How do we know this? Well, Council members Koenig and Menninger-Isenhour both wanted an update on Martin's personal-and now City-Attorney Toad V. McMurtry's investigation in to the recent State Auditor's report. Huh? What's that again?
The "Baby-Boomer" members of The Martin Chronicles staff realized almost simultaneously that the mismanaging Martin has brought a real life version of the game Mouse Trap to the taxpayers of his troubled town.
Do you remember the game? It begins with players at first cooperating to build a working Rube Goldberg-style mouse trap. Once the mouse trap has been completed, the players turn against each other to trap opponent's game pieces. It's insane. Just like the mallet-headed Martin.
Let's look at the directions to Martin's own Rube Goldberg-style crazy contraption of costly incompetence and corruption:
- STEP ONE: Late in his first dreadful year as mayor, Martin issues a mindless and vindictive edict prohibiting police officers from using their accrued comp time for vacation (why, because Martin had already made the conscious-and stupid-decision to operate the stretched-way to-thin PD at only seventy-five percent of the correct manpower level).
- STEP TWO: Over-worked Police Officers correctly file for overtime pay for their comp time since Mayor Martin issued his mindless edict refusing to allow them to take time off for their accrued comp time.
- STEP THREE: Early in his second dreadful year as mayor, Martin realizes that his mindless edict has triggered a six-figure overtime bill to the taxpayers. He begs the previous council to approve his proposed six-figure budget amendment to pay the overtime in order to save his wife's(?) house.
- STEP FOUR: Martin inexplicably refuses to pay the overtime due to the police officer he blames for his 2007 FORGERY ARREST, Assistant Police Chief Joe Schutzman.
- STEP FIVE: The Kentucky Labor Department reviews Assistant Police Chief Joe Schutzman's overtime claim and orders the mismanaging Martin to pay the full amount of overtime due under threat of fines and penalties.
- STEP SIX: Despite the fact that the previous City Council had warned Martin about his negligent mismanagement of police overtime and the cost of building and zoning operations, that same previous City Council approves Martin's desperate plea to pay the overtime owed to Assistant Police Chief Schutzman. Why? Because the previous City Council understood-that despite Martin's gross mismanagement-State law required them to pay the overtime to Assistant Police Chief Schutzman.
- STEP SEVEN: Some time either late in Martin's second dreadful year as mayor or third dreadful year as mayor, an allegedly "anonymous concerned citizen" sends a letter to the State Auditor's Office demanding an investigation of (only Assistant Police Chief Schutzman's) overtime payment that had been mandated by the Kentucky Labor Department after their thorough review of the mortified Martin's abject mismanagement.
- STEP EIGHT: The State Auditor ascends on Villa Hills City Government to investigate the concerns raised by the allegedly "anonymous concerned citizen" (only about Assistant Police Chief Joe Schutzman's overtime). What follows is a review of documents provided to them by the misdirecting Martin and his crony-hire $47.50 per hour bookkeeper. The Martin Chronicles can find no evidence that the State Auditor ever spoke directly to Assistant Police Chief Joe Schutzman even once about the allegedly "anonymous concerned citizen".
- STEP EIGHT: The State Auditor's Office issues a damning report about Martin's negligent mismanagement of the City's finances and payroll costs. Included in the report is their finding that Assistant Police Chief Schutzman may have double-billed for as many as eleven-yes, ELEVEN-hours of time. This possible double-billing would have occurred over a period of many months during a time when the PD was operating at seventy-five percent of its correct manpower levels. The State Auditor also reported that their may have been similar errors in overtime reporting by other City employees.
- STEP NINE: Martin immediately issues a press release blaming the previous City Council, the previous mayor, Police Chief Dan Goodenough, the City's Civil Service Board and the fact that the dog ate his homework on THE FACT that it was Martin himself who negligently mismanaged the City's finances and payroll costs. In other words, Martin's press release lamely claims that he is not responsible for his negligent mismanagement of the City's finances and payroll costs. It's everyone else's fault.
- STEP TEN: Martin tasks his personal-and now City-Attorney Toad V. McMurtry to launch what will surely be a costly-to-the taxpayers investigation in to the State Auditor's investigation in to the Kentucky's Labor Department's investigation in to the overtime claims of Assistant Police Chief Joe Schutzman.
Now the follow-up:
- After Council members Koenig and Menninger-Isenhour asked for their update at Wednesday's City Council meeting, we learned that Martin's personal-and now City-Attorney Toad V. McMurtry will be finished with his investigation in to The State Auditor's investigation in to the Kentucky Labor Department's investigation in to the overtime claims of Assistant Chief Joe Schutzman "in ten days".
- Let's be generous to Martin-despite his negligent mismanagement of the City's finances and payroll costs. Let's say that Assistant Police Chief Joe Schutzman's allegedly double-billed ELEVEN hours equates to twelve hundred taxpayer dollars.
- Now let's estimate what Martin's personal-and now City-Attorney Toad V. McMurtry's time costs. We know he's been investigating the State Auditor's investigation of the Kentucky Labor Department's investigation in to Assistant Police Joe Schutzman's overtimes claims now for some time. And, using Martin's personal-and now City-Attorney Toad V. McMurtry's own words, the report will be ready in ten days.
- So, let's be very generous. Let's not even count all of the costly-to-the taxpayer work leading up to Martin's personal-and now City-Attorney Toad V. McMurtry's own pronouncement Wednesday night. We'll even back out weekends. We'll even lowball Martin's personal-and now City-Attorney's rate to $100 per hour for the Martin-requested investigation.
- There are seven business day left in the ten total days following Martin's personal-and now City-Attorney Toad V. McMurtry's pronouncement about when his report will be ready. So, let's do the math. 7 seven business days X eight hours a day X one hundred dollars per hour = FIVE THOUSAND, SIX HUNDRED TAXPAYER DOLLARS.
It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that this makes absolutely no sense. You know the answer to this one. A way, way low-ball figure of $5,600 in legal fees is a helluva lot more than a possible double-billed $1,200. Can you say TAXPAYER RIP-OFF?
The people caught in the mismanaging Martin's "Mighty Mouse Trap" are the taxpayers of Villa Hills.
