The Martin Chronicles has concluded that there will be no end to the twists and turns in the ongoing saga of Villa Hills malfeasant Mayor Mike Martin's long-running vendetta against Assistant Chief Joe Schutzman, Chief Dan Goodenough and the rest of the City's police department. Here's the problem. Martin has been spending your money on his non-stop witch hunt. Every twist and turn is now coming with a huge price tag for taxpayers.
The latest? Tonight's on-again, off-again, on-again hearing to be held regarding the Schutzman matter by the Civil Service Board is off yet again. They will meet. But not for the hearing. They will be discussing next steps as Martin trots off to court to try and take away the Civil Service Board's jurisdiction over the Schutzman matter.
Do you see a pattern developing here? Remember that there are several attorneys assisting Martin with this vendetta. Their meters are running full speed ahead. If the Civil Service Board decides to fight to protect the right City Council voted to give them in 2010-and we think they should-that will also come at no small cost.
Sources close to the mess believe Martin's latest moves to shut down the hearing were prompted by concern over the great embarrassment-and perhaps worse-that would come to light as witnesses testified. These sources suspect that Martin and his team realized they were in trouble when they saw the the list of witnesses who were going to be called and the questions they were going to be asked. It seems they concluded that the hearing must be stopped-whatever the cost to the taxpayers.
Martin continues to cost the taxpayers an incredible amount of money-and the prestige of a once well-respected City. His spendthrift behavior began when he filed a $1.505 million dollar lawsuit against the taxpayers over his 2007 forgery arrest. It has continued virtually unabated ever since.
Other sources provide us with some insight in to why Martin is so anxious to have the City Council hear his charges against Schutzman. We are told that Council members Koenig and Menninger-Isenhour were confronted by a deeply concerned resident in a local store. The two council members "assured" the resident that they "only" wanted to get rid of Chief Goodenough and Assistant Chief Schutzman. So, the harassment and intimidation extends well beyond just Martin. There are clearly others involved as well.
Oh, and then we hear that Kenton County Judge Executive-and Villa Hills resident-Steve Arlinghaus continues to tell anyone who will listen that his County police will be taking over this October. So much for Martin's claim he is doing a study and carefully evaluating the City's options.
We haven't even come close to seeing a final price tag for this fiasco.
