As we approach the end of 2011, The Martin Chronicles is going to take a few looks back over our shoulders to see how the events of the last 18 months or so has brought Villa Hills’ city government to the sorry condition it’s in today.
First stop, then- mayoral candidate Mike Martin’s incredible claim that he was not suing the taxpayers of Villa Hills. Martin felt compelled to write in his libelous campaign literature that he was, “happy to tell you that I (Martin) am not suing the city.”
Mike Pope has most willingly played the role of “Fritz” to Martin’s “Dr. Frankenstein” now for years. Helping Martin build the hideous monster that Villa Hills city government has now become, Pope even sarcastically asked how Martin’s 2010 opponent could “tell people that Mike Martin was suing the taxpayers with a straight face” on the odd councilman's alternative reality website.
While we don’t mean to speak for Martin’s opponent in the 2010 mayor’s race, The Martin Chronicles feels comfortable writing that the reason he and many others were perfectly comfortable telling the residents that Martin was suing them is obvious. Martin was suing them for $1.505 million. The lawsuit stemmed from Martin’s forgery arrest in 2007.
Some of you might be thinking, “Who is the Martin Chronicles to say that Mike Martin wasn’t telling the truth?” Our answer, after doubling over with laughter, is to tell you that our assertion isn’t a matter of opinion. It is a statement of fact.
No less an august body than The Supreme Court of the United States has twice ruled that a lawsuit against any government employee is a lawsuit against the government agency that employs them. This is the case even if the government agency (in this case The City of Villa Hills and the city’s taxpayers) is not a named party in the lawsuit.
Martin’s lawsuit against the taxpayers was dismissed as baseless in late 2009. Martin immediately appealed the judge’s decision. On June 7, 2011 (Villa Hills’ 49th birthday and the 38th anniversary of the untimely passing of the city’s first mayor, Tom Braun) Martin’s appeal was embarrassingly drop-kicked out of court. The judges opined that “Martin is barking up the wrong tree” in their scathing Order of Dismissal. In his typical Elmer Gantry fashion, Martin told the media that he went and prayed then “dropped” his lawsuit. We wonder if he was able to say that with a straight face.
Martin and others are now being sued for libel, slander, defamation and other offenses. Sources tell The Martin Chronicles that it is highly likely that “Dr. Frankenstein” and “Fritz” are going to get a harsh, courtroom lesson on the difference between a “public figure” and a “private citizen” before this mess is over as well.
The whole lawsuit issue is important because it is an object lesson on how easily Martin lies. We have reported numerous Martin lies since launching on October 8, 2011. Given the number of bold-face falsehoods we have discovered, we believe it is most fair to say lying is a way of life for Martin.
If all of this is too complicated for the Tea Partiers, Liberty Leaguers, Civic Clubbers and the other various and sundry tri-cornered hat-wearing government haters, The Martin Chronicles will simplify it. Consider this. If Martin was not suing the taxpayers of Villa Hills, why was the city’s insurance carrier providing the legal defense against Martin’s lawsuit? Can you hear that? It is the sound of light switches flipping as incandescent bulbs finally start to glow over the heads of at least a few folks who have been previously groping around in the clueless dark.
