The Martin Chronicles has written that Villa Hills is a little city in desperate need of a serious debate about the steps needed to get its City Government back on track. After four years of embarrassing mayhem created by the corruption and mismanagement of malfeasant Mayor Mike Martin and his cronies, the voters need honest adults to lay out their plans to fix the incredible mess Martin has made. If what we have witnessed over the early days of the 2014 campaign are any indication-and there is no reason to believe otherwise-the voters are instead going to be served up the same mud bath they received in 2010 and 2012.
The latest example? Several sources tell us that mayoral candidate Holly B. Menninger-Isenhour spent part of her weekend "campaigning" on the civic club ballfields. Did Menninger-Isenhour explain her plans to repair the city's finances? Did Menninger-Isenhour provide details on how she would ensure that the town had adequate police protection? Did Menninger-Isenhour enlighten voters about her vision for reviving a dead-in-the-water street repair and replacement program? No, no and no.
Instead, witnesses say that Menninger-Isenhour spent her time viciously bashing mayoral candidate Ernie Brown. We have been told that Menninger-Isenhour made the claim-that she may find herself in the position of having to prove-that Brown is a "drug addict who has a team ready to destroy the city".
Observers tell us that Menninger-Isenhour proclaimed that she has yard signs at-the-ready announcing that "I don't do drugs-but Ernie Brown does". Wow. We certainly hope people who place a defamatory sign like that in their yard ask Menninger-Isenhour to provide irrefutable proof of such a claim before they risk their financial necks. People would be very foolish to make themselves additional targets of a gigantic libel and defamation lawsuit simply because they don't like how many cats their neighbor has.
This is the toxic atmosphere that Mike Martin has created. Sure, he's had some help. People like Mary Koenig and the civic club ass clowns have been conducting smear campaigns for many years. It's what they know. It's who they are.
But the latest cycle of calumny began nearly seven years ago when Martin was discovered to be signing his deceased mother's name on his deceased mother's child support checks, cashing them and pocketing the proceeds. Martin reacted by weaving a huge fable about being a good government zealot who was being targeted by "dark forces" determined to hold on to their "power".
Smarting from the embarrassment of their six-figure embezzlement scandal, civic club ass hats lapped up Martin's lies and began spreading them like the deadly virus they eventually became. It matters not to Martin that four highly-respected appellate judges have opined that what he did "fits the very definition of forgery". The lies continue.
Should politics in a small city like Villa Hills be so hateful? Of course not. But they certainly are. The quiet departure of earnest council members Jim Cahill, Rod Baehner and Amy Balson speaks volumes about the poisonous politics in Martin's Villa Hills. No wonder so many reasonable people want no part of trying to fix the many messes Martin has created.
Yes, we will have 77 more days of THIS.
