COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — The trial that will decide whether Pottawattamie County Supervisor Scott Belt is removed from office began Wednesday morning at the county courthouse.
Belt is accused of being intoxicated at a town hall meeting in Carson on November 5.
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County Attorney Matt Wilber spent much of the morning examining witnesses who interacted with Belt at a bar in Carson before the town hall meeting. Defense attorney Brett Ryan cross-examined those witnesses about their own level of intoxication that night as well as their qualifications to judge someone else's intoxication.
The court also heard from county employees who were at the town hall, including PR Manager Kate Gerber, who described talking to Belt before the meeting and believing he had alcohol on his breath.
"It's what, you know, I would call an HR nightmare," Gerber said.
County Supervisor Susan Miller told the court Belt's behavior has changed over more-or-less the last year.
"Aggressive, argumentative, difficult to have a conversation with," Miller said.
County EMS Director Doug Reed, who praised Belt as a colleague, also testified he believed Belt was intoxicated at the town hall.
County Auditor Mary Ann Hanusa told the court Belt was a guest at her wedding and that she's known him for years.
"I believe he was intoxicated that night," Hanusa said.
One cornerstone of the state's argument is that Belt was impaired while performing his official duties, which could be grounds for removal from office.
The defense argues that the town hall, which is not mandated by a state statute, does not qualify as an official part of a supervisor's job and that Belt was there voluntarily.
This is a civil proceeding and if Belt loses, he'll lose his position as a supervisor. The trial is expected to last through Thursday.
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