudly and Seidl released a sigh of relief.

After the vote, Seidl said he was pleased with the outcome and ready to return to return to work as soon as his suspension is lifted. Asked if he is worried about how he will cooperate with the mayor, Seidl said he is simply going to continue to do his job.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252. Andrew Wellner contributed reporting to this story.

hoW THEY VOTED

How the Houston City Council voted on the motion to terminate the employment of Houston police Sgt. Charlie Seidl:

• Ruth Blanchard — NO

• Rosemary Burnett — YES

• Lee Himes — NO

• Natasha Schachle — NO

• Vergie Thompson — NO

• Lance Wilson — YES

• Roger Purcell — YES