The Martin Chronicles wonders just how long Villa Hills Mayor Mike Martin thinks that a six-man police force can adequately cover the city he was (foolishly) entrusted to lead. Crime is skyrocketing. Worse yet, we have to wonder if Martin is even capable of doing anything about it, or even cares? Overtime costs have exploded. While every member of the force is a dedicated professional, it becomes abundantly clear with each passing day that the Villa Hills’ mayor is anything but a dedicated professional.
Martin seems oddly unable, or perhaps even disinterested, to address the growing problem. After hearing the mayor’s fabricated February council meeting announcement that a replacement had been hired to fill the long-open position for the seventh officer, The Martin Chronicles has confirmed that this is definitively not the case.
We are sure that the remaining members of the Villa Hills Police Department will soldier on as long as is humanly possible. Their efforts will continue despite being spread far too thin. Their efforts will continue despite the incessant hostility exhibited toward them by Mayor Martin. Their efforts will continue regardless of the mayor’s mindless mismanagement and meddling. But where is the breaking point? Simply put, when will the police department finally run out of gas?
Many months ago Martin announced that the first thing he looked at was the police department. By now, every reasonable person should be wondering what the mayor’s real motives for his self-proclaimed initial investigation were.
Was Martin’s examination of the police department part of the lawsuit he had at the time against the Villa Hills taxpayers and two police officers? Remember, Villa Hills police officers reported several months ago that their computers were being “remotely accessed”. Who was accessing the police department computers? Why were they remotely accessing the computers? Was Martin or a hand-picked surrogate looking for something to assist him in his litigation against the taxpayers and two police officers? Given everything that has transpired since then, it does not take a tremendous leap to believe Martin was seeking personal gain.
Martin simply could not contain his hostility towards the police department as a whole and one police officer in particular. This has led to a very serious lawsuit that not only puts Martin and his co-defendant Dale Schaber in financial jeopardy, but the taxpayers as well. No one should have been surprised by this. Prior to the 2010 election, Martin and Schaber were so bold as to be spreading their LIBEL, SLANDER and DEFAMATION on the very street where this police officer lives. This has not only damaged the police officer’s reputation, but caused harm to his family as well.
We can’t explain Schaber’s hostility. Frankly, we wouldn’t even make the attempt. In any event, Schaber and his attorney may well get the opportunity to do the explaining in a civil court. Martin’s vendetta is more easily explained. He was consumed with the desire for vengeance over his 2007 forgery arrest. We learned on June 7, 2011 that a second court ruled Martin’s forgery arrest was justified. In the Appellate Court Order of Dismissal, the judges wrote that there absolutely was “probable cause” for Martin’s arrest and what Martin did fit the very definition of forgery. Martin couldn’t accept his great fortune that his defense attorney snowed a judge in criminal court. He still wanted his pound of flesh. Now the taxpayers are on the hook for Martin’s transgressions.
Despite Martin’s abject failure in court, the sordid story continued. According to several sources, Martin’s persistent, unprofessional meddling into the police department led to the retirement of an experienced, long-serving officer. This officer confided to several people that he had simply had enough of the unwarranted attacks by Martin and Councilmen Pope and Noll.
That police officer retired in November, 2011. The police department has been operating at TWENTY FIVE PER CENT UNDER PROPER MANPOWER LEVEL since then. The council went so far as to approve “emergency powers” late last year for Martin to hire a seventh officer to deal with that immediate problem. Still, Martin did nothing.
Then the City’s Civil Service Commission recruited several candidates for the mayor to interview and hire. Despite Martin’s February pronouncement to the contrary, The Martin Chronicles has confirmed that the seventh spot remains open.
Worse yet, several sources confirm that Martin is still doing nothing to fill the seventh position. He has offered no leadership. He has offered no guidance. He has offered no direction. Does Martin have a continued hidden agenda? Is Martin just massively incompetent? Perhaps both theories are correct? Who suffers? The residents of Villa Hills are the ones who must bear the brunt of Martin’s terrible mismanagement.
As we have said in previous posts, elections have consequences. The swamp gas-filled Civic Club’s 2010 Candidate Forum was an ugly embarrassment. Martin family members and cronies asked ridiculous questions about what they falsely described as “the violation of Martin’s constitutional rights” regarding the mayoral-candidate’s forgery arrest. One person dared to speak out about the danger of electing Martin mayor while he was suing the taxpayers and two police officers. That brave soul’s reward? An ugly browbeating ensued from the members of Martin’s hillbilly lynch mob and the other Civic Club ne’er-do-wells in attendance that night.
The results certainly speak for themselves. Martin’s candidacy has proven to be a vengeance-driven fraud that has blown up in the faces of the voters.
