Public commenters urge council to reconsider Alderwoman Hartzell’s police committee role after contested order-of-protection hearing

A public commenter (speaker 7) told the Board of Aldermen the Crawford County case Hartzell v. Edson ended without an order of protection for the older woman and said testimony from three witnesses — including testimony from Chief of Police Doug Shelton — did not persuade the judge. The commenter urged the council to reconsider appointing Alderwoman Hartzell to the police committee because of an appearance-of-favoritism given the connection between the police department, the court matter and the board of aldermen.

Another speaker who identified themselves by street address (speaker 8) presented inconsistent witness statements they said appear in an audio recording and a court transcript spanning two dates, and asked, "Can we believe the sworn testimony of an elected city marshal or not?" A third participant (speaker 2) said they were present during the events in question, called false police reports and perjury illegal, and urged the council to pursue an inquiry or impeachment.

Council members did not take immediate formal action on the public comments during the citizen-participation period recorded in the transcript. No official investigation, vote or staff directive to open a formal inquiry was recorded in the meeting minutes excerpt. The speakers named Chief of Police Doug Shelton and Alderwoman Hartzell in their remarks; no council member offered a substantive rebuttal on the record in this segment.