The Martin Chronicles is currently examining the "deeply troubling animosity" that exists between the majority of Villa Hills City Council and the corrupt Mayor Mike Martin. Frankly, we don't care how many "Mayor Martin We Support You!" signs the blissfully ignorant place in their yards. And we don't care how many "Mayor Martin Please Resign Now" signs Martin operatives steal. We know what a bad actor Martin is. Unlike the mindless unwashed, we have read the report that is readily available on the cheesy City website. In any event, we are tracing the animosity and tumult back to the doorstep of Councilman Mike Pope.
In our last installment, Mike Pope was soundly defeated in the 2006 mayor's race. He was, however, given "new life" when Councilman Greg Kilburn proposed raising the City's UNFAIR STICKER TAX to $45-over the objections of Councilwoman Cordelia Schaber, who wanted to raise the UNFAIR STICKER TAX raise to $100 per car-to help pay for the repair and replacement of the City's aging streets. Pope now saw another opportunity to falsely portray himself as "a real man of the people".
Pope's resurgence began at a public hearing that was held in the spring of 2007 for the purpose of taking comment on the proposed increase. On a side note to demonstrate the odd view of some voters, one woman commented that the mayor and council were being "sneaky" about the license fee increase in a televised report broadcast hours before the public hearing. As cynical as The Martin Chronicles can be, we are at a loss to explain how any sane person can describe a PUBLIC HEARING as sneaky. And so it goes.
So anyway, Pope took to the podium at the public hearing. He went far past his alloted time railing about the fact that the voters should be allowed to decide the issue, but that something had to be done immediately to fix the streets. He talked about how most of the money for street repair could be found in the current budget-remember that point. He said that an increase in the UNFAIR STICKER TAX would be a terrible miscarriage of justice-also remember that point.
Just for fun, we'd like to remind you that now-Mayor Mike Martin voted for the UNFAIR $40 PER CAR STICKER TAX INCREASE. This after many public pronouncements that his head was telling him one thing and his heart something different. Oh, brother. Some things will never change.
Mike Pope made a successful run for council in 2008. The primary plank in his successful campaign was his solemn pledge to repeal what had become the UNFAIR $40 PER CAR STICKER TAX. From the moment he took office in January 2009, his antics and hostility began. He launched an "alternative reality" City website that was full of baseless, corrosive allegations and rantings against the UNFAIR $40 PER CAR STICKER TAX. It is hugely important to note that, despite his incessant criticism of the UNFAIR $40 PER CAR STICKER TAX, a careful review of City meeting minutes from January 2009 to present clearly show that Pope NEVER ONCE made a motion to repeal the UNFAIR STICKER TAX. Clearly, Pope was, and continues to be, "all show and no go". It gets worse.
Pope continued to falsely rant about the fact that the City had no plan to deal with the aging streets, despite the fact that mile after mile of City roads were replaced or repaired between 2007 and 2010. He put forth what he described as his own "50 Year Plan", which was nothing more than an Excel listing of City streets-including several that didn't even exist-that had no way to pay for the replacement and repair.
When running for re-election to council in 2010, Pope revealed his "LOG (his spelling, not ours)-TERM CITY PLAN". Once again, he provided no source for funding City street repair. But he did manage to suggest that the then-current City admistration was infested with "crooks". He did that to help his close buddy Mike Martin.
With the approval of his close friend Mayor Martin, Pope commissioned the City Engineer to do a road study that stretched out to theTWENTY-THIRD CENTURY. That is some serious "LOG TERM" planning. We are unable to confirm whether Pope advised the Engineer to factor in flying cars in future years. All in all, a horrible waste of thousands of taxpayer dollars. It gets even worse.
Oh, by the way, Pope has been the chairman of the City's Finance Committee now for nearly two years. A thorough review of the City's minutes and meeting DVDs reveals that he has never, repeat never, proposed any ways to find additional money for street repair in the current budget. Not even a penny. What an unfunny joke.
Finally, Pope had his chance to vote against the UNFAIR $40 PER CAR STICKER TAX. But he didn't. His pal Mike Martin proposed sending the collection of the license fee to Blowhard County Boss Steve Arlinghaus' County Court House late last year. So what did Pope do? He ENDORSED the UNFAIR $40 PER CAR STICKER TAX by voting with Martin.
For all of the St. Jokers, the Civic Club vine swingers and the rest of the mindless, unwashed masses, Pope finally came out IN FAVOR OF THE UNFAIR $40 PER CAR STICKER TAX. For the rest of us, Pope betrayed himself to be the self-absorbed phony we all already knew he was.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Next up, how the passive-aggressive Pope used his whacky "alternate-reality" website to really fan the flames of today's "deeply troubling animosity".]
