The Martin Chronicles has obtained an e-mail containing information that will only surprise those who haven’t been paying very much attention over the last 18 months.
In the early stages of the 2010 mayoral campaign, stories began to surface that then-mayoral candidate Mike Martin and Councilman Mike Pope met with officials from the City of Erlanger to discuss the possibility of Villa Hills disbanding its police department and contracting for coverage from the Erlanger PD. It would be a similar arrangement to what Erlanger has with The City of Crescent Springs.
In a bizarre exchange at a 2010 Villa Hills council meeting, then-Councilman Steve Ruebusch asked Pope about the meeting. As is his tactic, Pope oddly replied, “I didn’t talk to Erlanger. I was told you did”. You have to wonder who told Pope that. No, never mind. A huge waste of time.
The e-mail we just obtained says that a candidate for the open position in the depleted Villa Hills PD declined to be interviewed because he learned that Martin plans to contract with Erlanger for police coverage.
Despite the examples of failed police “mergers” in our region, we know that there are serious-minded people who still believe that these kinds of consolidations are the way to go. If you are one of those people, you need to also consider what the real motives of Mayor Martin are for considering such a move.
Let’s face it. Martin has no love for the Villa Hills Police Department. His forgery arrest led to his $1.505 million dollar lawsuit against two police officers and the taxpayers of Villa Hills. When his lawsuit was summarily dismissed in 2009, he immediately appealed it. It was decisively tossed out of the appellate court in June of this year with the judges embarrassingly commenting that “Martin is barking up the wrong tree”.
Martin decided he could take over the scheduling of the depleted PD. His bullying tactics led to another officer retiring early, leading to an even further hamstrung department.
His campaign libel, including a serious accusation that one of the officers involved in the forgery investigation committed perjury, has triggered another lawsuit.
We have also reported about Martin’s September 29, 2011 e-mail to the chairman of the city’s civil service commission telling him not to bother searching for PD candidates and instead focus the commission’s efforts on finding yet another clerk. Martin gave these instructions despite the fact that other other e-mails prove he already knew about the pending retirement of the recently-departed police officer.
Martin’s actions speak much louder than his words. These actions could lead a reasonable person to conclude that Martin is trying to weaken the police department to the point where contracting with another city’s department for coverage seems like the only course of action.
The Martin Chronicles believes the residents of Villa Hills deserve a far more thoughtful examination of the future of the Villa Hills PD. Decisions this serious shouldn’t be made solely by an autocratic “CEO” harboring deep resentment towards the department.
