Huron mayor defends decision to remove resident from council meeting

HURON — Huron's mayor acknowledges the optics look awful.Two city police officers apprehended and arrested a woman during Tuesday's council meeting. The arrest, captured on video and posted to Facebook, generated a huge response in the community. Many reacted to the visuals Huron's mayor regrets."Sad, sad day for Huron," Michele Schuster wrote on the "You know you're from Huron if…" Facebook page.Another poster, J Monty Tapp, wrote: "The events of (Tuesday's) council meeting were unwarranted and unnecessary. This effort to keep them from addressing their concerns and those of the citizens of Huron shows very poor judgment."While an unfortunate situation, Mayor Brad Hartung said his decision to remove Stacy Hinners was appropriate and justified."During the city council meeting (Tuesday) night, a citizen was asked several times to follow the rules of the meeting," Hartung said on Wednesday. "She chose to ignore the rules, was gaveled twice and, after being asked to address council, continued to disrupt the meeting. I asked for police intervention, and she was removed from the meeting."When Stacy stood up to speak during council's public commenting period, she turned her back to elected officeholders and began talking toward audience members.A back-and-forth dialogue then ensued between Hartung and Stacy after her three minutes to speak expired. A short time later, two police officers arrived in council chambers."I'm not leaving," said Stacy, as the officers hovered over her while she remained sitting. "I didn't do anything disruptive. I requested I be treated as the same as any other citizen that comes to this meeting.""You are creating a scene," said Hartung, who then, after repeated requests to maintain order, asked police to remove Stacy from council chambers."You are going to physically remove me?" Stacy asked the officers. One video shows Stacy initially resisting officers, prompting them to push her up against the wall in hopes of restraining her."This is the kind of the city we are running here folks," Stacy said while handcuffed and just before being escorted out of council chambers. She received a charge of disturbing a lawful meeting, a fourth-degree misdemeanor. She's scheduled for a Friday appearance in Huron Municipal Court.Hartung reiterated the visuals of Tuesday's incident look bad but also repeated he believed he made the right decision.For the past couple of years, Stacy and her husband, Jason Hinners, have questioned just about every major decision council has made, including with Mucci Farms, development at the former ConAgra site and the area's medical marijuana facilities.Stacy and Jason, who are both attorneys, have also inundated the city staff with numerous public records requests that have created a large volume of work for Huron's small administrative staff. Before being arrested, Stacy said she and her husband filed a lawsuit against council for allegedly violating the Ohio Open Meetings Act.Local officials maintain it's their responsibility to provide public records but have said the Hinners' have abused this rule and aren't reasonable in their demands.Stacy referred all comments to her lawyer. Jason, however, did make a comment Wednesday afternoon on Facebook."My wife and I love Huron, but we will not sit idly by while city officials violate the law and abuse their authority," Jason wrote. "The city deserves much better."Editor's note: To watch both videos recorded from Tuesday's Huron city council meeting, click here for part 1 and click here for part 2.*Original post, 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 14, 2019WATCH: Huron Mayor orders woman arrestedHURON — Police arrested a woman and removed her from a Huron city council meeting Tuesday.Two videos of the arrest were posted at social media."I'm not leaving. I didn't do anything to disrupt. I used my three minutes like everyone else and I sat down," the woman can be heard saying moments before she was removed from council chambers.When the officers arrive, Huron Mayor Brad Hartung points to the woman and tells the officers to arrest her.She is sitting calmly in the audience in the second video as the officers approach. The woman seems shocked as they assist her from the chair and place her up against a wall as they make the arrest and handcuff her. "This is the kind of city we're running here folks," the woman declares after she and the officers briefly struggle. "This is the kind of city we're running."A man in the audience gets up to assist the woman and pleads with the officers. In an earlier video the woman speaks to council and to the audience and complains that council has given out bonuses without reviewing them in public session or creating public records. She turns and speaks to the audience, at which point Hartung interrupts her. The two seem to be arguing about the allotted time a resident can speak when Hartung orders her to stop talking. "We're done with you," he tells her. "Sit down."The police arrived about five minutes later, a resident at the meeting said, when there was no interruption or disruption during the meeting. Get Thursday's Register for an update on this story. A woman was arrested at the Huron city council meeting Tuesday evening.