Despite a request from one of his peers, it doesn’t appear that Eureka Springs City Council member Harry Meyer has any intentions of stepping down.

Council member David Avanzino called for Meyer’s resignation during the regular city council meeting held Monday, Aug. 11 — alleging violations of a code of conduct that’s been in place five years — after a series of accusations and controversies involving Meyer over the past year that have recently come to light.

“On July 27, 2020, this body passed Resolution 782, establishing a code of conduct for city council members,” Avanzino said. “Council member Harry Meyer was among those who even voted in favor of adopting this code. It sets clear expectations for all members, including the responsibility to uphold civility, respect, integrity and the adherence to law in our work as elected officials. These standards are meant to preserve the trust and respect of the community we serve.”

Meyer has been accused of having ongoing rifts with neighbors, repeatedly reporting alleged violations of code enforcement to city officials, discharging a gun inside the city limits to put down his pet dog, and most recently of hitting a neighbor with a vehicle.

Avanzino said there were five instances over the past year in which Meyer has violated the council’s code of conduct.

“Over the past year, council member Meyer’s documented actions have raised serious concerns,” Avanzino said. “Number one, sending numerous text messages to the building inspector targeting a private citizen, trying to leverage his position for personal disputes. This matter was reported by the local press.

“Number two, shooting his own dog within city limits in violation of city Ordinance 7.24.01 which prohibits the unlawful discharge of firearms within the city limits. This incident was also reported by the local press.

“Number three, striking a neighbor with a personal vehicle during an altercation. This individual later addressed the council during public comments, and this issue is currently being handled by the Arkansas State Police, which will likely be taken up by the prosecutor’s office.

“Number four, engaging in intimidation of another neighbor, including tampering with property to gain parking access. This individual also spoke to the council during public comment.

“Number five, conduct connected to a private event at Lake Leatherwood, which is currently under investigation by the Arkansas State Police.”

The allegations against Meyer warrant action, Avanzino said, adding that the council is limited in what action it can take.

“These actions, as documented, do not align with the code of conduct standards this council has adopted,” Avanzino said. “When public officials fail to meet these standards, it erodes the trust and respect of the citizens who elected us and undermines the credibility of this governing body.

“It is important to note that city council does not have the authority to remove a city council member. Removal can only occur through two methods: a recall vote by the residents initiated through petition or voluntary resignation. I cannot make a motion to remove council member Meyer, nor can I call for a vote to censure him. What I can do is make this statement as an expression of disapproval.”

Avanzino asked Meyer to resign.

“My reason for asking for council member Meyer’s resignation is out of respect for the body of this council and the standards that we have pledged to uphold,” he said. “While he is under no obligation to act on this request and may choose to continue serving, I am aware that citizens are discussing a recall petition. Such a process is expensive and would require taxpayer funding. Given the seriousness and repeated nature of these incidents, the continued presence of council member Meyer on this body undermines the credibility of the council and erodes the community’s confidence in its elected leaders.

“His actions are not going unnoticed, and by allowing this behavior to continue, we are setting a dangerous precedent that such conduct is acceptable for future council members. For the good of this city and in recognition of the harm these actions have caused, it is the belief of this member that council member Meyer should resign from his seat on the Eureka Springs City Council immediately. Our citizens deserve leaders who uphold the highest standards of conduct, and anything less is unacceptable.”

Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry asked if anyone else had a comment on the matter.

“Hearing none, we’ll continue on then,” he said, before council member Rachael Moyer spoke up.

“I just wanted to agree that the demonstrated behavior by Mr. Meyer does erode the confidence of our citizens in the council as expressed in comments to me,” Moyer said.

“I can’t say I disagree,” council member Susane Gruning said. “It makes it awkward in here, so I give David a lot of credit for coming forth with that. I did have my neighbors really upset about the dog shooting within the city. Some of the other things I wasn’t aware of except what was brought to us from the comments made.

“When you read the code of conduct where we have to set the example for our city, we need to think about our actions when something is happening. But, we’re now not just a resident here, we are city council.”

Council member Steve Holifield agreed.

“I worked for the police department in Austin (Texas) for 20 years and as a professional I never abused my position, asked to get out of speeding tickets, anything like that,” Holifield said. “To me, like here, we should be setting an example for the community of being more than upholding the conduct of a professional, and I think the abuse of power or abuse of your position is really inexcusable. I’m not saying that happened here. I don’t have proof that did happen, but I want to put out there that I take this position very seriously and I think most of us do, and that we should be setting an example for the community not trying to do less or get away with something.”

Terry McClung, by far the longest-tenured council member, said he’s going to wait until any investigations of possible wrongdoing are completed before forming much of an opinion on the situation.

“I don’t want to make any comment on anything that he did that is under an investigation by a policing authority,” McClung said. “I don’t think that’s our place. Let that be worked out and then the decision could, I can make my opinion known at that time.

“… As far as the dog goes, it’s unfortunate, but if you’ve had pets and you grow up in rural areas, and it’s not uncommon to dispatch your own animal … it is something that has been done for years.”

Gruning spoke up, reminding McClung that the shooting was in city limits.

“We’re not in a rural area,” she said.

That led to a brief back and forth until Berry chimed in, reminding Gruning that McClung had the floor.

“That’s my opinion on that, and that’s where I stand,” McClung said. “You know, we all make mistakes in behavior as far as that goes … You know, I’ve done it, too, so I’m not going to be throwing stones in that direction, but as far the other, let the legal system work it out.”

Meyer sat quietly at the council table during the discussion, and didn’t comment on the matter until the end of the meeting during council member comments.

“If anybody knows me and my dogs, and how much I care about my dogs, and how my dog was suffering that day, the last thing that came to my mind was discharging a little .22 rifle on a Sunday as being illegal,” Meyer said. “Now, you can condemn me, you think that perhaps that was wrong, but you weren’t there, you did not see it. You don’t know, and you don’t know my side of any of those stories, but you’re sitting there condemning me.

“Any citizen can call the building inspector if they see a violation of code. I was not using my leverage, nor did the building inspector think so. You can ask him. That’s all I got to say.”

RECENT ISSUES

The most recent controversy involving Meyer arose after three neighbors spoke during public comments during the council’s July 14 meeting. They accused Meyer of harassment and trespassing, with one alleging the council member committed “assault” using a vehicle.

The three Cross Street residents voiced grievances against Meyer over a series of incidents that they said boiled over on Sunday, July 13, when neighbor Ruth Seymour alleges she was “ran over” by Meyer.

“I’m in front of you to bring to your attention that you have a councilman that has assaulted me with a vehicle,” Seymour said at the July 14 council meeting. “It happened yesterday evening in my neighbor’s access to the street and he actually left the scene. After he ran over me basically, he didn’t stop. He got out of his truck, locked, and went into his house.”

Seymour said Meyer’s daughter, Eureka Springs City Clerk Treasurer Ida Meyer, witnessed the incident.

“His daughter was a witness and I asked her to stay when I called 911 to no avail,” Seymour said Seymour, who lives across the street from Meyer, said the incident happened when she returned home from visiting her sister and discovered Meyer had “gone over and messed with personal property” of Jim Marple, who lives next door to the city council member.

“… I called Jim Marple, and in the process of calling him and going over there and taking pictures to send to him, I saw that Harry was down in his yard with a vehicle parked in a legal spot,” Seymour said. “… In that time he backed up his vehicle … came up his drive right back up and then proceeded to come straight at me knowing I was there.

“I yelled at him: ‘Harry, what are you doing?’

Marple and his partner, Clyde Elder, followed Seymour during public comments at the July 14 meeting and told council members of ongoing verbal disputes they have had with Meyer.

It all started when Marple, who owned property on one side of the city council member, decided to buy a lot on the other side of Meyer’s home, they said.

“Mr. Meyer and I used to get along until I bought a piece of property on the other side of him, on the west side of him,” Marple said. “Well, after I bought the property, then he claimed that he wanted, he was going to buy the property. But he didn’t. I bought the property. So, he missed out. Well, he has been ever since then, and that was in November 2024, ever since then he has sought to seek revenge on me and to exploit his position as city councilman to harass me.”

Marple brought up a story in an April edition of the Times-Echo that reported that Meyer had sent more than 50 text messages to the city’s code enforcement officer regarding Marple’s property.

“… Doing his level best, trying to get me in trouble,” Marple said. “I’ve never received a fine. I’ve never been in trouble. I always complied with everything. But, that didn’t matter to him. He was doing his level best to dig as deep as he could to try and find something. Well, he never did. He couldn’t find anything, so now he’s mad. He’s just a little angry little man. So, now he’s seeking revenge in every possible way that he can.”

Marple showed council members a photo of Meyer “harassing me in front of my property.”

“He walks by my property, he calls me an asshole from the street,” Marple said.

Then using a loud voice, Marple said: “He says, and … this is how he says it: ‘ASSHOLE,’ walking in front my property.”

That led to a chuckle from Meyer sitting a handful of feet away.

“You see him laughing? You see him laughing?” Marple said. “That’s Mr. Meyer. That’s Mr. Meyer laughing right there. Y’all saw him laughing. This is a picture of him, walking by my property routinely, photographing me in front of my property, harassing me, doing whatever he can to try and get me to do something so he can get me arrested.”

Elder, who said he shares a residence with Marple, said he’s had to install security cameras on their property because of Meyer’s “harassment and craziness.”

Meyer spoke briefly on the accusations from his neighbors at the end of the July 14 meeting during council member comments.

“I’ve been accused of a lot of stuff tonight by my neighbors,” he said. “I can tell y’all this, and this is all I’m going to say about it, is that it all stems with the fact that they don’t understand where property lines end. If their property comes within 10 feet of the pavement, that is a city easement. And they’ve built a house within five or six feet of the pavement of the property line to the city.

“If my dog walked over there or on theirs, he would yell at me. He didn’t yell. He would get that dog off my property. And I’ve had enough. And now they’ve got over an acre of ground and they pile all their materials out on the city easement, on the street, even where I parked my truck.

“Now they pile those piles there by where my truck was, simply to keep me from parking my truck there once in a while. I have to bring my truck out from below while my drive is not blocked — one of my renter’s parks there. And then I park it up there. And I did that [Sunday]. And then the craziness ensued. And that’s all I’ve got to say. Harassment, I think, is — I’ve been harassed. It’s not the other way around….”