- Martin announced he intends to hire a part-time police officer. Most observers believe it is a pre-election move designed to placate the intense resistance to his radical plan to outsource the local police department. We'll be watching.
- While City Attorney Toad V. McMurtry seemingly has no problem with Council member Menninger-Isenhour and others discussing personnel issues in an open council meeting, he will not allow council members answer any questions asked by employees.
- We applaud the efforts of Council members Cahill, Baehner and Balson to rein-in Martin's wild spending on attorneys and legal fees. Unfortunately, they still haven't figured out that Martin really doesn't give a damn what they think or do. Nice try, though.
- Councilman Mary Koenig resisted the efforts to rein in Martin's wild spending on attorneys and legal fees. She fussed and fumed that the City would have to spend $500 every time a budget amendment is published. Koenig failed to mention anything at all about the $37,000 Martin has already pissed away in legal fees or the $23,000 taxpayer-funded bonus check Martin cut himself. Yes, we know. Koenig is a half-baked hypocrite.
While we are on the subject of Martin's wild spending on attorneys and legal fees, consider this. It has been three weeks since the Civil Service Board agreed to hold Assistant Police Chief Joe Schutzman's hearing in abeyance. Sources suggest that Martin and some of his six taxpayer-funded attorneys are preparing to go to court in an attempt to wrest away the authority to hear Schutzman's case from the Civil Service Board.
So, more billable hours over and above the $37,000 opening salvo are already piling up. Then it will cost another taxpayer-funded fortune to take the matter to court. No matter how the court rules, Schutzman will still get his hearing somewhere. That too will prove very costly to the taxpayers.
Suppose the court provides Martin his chance to present his bogus evidence to the City Council. Given the public comments of Koenig, Menninger-Isenhour and Wischer, the case will be a sure-fire appeal to Circuit Court. The cost of all of that will be astronomical to the taxpayers as well.
Observers think that Martin will be given some kind of free pass no matter what happens. Why? Because most people now perceive him to be a bumbling simpleton.
These same observers wonder why City Attorney McMurtry and City Clerk Bohman have risked their reputations on the likes of the malfeasant Martin. Does it really pay that well?
EPILOGUE
We have to call this one "a trashed sign of the times". Private detectives staking out the Martin residence report that the malfeasant mayor has taken his gigantic "Noll for State Senate" sign down to the curb for Rumpke. Perfect symbolism for what Martin thinks of his old pal Noll. Martin got Noll's "no" vote for removal last October. Now the malevolent Martin is takin' out the trash.
