By this time next year, the mayoral and council elections will be moving full speed ahead in malfeasant Mayor Mike Martin's Villa Hills. Assuming that the mendacious Martin decides to run for a second term-and we are convinced that he will-it will be fun to observe and report. By this time next year, there will only be 52 days before voters head to the polls to decide the fate of Martin and his cronies. But as we learned during Martin's dirtbag 2010 campaign, the diminutive dictator can tell an almost immeasurable number of lies in 52 days.
So how will Martin campaign?
- Martin will continue to rewrite history by telling tall tales of the mess he cleaned up when he entered the mayor's office. No mention will be made that he inherited a City that had just been voted "the best in Northern Kentucky" that he almost immediately began to drive off the cliff with his mismanagement and corruption.
- Of course Martin will also tell whoppers about "all of the money he has saved". You can bet that Martin will make unsubstantiated claims about money he had "found". Hopefully, voters will take the time to confirm the fact that their taxes are higher than when Martin took office in January, 2011. That is the true measure of "savings".
- Martin will once again say that "safety is my first priority". No mention will be made of his disgusting treatment of the local police department or the fact that he bears at least some of the blame for the City's rising crime rate because of that disgusting treatment.
- Martin will have surrogates-including Martin-picked council candidates-spreading all sorts of lies about his opponent (or opponents). You will be regaled with a veritable avalanche of allegations, accusations, innuendoes and flat-out lies.
- Martin will have other surrogates push stories of his "philanthropy". You will hear about how Martin "does great things for people" and hear tales of his trips to Haiti. No mention will be made of his mistreatment of the police and other employees, his executive orders designed to threaten opponents or his abuse of power using attorneys, city administrators, the Kentucky Labor Cabinet, and unwilling VHPD, the NKAPZC and even the Better Business Bureau to cause problems for his perceived opponents.
- Many believe that Martin will also convince at least one person to enter the mayor's race to serve as a "sacrificial lamb" for the sole purpose of siphoning votes away from the "Anybody But Martin" segment of the residents.
- The voters should remember that they gave Martin an entirely new council in 2012 in a failed attempt to bring "peace". What happened? We see more of the same. It may even be worse in many ways. Even media dinosaurs like The Kentucky Enquirer admit as much.
- The voters should remember that Martin has used their money to help cover his tracks by muddying the waters when it comes to the true financial state of the City.
- The voters should remember that Martin has used their money to hire his personal attorney to serve as the taxpayer-funded City Attorney.
- The voters should remember that Martin has used their money to hire a City Administrator disguised as a City Clerk.
- The voters should remember Martin's unbridled corruption. Martin continues to operate an UNLICENSED electrical and plumbing contracting business. Martin has been reprimanded by the Villa Hills Ethics Board. A judge warned Martin to cease his illegal destruction of City records. Martin was CONVICTED ON SEVEN OF NINE COUNTS OF OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT AND NEGLECT OF DUTY.
- The voters should remember that Martin has lied to them time and time and time and time again. Do you want a glaring example? Martin claimed for more than two years that he had no intention to disband the local police department. We all learned later that Martin had been pursuing outsourcing even before his 2010 election.
That is hard to know. Martin would be a dead duck in a "normal" world. But his election in 2010 proves that anything can happen.
That is precisely why we are looking forward to covering the upcoming election.
