Weekend Preview: Don't Look At The Man Behind The Curtain

The Martin Chronicles continues to examine the lines of defense employed by the Martinites. As we posted yesterday, many of those lines were trotted out by the Martinites in the audience at Wednesday's council meeting.

We have already dissected and dispensed with "Why are you spending so much money on this investigation?" We have heard Martin describe the investigation as "a witch hunt with a big price tag". But of course we know that most of the "price tag" Martin whines about is the direct result of his stubborn-and inexplicable if he has done nothing wrong-refusal to sit down with Special Counsel to answer the many legitimate questions that have been raised.

The next smoke screen we are going to clear away is the wild claim that "those four on council just don't like Martin". Designed to generate sympathy for Shorty, that excuse is truly a bucket without a bottom.

Here are just a few of the real questions.

• Why did Martin choose to rush and crush open the City safe with a back hoe? Why didn't he listen to Chief Goodenough's request to "wait a couple of days" to get the combination? What was so urgent that Martin chose to improperly destroy City property?
• Why does the City seem chronically unable to fill Open Records requests as mandated by State Statute? If it is truly just a lack of know-how, why hasn't Martin provided training opportunities for the City's clerks?
• Why were City records burned on January 6, 2011? Are we to believe that an untrained, temporary clerk who was brought in "to help with tax season" took it upon herself to destroy a truck load of City records? Are we to believe that a judge's ruling just a few days before-making those City records potential evidence in a lawsuit-was totally coincidental?
• Given the fact that Martin insists he must (improperly) review all Open Records requests prior to their release because of "legal concerns", are we to believe that Martin took no proper precautions to review the records the temporary clerk had identified for burning? Martin can't claim he wasn't aware it was happening. How do we know this? Because we know that the Public Works Director advised Martin that the burning was taking place.
• How could interim City Clerk Sue Bree think it was okay to supposedly bring her personal documents to work to shred on taxpayer-funded equipment? Hadn't she received any training yet? Wasn't she aware of Judge Patricia Summe's order directly from the bench not to destroy any more documents? Wasn't Ms. Bree aware that Martin himself had been reprimanded by the City's Ethics Board for doing the same thing? Why hasn't Martin disciplined Ms. Bree for such reckless conduct?

It's Martin's actions that need to be explained. The hearing is necessary because Martin refuses to lay out the facts. Sure, some on council may not like Martin. We suspect most in law enforcement don't like the criminals they are investigating either. That doesn't make those criminals any less guilty.

Reasonable, fair-minded people understand that these are important questions. Yes, they are tired of the turmoil. But they also believe that Martin IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW. These reasonable people also believe an honest accounting of Martin's conduct is necessary.

But The Martin Chronicles gets it. We understand why Larry and Tony and Leo and Eddie and Sharon and Jay and Scott and Bill and Bob and Donna and General Zod and all the rest have such difficulty seeing things the way they really are. We know why they make illogical arguments in defense of Martin. For those who saw Martin as this bumbling but charitable little golfing elf, learning that he has been demonstrating total disregard for the law for years has got to be very tough.

It must be like learning that there is no Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Great Pumpkin or Wizard of Oz all on the same day.