Kelly Shaw, mayor of Indianola, Iowa, and senior lecturer of political science, said he is considering resigning following months of turmoil between himself and the Indianola City Council.

In an age where attack ads and political polarization are common, Shaw said the danger is that young people see this and say it is too costly and negative to get engaged in politics.

Shaw said his first term as mayor went well, but following elections in 2017, his city council changed out of his favor, and the impacts of that are reaching beyond his life as mayor.

“It’s really becoming impactful on my family and that is really something I have to be aware of in my job as mayor, my job as a public official in the state of Iowa and my job as a father,” Shaw said. “For me to stay, things would have to change, and for it to change in such a way it would mean certain members of my council would have to resign.”

Shaw said he can personally take a lot of flak, but it is different when that pressure is aimed at his children.

“Both of my children have had insults hurled their way regarding me as a mayor … and a number of the lies that council has pushed about me,” Shaw said. “The hassle and angst this has created in my family is just not worth it.”

While Shaw said the environment is the problem, Bob Kling, a member of the Indianola City Council, said that environment is a result of his actions as mayor. In the case of his daughter being harassed in school, for example, Kling said Shaw’s actions are to blame.

“To me there is nothing to this, and he has blown everything out of proportion because he can’t take responsibility for his actions,” Kling said. “I know the facts on that, and the facts on that are that he bullied a high school student on facebook using his own title as mayor, the high school student and his daughter were friends.”

Shaw said this is one of the lies being spread and it first came to light through an anonymous fax received by the high school. After the school investigated the issue, they deemed the situation did not fall under their definition of bullying, but Shaw said she was still treated poorly.

Another claim Shaw used to demonstrate how some of these rumors are spread was with a letter addressed to Shaw from Barb McMurry, a managing broker at Iowa Realty in Indianola.

In a letter sent out on Feb. 15, McMurry claimed Shaw was threatening individuals at a candidate forum in October of the previous year — before Shaw was elected to his second term.

“Not only was your tone confrontational and condescending, but the lack of respect for those present was obvious … the pacing around the room and even behind us was troubling to quite a few in the audience,” wrote McMurry. “Some were even fearful that perhaps you had a gun and might become violent.”

Shaw said he was confused when he first received this letter as he doesn’t have an open or concealed carry permit or any indication as to how someone could have thought he did. There were other letters that Shaw has received that he finds to be unfair.

Shaw was called a liar in one letter for referring to himself as a professor when, in fact, he is a “senior lecturer,” while on another occasion, someone requested the university disclose all of Shaw’s emails containing the words “witch,” “campaign,” “harassment” and “manager.”

“Someone must have thought I was using my work email for city business, which is absolutely bogus,” Shaw said.

While Shaw said these attacks were unfounded, Kling said they reflect public opinion.

“He has irritated a lot of the people in the community, and really this comes down to him and the people he has irritated,” Kling said. “The council is not writing these letters, it is people in the public.”

The frequent letters, emails and overall hostility is something Shaw said is new since the last election as a majority of the current Indianola city council was in favor of City Manager Ryan Waller.

Shaw said the election came down between Shaw and people who supported the city manager, but, when allegations of harassment and intimidation were brought up against the city manager, Shaw started an investigation by a third party into the claims.

Some in Indianola saw this as a political investigation, but Shaw said it was his responsibility as mayor to have an investigation into those allegations. The results of the investigation came back with some of the allegations “inconclusive” and others “unsubstantiated.”

“He, along with a couple other individuals brought false allegations against the city manager,” Kling said. “The city manager himself asked for an investigation, he was investigated and nothing was found, in several instances, in fact, said people were lying. So it was all false allegations.”

While Kling said all claims were found false, Shaw said the inconclusive results just meant there wasn’t a recording or video evidence of the allegations as the burden of proof fell on the alleged victims. Shaw denied the city manager could have called for the investigation into himself as Kling claimed.

Now Shaw says the narrative has been made that he is trying to be retributional, and the resulting environment is one that is damaging to young people wanting to get involved in politics.

“It’s effect on the younger generation is pretty devastating,” Shaw said. “This negativism, while it works, puts people off of the political process in a way where people are uninterested in ever learning how to affect the political process. People are throwing up their hands and asking ‘why would I subject myself to that?’ And I am doing much of the same after four years in office. Why would I stay in office if the climate has my wife, my kids and myself subject to this abuse.”