The Martin Chronicles has obtained a February 6, 2012 email from Special Counsel Phil Taliaferro’s office to Villa Hills Mayor Mike Martin. As is our policy, the email is reprinted in its entirety.
Dear Mayor Mike Martin,
In order to conduct the investigation by Villa Hills City Council on September 21, 2011 and expanded on December 21, 2011, Independent Counsel has prepared its first set of requests for information for your response. On December 20, 2011, you were sent an email asking if you had retained an attorney. You were sent another email on December 20, 2011 requesting you to respond regarding the investigation.
To date, you have not responded to either email. If you have retained an attorney, please advise Independent Counsel of your attorney’s name and contact information so that we may send your attorney copies of any requests for information.
As we frequently state, we are strongly disinclined to throw anything that may float to the drowning mayor. But we must say that if Martin has not retained legal counsel-preferably a criminal defense attorney-he’s even crazier than Councilman Mike Pope. And sisters and brothers, that is saying something.
Why isn’t Martin cooperating with Special Counsel? The mayor could at least end most of the inquiry into his business practices now by simply producing his various professional licenses and a copy of his occupational licenses for every year since he began Mike Martin Electric/Quality Home Services. Could it be that some or all of these licenses simply don’t exist? Perhaps Martin has retained legal counsel and, knowing the severity of the situation, his attorney advised him to remain silent.
The time window through which Martin can move on relatively painlessly is rapidly closing. Once Special Counsel begins to publicly lay out the case against the mayor-and that presentation is looming-other agencies will have no choice but to take action. Then it will be far more painful for the mayor and for the voters who installed Martin in a position to do such tremendous damage to the City government.
The one thing The Martin Chronicles is sure of is that the investigation will not go away simply because Martin refuses to cooperate. The operations of the City are tied in a knot that will be extremely difficult to undo even if the process to return some semblance of normalcy began as soon as today. We know the process will not begin today. We firmly believe Martin plans to launch a scorched-earth defense that will cost the taxpayers a great deal more money and far greater embarrassment.
It is also clear that the residents themselves are somewhat divided. Some of the public remains clueless and apathetic. We have also obtained a great deal of email traffic being sent to the mayor and council. The sentiment of those who are engaged is running strongly against the mayor. But there are actually some people who still believe that what is taking place is mere “bickering”. With all the respect we can muster, those who chalk the current conflict to nothing more than small town politics are foolishly blind to the terrible mess Martin is creating.
The Martin Chronicles has little more sympathy for the residents of Villa Hills than we do for its mayor. But the longer the mayor’s inevitable end is delayed, the more difficult it will become to clean up this monumental disaster. Still, do not hold your breath.
