The Martin Chronicles reporters spent the last few days listening closely to Villa Hills public reaction to the huge surge in burglaries and other crime in Mayor Mike Martin's embattled and embarrassed town. Some opinions are disturbing and disappointing. But most of the feedback indicates that people are finally starting to wake up to the fact that Martin is-at best-thoroughly incompetent.
Martin has stubbornly refused to fully staff the police department. A careful review of council meeting DVDs shows that the mule-headed Martin offered a different reason for not properly staffing the department every single time council urged him to do so. No consistency. No logic. No sound judgment. The only Martin response that even came close to making a small amount of sense was when he blathered, "I'd rather pay a little overtime". A huge six-figure police overtime expense betrays how wrong Martin was about that.
So what was the disturbing and disappointing feedback? Some residents focused their anger on what they described as the police department's failure to stop the crime. While the department has certainly struggled to stem the rapidly rising tide of wrongdoing, they have done their best. The position Martin has put these professionals in is the equivalent of Martin giving his granite-headed interim city clerk a teaspoon and sending her to empty Franzen Lake.
Many people are saying that for the very first time they don't feel safe in Villa Hills. They worry that their home will be burglarized when they are at work. They are afraid to leave their windows open at night. They fret that even their locked cars aren't safe in their own driveways. This situation has exploded while the City is being managed by a buffoon who cynically told the voters that "safety is his first concern" during his 2010 dirtbag mayoral campaign.
For those of you who cast your vote for The Little Man From Norwood in 2010, YOU ARE GETTING WHAT YOU VOTED FOR.
