The Martin Chronicles has been talking to people who were there at the time Villa Hills City Council enacted their Civil Service Ordinance and staffed the Civil Service Board in late 2010. Yes, City Council passed the ordinance because they were deeply concerned what incoming-and soon-to-be malfeasant-Mayor Mike Martin would do to the City's employees.
You may remember that the money-grubbing Martin was suing Police Chief Dan Goodenough, Assistant Chief Joe Schutzman and the taxpayers of Villa Hills for $1.505 million at the time. Why? Because Martin claimed that his constitutional rights were violated during his FORGERY ARREST in 2007.
Two separate courts dismissed Martin's case via summary judgment. His appeal was dismissed on the City's 49th birthday in 2011. The three-judge panel reviewing his appeal offered the opinions that "what Martin did fit the very definition of FORGERY", "there was probable cause for his arrest" and that "Martin was barking up the wrong tree".
Despite that stinging rebuke, Martin cloyingly told the media that while he disagreed with the courts and, after praying with his wife, he was going to "drop" his huge, taxpayer-funded cash payday. The reality? Martin didn't "drop" anything. Four judges in two separate courts summarily dismissed Martin's lawsuit. That is a distinction with a huge difference. What we have seen over the months following those dismissals is that Martin had no intention of letting go of his desire for revenge.
Now to Martin's most recent legal entanglement with Assistant Chief Schutzman. As you probably recall, Martin and others visited Schutzman one recent May morning to advise the Assistant Chief that he was suspended pending termination (with no previous counseling sessions on record). Sources tell The Martin Chronicles that Martin then asked the City's duly-appointed Civil Service Board to schedule a meeting to hear the matter.
Then, in a move that may have made the spirit of former Los Angeles Rams All-Pro running back Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch envious, the mendacious Martin reversed field and sent his taxpayer-funded battery of attorneys to the Civil Service Board to drop the charges against Schutzman. The Civil Service Board respectfully declined Martin's request and scheduled a hearing. Eventually, Martin's and Schutzman's attorneys decided to hold the hearing in abeyance and the Civil Service Board agreed.
Sources advise The Martin Chronicles that Schutzman's attorneys trusted Martin and that their client would be immediately re-instated and receive the back pay that he is due. As of this date-nearly two months later-this has not happened.
So where are we now? Well, Martin is using taxpayer money to fund a lawsuit attempting to wrest away the authority from the duly-appointed Civil Service Board to decide the Schutzman matter.
Schutzman's attorneys have offered their opinion to the media that they believe that Martin is hoping to get rid of their client by taking the case to a far more compliant City Council. Three of the council members have stated their support for at least "outsourcing" the management of the City's police department, after all.
But here are our questions. If Martin truly believes the hearsay claims of his City Attorney Toad V. McMurtry, why doesn't the mayor present those hearsay claims to the duly-appointed Civil Service Board? And, if Martin truly believes the claims of City Clerk Craig Bohman- who claims he was the victim of Schutzman's selective traffic enforcement-despite the fact that Bohman was never pulled over much less received a traffic ticket, why doesn't the mayor present those claims to the City's duly-appointed Civil Service Board as well?
Could it be that Martin knows those assertions are only so much after-the-fact "hot air" plugged in to what is commonly called as his past-deadline Bill of Particulars? Could it be that Martin knows this sham will only buttress the civil lawsuit Schutzman has in place against the malevolent mayor regarding retaliation? A reasonable person could certainly believe so.
We wonder if all of those people who heard Martin's disingenuous pledge to "learn how to work together" with Schutzman and Police Chief Dan Goodenough at the 2010 sham Civic Club Candidate Forum still believe the diminutive dictator's words?
