The Martin Chronicles won't be surprised by anything that happens in the final 18 days of the election campaign in malfeasant Mayor Mike Martin's Villa Hills. Disgusted, maybe. But never surprised.
Yet another outrage occurred earlier today. As you probably know, Kentucky holds elections every even-numbered year. For the uninitiated, 2014 is one of those even-numbered years.
That is why we all see campaign signs sprouting up virtually everywhere. Are you with us so far? Good.
Well, a ninety-two year old woman was very nearly scared out of her wits today when an apparatchik from the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission (NKAPC) stopped by to tell her she had "too many campaign signs in her yard". This apparatchik also warned her that she could face fines and other penalties if she did not limit the number of signs in her yard to four.
Interestingly, The City of Edgewood passed a "sign limitation" ordinance several years ago.
Judge William Bertelsman over-turned that ordinance, ruling that it represented a violation of the peoples' First Amendment right to Free Speech. So, does the NKAPC have some authority to circumvent the peoples' Constitutionally-guaranteed protections? We highly doubt it.
Oh, there is also the fact that the ninety-two year old woman's property actually consists of three plots of land. So, even in the unconstitutional world of the NKAPC, shouldn't she be allowed to display up to 12 campaign signs on those three plots? Of course she should.
We have learned that the NKAPC apparatchik sheepishly defended his heavy-handed visit by saying that he is "only the messenger" and simply "responding to complaints". Isn't that a bit like the failed Nuremberg Trial defense, "I was just following orders"? We think so.
Thinks about this. Who made the complaints? Could they have come from a candidate (or maybe two) who doesn't have many campaign signs out, placed a sign in the ninety-two year old woman's yard(s) without asking for permission and is upset because their unauthorized signs were removed?
Our sources at the NKAPC tell us yes.
