The Martin Chronicles entire staff got together for a working luncheon to discuss our coverage of the remaining 56 days of the campaign to start the titanic work of fixing current, malfeasant Villa Hills Mayor Mike Martin incompetent and corrupt City Government. It is sure to be full of intrigue and excitement. We are extremely well-prepared to cover every twist and turn in the election campaign because we have highly reliable sources placed absolutely everywhere.
We have to admit that our discussion was temporarily diverted to an analysis of how a town purportedly stocked with seemingly intelligent people could find themselves at the tail end of four years of tumult, uncertainty and deceit. How could it have possibly happened? Why has it taken so long to get an opportunity to fix it?
The group eventually gained consensus on what the FIRST pivotal moment in this ongoing disgrace was. No, it wasn't Martin's 2010 election. The group decided that it's not at all unusual for voters to be inattentive when things are going well. And they were most certainly going very well in 2010. So, why not give the little fella a chance to show what he can do? Martin eked out the narrowest of victories in that apathetic environment. It happens.
But the first two year's of Martin's Reign of Error were almost as dreadful as the second two years. Martin was caught red-handed in acts of misconduct and bold-faced lies time and time again. Despite the despicable myth that has been created since, the previous City Council desperately tried to work with Martin to get the miasmic City Government back on track. It was Martin who steadfastly refused to work with them. Now we know why.
After trying to sort out Martin's incessant lies, the previous City Council finally hired Special Counsel Phil Taliaferro to try to sort out Martin's mess. It is important to note that the previous City Council had an absolute, statutorily-granted right to hire Taliaferro. In fact, they would have been derelict in their sworn duty had they not done so.
Completely because of Martin's mule-headed stonewalling, a removal hearing was finally held in late October, 2012. Martin's long laundry list of incompetence and corruption were laid out in great detail. Taliaferro's case against Martin was air-tight and compelling. It became quite clear that Martin is nothing less than a wanton lawbreaker.
But what happened? You remember, don't you? Special Counsel Phil Taliaferro warned the previous council that if they failed to remove Martin, his "lawlessness would be unleashed" in his closing statement. How prophetic Taliaferro's statement has proven to be.
Even still, Councilmembers Mike Pope and Jim Noll voted against Martin's justified removal. Now we know what a disgrace their "no" votes were. Pope and Noll were both burdened with tons of baggage that prevented them from doing what was right for the residents.
Mike Pope-who was roiling with resentment over his obvious shortcomings-simply ran for the obscurity of the tall grass at the end of 2012. Noll-who had Martin's wife Janet actively involved in his failed 2012 State Senate campaign-went on to be arrested running a police barricade while intoxicated and transporting a "box of marijuana". Noll has also been allegedly identified as a "close confidante" of a current Villa Hills council candidate who has a bushel-basket full of issues of her own ( a complete report is currently being developed on that sordid issue).
The last two years of costly lawsuits and the dismantling of the local police department provide all the evidence required to demonstrate Martin's "unleashed lawlessness". Hell, Martin went on to hire his personal attorney in the removal hearings-Toad V. McMurtry-to serve as the taxpayer funded City Attorney. Martin signed a purchase order that put more than twenty-three thousand taxpayer dollars in his pocket. And those two incredibly corrupt acts are just a sliver of the laundry list of Martin's lawlessness.
Despite what the "vile and disgusting", opinionated haters and-as what Rush Limbaugh would describe as-young skulls full of mush currently post on social networks, Martin should have been removed from office on October 24, 2012. Why? Because he was correctly convicted on 7 of 9 counts of Official Misconduct and Neglect of Duty. It is important to understand that the previous City Council is in no way responsible for all of the crimes Martin committed-and continues to commit.
So, what's the SECOND pivotal moment in Villa Hills? That's easy.
It's November 4, 2014.
