The Martin Chronicles thinks its fair to say that as bad as things are in malfeasant Mayor Mike Martin's Villa Hills now, they are going to get a whole lot worse. Last night's monthly secret-a.k.a. "caucus"- meeting provided more clues that Martin is sure to do a lot more damage before this mess comes to an end.
Council member Mary Koenig skipped the meeting. While we think council members should make the effort to come to all of the scheduled City meetings, we really wouldn't care if Koenig decided to take a pass on the rest of her council term. Martin doesn't appear to need her help to destroy what's left of the City.
City Attorney Toad V. McMurtry was tardy. One of the council members asked Martin if he knew why. Martin announced that McMurtry told him that he was "stuck in traffic". When McMurtry finally arrived at 6:45 he told everyone he thought the meeting "started at 7 o'clock". So, which is it? Traffic? Wrong start time? Somebody wasn't telling the truth. Are you surprised?
Martin also got the opportunity to tap dance around the embarrassment that is the very expensive flock of taxpayer-funded attorneys he has hired since four council people (Cahill, Koenig, Menninger-Isenhour and Wischer) voted to unrestrict budget funds for Martin to squander in any way he sees fit. It was very hard to follow Martin's babbling, but we think he forgot to mention the three taxpayer-funded attorneys Martin hired for his vendetta against Assistant Chief Schutzman.
Council member Cahill asked Martin how much had been spent on his army of attorneys to date. Not surprisingly, Martin had no idea. But Martin did promise to contact the attorneys and ask them how much the City now owes them. Yes, we know you know. Those attorneys will charge you for taking Martin's call and for preparing their billings. It appears Martin's "tight ship" has sprung a pretty large leak.
Cahill suggested that Martin may have to contact the attorneys to tell them they should stop working because the City may not be able to pay them. Cahill went on to suggest that Martin call an emergency meeting to present the legal bills to council so that they can assess the extent of the problem. Don't hold your breath.
Cahill said he expects the legal bills to be "substantial". Martin agreed with that. We wonder. Does Martin understand that he is the one responsible for running up those "substantial" legal bills?
The subject of the decimated police force was also discussed. Chief Goodenough told council that the department was down to four officers. Goodenough also announced that Kenton County Police cruisers were patrolling the City and that there is a new rash of vandalism.
Not surprisingly, Martin looked past the crime spree and said the City was saving "75 hours of overtime" because of Kenton County's help. Martin failed to mention that the City's auditor had advised him that hiring an eighth police officer would dramatically reduce overtime as well. Martin also skipped over the fact that Kenton County will not continue to provide "free" police coverage for an interminable length of time.
Council members Cahill, Baehner and Balson voted to table Martin's request to approve the new rates from the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission. Why? Because Martin hadn't even bothered to share the new rates with city council before asking them to be approved.. Imagine that? We are relieved to see that some of the new council have decided to actually read things before they vote to approve them. That is a good step in the right direction.
Council member Wischer suggested that the City's public works crew begin fixing sidewalks and billing the residents the cost plus an additional 10%. Wischer's proposal was met with the sound of crickets.
Martin and council then retreated in to executive session. Some attendees claim they heard some very loud-but indiscernible-"discussion" taking place behind closed doors. We can only imagine.
More reports to follow.
