Let's End A Rough November With A Chuckle

No one who has paid any attention at all to the hijinks of Mayor Mike Martin and his band of venal cronies can think that things are going extremely well. Unless of course by extremely well you mean the meltdown of your city government.

A respected, life-long Villa Hills’ resident put a humorous spin on the unfolding disaster, describing things this way, “The whole city is being Martinized. And we're all being taken to the cleaners!”

The Martin Chronicles enjoys good dry cleaning humor. But will we ever be able to get that nasty stain out?

Mike Pope's Open Records ANTICS

The Martin Chronicles has obtained a copy of an e-mail exchange between a resident who placed an open records request and Councilman Mike Pope. The resident sent the first e-mail in the stream to the mayor and courtesy copied the city council. The resident expressed concern to the mayor and council about delaying tactics being used to slow down or stop the receipt of requested documents.

The interim city clerk told the resident that, while she had all the requested documents ready, she could not release them because the “mayor does not allow any records to be released until he reviews them”.

The main problem with the mayor’s standing order to the employees is that there is no provision in the Kentucky open records statutes that allows for a delay in the release of records until they are reviewed by the mayor. In this particular case the resident should not have been denied access to public documents simply because the mayor was out of town.

Mr. Pope decided to involve himself. We are reprinting his e-mail in its entirety, with the exception of the resident’s name. We do not want to be accused of taking Mr. Pope out of context.

Dear ---------

It seems one thing that you may have overlooked . . .  .

You seem to assume that the documents you requested are public record. If the Mayor is uncomfortable that the correct decision can be made whether a document is public or not, it seems a reasonable delay for him to review them and make the decision. Sounds like he is actually trying to do the job. If he is out of town for a few days and if he must delay a request for that period, I don’t have a problem with that. As you point out, you have received everything you requested within 3 days despite the mayor’s absence. Everything that happened between your request and when you received the documents within the legal timeframe appears to have been done of your own accord, but you want to use only your efforts as evidence to claim “foul play”.

If you received the documents within the legal time frame . . . were all the antics in between really necessary? Or is it simply to continue the obvious display of disdain it appears to me that you have for Mayor Martin?

Sincerely,

Mike Pope

Aside from Pope’s condescending tone, there are several problems with his e-mail.

First, by statute, the interim city clerk is responsible for making the determination whether or not documents are public records. If she was uncertain, she could contact the city attorney. If Martin is uncomfortable with the interim city clerk’s ability to make such a determination, he needs a new city clerk.

Second, had the resident not insisted that the open records statutes be followed, the release of the records would have been improperly delayed. Despite Mr. Pope’s musings, there is nothing “reasonable” about that.

Third, Pope can sarcastically describe what took place as “foul play”. The Attorney General would describe it more plainly as a violation of the open records statutes.

Fourth, Pope’s description of the resident’s effort to do nothing more than get the city to adhere to Kentucky open records statutes as “antics” is outrageous and offensive.

Finally, Pope questions whether the resident’s effort to get the city to adhere to the statutes is an “obvious display of disdain” for Mayor Martin. Should we then conclude that Mr. Pope believes open records should only be provided to residents who have a favorable opinion of Martin?

Perhaps Pope would be better off if he avoided putting his stamp of approval on a clear violation of Kentucky open records statutes.

It is also ironic that Mr. Pope claims Martin is simply doing his job, being careful to confirm that records are public documents. If only Pope had been so careful before posting a document on his alternative city website that included another resident’s social security number!

Separating Policy From Politics

The Martin Chronicles hears some people attribute the frequent disagreements at most of the Villa Hills council meetings to “politics” and describe it as “bickering”. The resigning chairman of the Villa Hills Ethics Board went so far as to compare the opposition to Mayor Martin as evidence of a “mob mentality”. It would be naïve to think that there is no politicking taking place between seven elected officials. But to boil all of it down to mere bickering, or worse, evidence of a mob mentality is at least equally naïve. Much of the disagreement has been far more about Martin’s policies.

Policy is a defined course of action. Let’s take a look at three of Martin’s policies.

1.       The reduction in police officers. Over the objections of a majority of council and the police chief, Martin played his “CEO” card and made the unilateral decision to reduce the number of police officers.  This reduction was a serious focus of the debate over the budget a few months ago.  There are currently 6 police officers available to patrol the streets. At one time-not so long ago-there were 8 officers. According to nky.com, the police department is dealing with a serious spike in burglaries and other crime. The officers are also working a heavy amount of overtime. The council has every right to question the mayor’s decision. That isn’t politics or a mob mentality.

2.       The inability-or refusal-to fill open records requests. If for no other reason than state statutes require it, open records request should be filled in a timely manner. City council, committee chair people and residents have all been stonewalled when requesting information from the Martin Administration. We also now know, thanks to a sworn statement from the previous city clerk, that the records were all on hand and in good order when Martin took office January 1^st, 2011. City council is obligated to insist that Martin follow the open records laws. That isn’t politics or a mob mentality.

3.       The failure to generate accurate financial reports. One of the main responsibilities of the council is to oversee the financial activity of the city government. It is your money after all. Martin and finance committee chairman Mike Pope have not presented an accurate financial report to the city council for their review since Martin took office. Some months the council receives no report at all.

The ongoing financial reporting issue is a problem for other reasons. Council has expressed concern over Martin’s hiring of his friend Cordelia Schaber to do the city’s accounting. Her lack of results speaks volumes about Martin’s decision-making ability. Additionally, Councilman Pope seems to think the tangled financial mess is somehow funny. He refuses to ask the council to vote to approve the financial statements. Pope says the law doesn’t require him to do so and he is right. But common sense says that he should work with his colleagues rather than against them on this issue. Council has every right to question Martin’s financial reporting. That isn’t politics or a mob mentality.

There are certainly many other issues and concerns. And council shouldn’t be shy about asking questions-and demanding honest answers. The next time someone tells you they are tired of council’s “politics” and “bickering”, you may want to tell them that the council is doing their job.

Why Not Just Tell The Truth?

The Martin Chronicles is trying to understand the mind of Villa Hills’ Mayor Mike Martin. Yes, we know. That is a potentially dangerous undertaking. But we just can’t understand why Martin felt compelled to lie to a resident who asked him the simple question, “Do you know who is responsible for putting the “Vote ‘YES’ To Repeal The License Fee” flyer in the last edition of the Voice of Villa Hills.

Why did Martin say, “I have no idea.”? What would be wrong with admitting he believed the passage of the proposed forty per cent property tax increase was important in the effort to generate the necessary funding to repair and replace the streets in Villa Hills? What would be wrong with admitting that because of his belief, Martin utilized city personnel and resources to produce to flyer at the last minute so that it could be distributed in the city newspaper?

Did he perhaps stumble into the realization that the way he did it was improper when confronted with the question? Crescent Springs’ Staples has a copy center after all. He didn’t have to wrongly use city resources and personnel to print 2,800 copies of the flyer.

But Martin had to realize that there were a number of witnesses. He had to know that several people saw the interim city clerk and Martin himself bringing flyers to the women who put the Voice together every month. He had to know that the lie would be easily discovered. Didn’t he care? Or maybe be doesn’t comprehend “beyond the moment”?

·         The Martin Chronicles has watched Martin blame the inability to keep his campaign promise to post accurate financials on the city website to “inheriting a mess”.

·         The Martin Chronicles has watched Martin explain his inability to provide access to city records to not being “left even a Post It Note” by his predecessor.

·         The Martin Chronicles has watched Martin explain away the evaporating $120,000 surplus guaranteed  by the absence of an eighth police officer and a city clerk by “problems with the city financials” when he took office on January 1^st.

·         The Martin Chronicles has poured over the transcripts of Martin’s forgery arrest and $1.505 million lawsuit against the taxpayers and found him saying time and again, “I didn’t know that then but I know it now.” as an excuse for his questionable behavior.

The facts-many discovered by special counsel Phil Taliaferro- undercut the credence of all of Martin’s preceding comments.

Don’t fall down in shock. But we think we are starting to understand.

Martin seems to be a fellow who lives completely in “the moment”. When confronted with some unpleasant reality, he simply says whatever is necessary to brush it away. True or, more often, not. Not to worry. Martin’s next lie will cover up the last one.

The Martin Chronicles now believes that Mayor Mike Martin simply weaves a “reality” most convenient to him when he is confronted with a potential problem. The truth is not important. There is always another lie to tell. That should give the residents of Villa Hills great pause.  

Rhetoric Versus Reality

Encarta World English Dictionary defines a hypocrite as “someone feigning high principles: somebody who pretends to have admirable principles, beliefs or feelings but behaves otherwise”.

·      Does that definition fit someone who campaigned saying that “safety is my first priority” when the results have led to a 25% reduction in police officers, an explosion in police overtime and nky.com news stories of increased criminal activity in Villa Hills?

·      Does that definition fit someone who promised to bring “truth and integrity” along with him to the mayor’s office, but inexplicably tells a resident he “has no idea” who is responsible for distributing the “Vote ‘YES’ To Repeal The License Fee” flyer in the Voice of Villa Hills the weekend prior to Election Day and has dealt out jobs and contracts to personal friends?

·      Does that definition fit someone who campaigned promising to repeal the dreaded $40 per car license fee and instead pushed hard for a forty per cent increase in property taxes his first year in office?

·      Does that definition fit someone who promised greater transparency in Villa Hills’ city government yet consistently battles people who place requests to review public documents?

·      Does that definition fit someone who campaigned promising “a fresh start” and yet seems completely mired in a blame game towards all those he believes oppose him?

·      Does that definition fit someone who, as a council member, we are told railed bitterly about what he thought was wasteful spending-including the public works director’s purchase of a garden hose-who has wasted countless thousands of taxpayer dollars doubling the number of clerical employees, driven legal and engineering costs through the roof, and built a new parking lot at the city building?

·      Does that definition fit someone who promised greater cooperation with city council and yet abruptly ends every legitimate policy discussion at council meetings saying, “I’m the CEO, it’s my decision, we’re moving on, get over it”?

The obvious answer is a resounding, “YES”. The Martin Chronicles is keenly aware that hypocrisy is rampant in politics. No big surprise.

But it’s still important (and, we admit a lot of fun) to point it out in a fellow like Mike Martin, who loves to portray himself as the Reverend Billy Graham-but who behaves a whole lot more like Elmer Gantry.

Closed Door Meeting For City Ethics Board

The Martin Chronicles has learned that the Villa Hills Ethics Board has scheduled a closed meeting for Wednesday, November 30^th. A closed meeting seems like an interesting move for a body that has expressed public concern about actions undermining confidence in city government-on multiple occasions. Much like the Villa Hills’ open records issues we have been reporting, open meetings are important for maintaining the public trust. Rules governing open meetings are laid out in the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS).

Exemptions to the Open Meetings Act are allowed under the KRS for certain specified reasons. According to KRS 61.810(1), there are 13 exemptions. Exemptions that seem applicable to city agencies like the ethics board include matters involving “future acquisition or sale of real property”, “proposed or pending litigation”, and “discussions with a business entity concerning a specific proposal if open discussions would jeopardize the siting, retention, expansion, or upgrading of the business”.

There is another exemption that seems applicable. The exemption reads, “discussions or hearings that might lead to the appointment, dismissal, or discipline of an individual employee, member, or student. However, general personnel matters may not be discussed in private”.

The Martin Chronicles supposes that the ethics board has consulted with the city attorney to make sure they are on solid ground before holding a closed meeting. Given the pending departure of their chairman, the board may be discussing possible appointments.

We hope the board isn’t holding a closed meeting to discuss the recent ethics complaint filed against Mayor Mike Martin and Councilman Jim Noll. As we have reported, the complaint involves the mayor and councilman’s involvement in the printing and distribution of the “Vote ‘YES’ To Repeal The License Fee” flyer.

The purpose of an open discussion would not be to embarrass Martin and Noll. There is a legitimate, unresolved question about the propriety of using public resources to promote the road tax ballot initiative. If the board were to come out of its closed deliberations and announce-as they have in the past-that they have discussed the matter with Martin and Noll and find no issue with what took place, the question will remain unresolved in the minds of many.

Such an action will not strengthen the public’s confidence in its city government.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Martin Chronicles staff is going to celebrate the rest of the day enjoying feast and football with family and friends. Today is not a day for worrying too much about the sawed-off autocrat currently occupying the Villa Hills’ mayor’s office. That is what tomorrow is for.

When it comes to government, we should give thanks that we don’t live in Omar al-Bashir’s Sudan, Kim Jong Il’s North Korea or Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. Heck, it’s only Mike Martin’s Villa Hills. We are not among the 1.9 billion people living under endless totalitarian rule. We live in America, and we choose our leaders. Sometimes we choose poorly. But that is what the next election is for.

Now please go have a Happy Thanksgiving. That is what today is for!

Listen For The Barking

The Martin Chronicles can see how it’s shaping up. Mayor Martin and his dwindling base of supporters are preparing their defense for what they know is coming in the months ahead. The special counsel’s report will present a picture of a “CEO” who believes that the rules apply to everyone but him. Consumed by the belief in his “broad powers”, it clearly appears Martin has decided that state statutes and city ordinances do not apply to the mayor’s office.

Martin will use his patented “I didn’t know then, but I know now” excuse in an attempt to explain away his unlicensed electrical and plumbing work, the peculiarities in his business filings in the State of Ohio, the seemingly endless number of jobs he did where proper permits were never secured, the years when his business operated without an occupational license, the conducting of private business in the public city building and a growing list of other major and minor improprieties.

And of course there will be the flip side of the coin of Martin’s realm. It is a very dark side. It is a tactic he employed in the successful defense of his forgery arrest and in his mayoral campaign. What is it? Martin and his cronies will spin like giant, industrial-strength lawn sprinklers slinging gallons of mud in every direction trying to portray the mayor as a victim of a massive conspiracy to bring him down. In a literal nutshell, “Martin is good, everyone else is bad”.

Martin and his cronies should be mindful that his dirt-hurling strategy was not so effective with the judges who twice laughed his $1.505 million lawsuit against the taxpayers of Villa Hills out of court. In fact, the appellate court ruling derisively described the mudslide effort by saying “Martin is barking up the wrong tree”.

The Martin Chronicles looks for the Martin gang to do a lot of barking in the coming months.

Can The Ethics Board Please Explain Something?

The Martin Chronicles thinks the people of Villa Hills deserve an explanation from their Ethics Board. They are really straightforward questions.

Why did they remain as silent as the Queen's Palace Guard when confronted with questions about the misbehavior of Mayor Clark in 2000? And why do they remain equally mum on inquiries brought to them about the questionable actions of what we laughingly refer to as the Martin Administration?

The Ethics Board seems fond of saying these questions go beyond the "scope of their authority." They say the actions of Clark and Martin did not involve "financial gain".

Let's make the perilous leap of faith and assume the Ethic Board is correct. Then why in the wide, wide world of sports did the board then choose to attack people who they claim "leaked" accurate information to news outlets in both instances. That simply doesn't make sense.

How do those so-called "leakers" gain financially? The obvious answer is that they don't. So then why does the Ethics Board make an issue of the "alleged leaks". It's beyond their "scope of authority" after all, isn't it?.

And why does the Ethics Board believe that the community is better off when the improprieties of government officials are ignored?

The Ethics Board has not been consistent in their public statements or positions. If they choose to do a "duck and cover" on the complaint currently before them, they should not be surprised when the complaint then goes to the Attorney General.

The Martin Chronicles does not expect Jack Conway to be quite so reluctant.

When Will Mike Pope Be Held Accountable?

By most accounts, Mike Pope is a very odd fellow. He has certainly lived up to that reputation with his involvement in city government over the last six years.

According to people employed by the city at the time, one of Pope’s first hijinks was secretly recording his 2005 phone conversations with the then-city clerk while he was complaining about the expansion of the Villa Hills AmeriStop shopping center. When he thought he found a “smoking gun” in his conversations, he e-mailed a file of his recordings to the council and city attorney. Everyone The Martin Chronicles has spoken to says the “smoking gun” was nothing more than a figment of Pope’s very active imagination. Huge surprise.

Based on the assurances from then-councilman Mike Martin that he was going to run for mayor, Mike Pope originally filed as a city council candidate in 2006. Martin lost his nerve at the filing deadline (too bad, can you imagine what a better place the city would be if Martin was in the first year of his second term as mayor?!?) In early October 2006, Pope withdrew his council candidacy and re-filed as a write-in candidate for mayor.

Pope’s 2006 mayoral campaign was a classic. On the Saturday prior to the election, reports say he had an encounter with the Villa Hills police. Why? Because he was pounding on the door of his opponent at about eight o’clock at night and scared holy heck out of his opponent’s wife. Oh, by the way. His opponent wasn’t even home. True to form, Pope put an audio file of his bizarre encounter on his crackpot campaign website. What do you hear? Pope saying, “I’m approaching the door. You can hear the leaves. The light is on. The light is off. Can you hear the dogs barking?” Alrighty then. How do you spell L-U-N-A-T-I-C?

Next up, Pope became a councilman. In his successful 2008 and 2010 council campaigns, Pope promised to get rid of the dreaded $40 sticker tax. You could say that the majority of council wasn’t on his side, so he couldn’t keep that promise. Hold on! That excuse would only hold water if Pope had once made a motion to repeal the sticker tax. But he hasn’t. Three years on council and not one attempt. Nada, zip, zero,

How about Pope’s alternative reality city website? He uses it to post screeds against his “enemies” on city council that would make the Unabomber proud. The best? He alleged that council held a “secret meeting” a while back. The problem with such an allegation is that he was accusing his council mates of doing something highly illegal. Meeting minutes show Pope was in attendance at the very meeting he described as “secret”. Weird. When Pope was called on the carpet, his best defense was that his story was “a joke”. Pretty funny Mr. Pope.

Given these few examples of Mike Pope’s “unusual” behavior, we have a question for him. Echoing those famous lines from the movie Fight Club, we ask, “When you’re insane, as you obviously are, do you know it? Do you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say, WOW, I am (EXPLETIVE) crazy!”

Despite Pope’s dreadful first two years on council, the voters chose to re-elect him in 2010. Given the lack of attention Villa Hills’ voters seemed to pay to the local election in 2010-will they make the same mistake in 2012?

Finance Fiasco

If you have been paying attention to the back and forth between Mayor Martin and the city council over the last several months, you know that a new fiscal year 2012 budget was never approved. The main “bone of contention”, among several?  Approximately $80,000 in Martin’s budget proposal intended to fund the wages, benefits, retirement and other related expenses for a departed eighth police officer whom the mayor said he did not intend to replace.

Martin’s interesting rationale for keeping the $80K in the police budget? He said, “We need the money for roads.” We know what you’re thinking. Martin’s comment doesn’t make any sense. You are absolutely right. But that’s a topic for another post.

The failure to pass a new budget in and of itself is not a cause for great alarm. In accordance with statute, the city government continues to operate under the previous year’s budget.  Villa Hills’ depleted police force-now down to six members-can continue to patrol the streets. The public works crew can plow this winter’s snow. And with four clerks falling over one another in the city building, we assume they can handle the needs of the residents.

But there should be concern. Why? Because by law, Mayor Martin is only restricted by last year’s published budget ordinance. As is common with most cities concerned with cost, the published FY 2011 budget ordinance only detailed the “bottom lines” of revenues and disbursements and listed the city’s funds restricted to disbursement for a specific purpose. In Villa Hills’ case, the only restricted funds are Kentucky Municipal Aid (KMA) and the revenues collected from the infamous License Fee. The money in both of these funds is set aside for road repair and replacement.

Please stay with us here. The KMA and License fee revenues total a little more than $300K. That equates to roughly 10% of the city’s total annual budget. So, Mayor Martin has almost no restrictions on how he disburses the remaining 90%-or roughly $2.7 million-of the taxpayer’s money.

That goes a long way to explaining why city council has virtually no leverage to stop the hiring of Martin’s cronies and several computer companies and the ongoing decimation of the police department.

Worse yet, Martin ally and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Pope literally laughs at the council when they express concern about the lack of accurate financial reporting. We are told that Pope sees no real need for the details to be correct because “the only thing that matters is the bottom line.”

Here’s the problem with Pope’s dismissive attitude. City council is unable to fulfill its’ important obligation to perform oversight over the functions of government. How is that possible without accurate financial reporting?

City council stands for election next November. It will be here before you know it. The Martin Chronicles fully expects Martin and Pope to cobble together a slate of like-minded candidates in an attempt to to move their agenda forward. While that is the American way, it should also scare the heck out of you.

2011 should have taught Villa Hills that it does matter who they elect to operate city government. The ballot walloping the road tax proposal took this year was a good sign. We’ll get the first solid indication if the lesson has been learned in November, 2012.

Schaber's Pay "In Line"?

By now we are sure it’s obvious to you. The Martin Chronicles is concerned about the collective thought process of the Villa Hills Ethics Board. Want another example? Let’s consider their opinion of the $47.50 per hour rate the taxpayers are providing Mayor Martin’s friend Cordelia Schaber. Responding to an inquiry from a councilman, the board opined that the cost to the taxpayer’s for Schaber’s efforts is “in line” for the type of work she is doing.

Let’s dig into that a little bit.

In Martin’s own words, Schaber is “a clerk”. If we are to take Martin at his word-and we are finding that to be a perilous thing to do-Schaber is being paid roughly two times per hour what the Villa Hills’ interim city clerk is earning. And, the interim city clerk has been a city employee for several years.  According to indeed.com, the average deputy city clerk in Northern Kentucky earns $16.82 per hour. Using those numbers, Schaber is earning $30.68 more per hour than the average rate.

Let’s take it a little further.

We are told that Schaber is doing accounting work for the city. We’ll go with that despite the irrefutable fact that no accurate financial reporting has been presented to city council since Schaber was hired in February of this year. According to accountingedu.org, the average hourly wage for accountants and Certified Public Accountants in the Northern Kentucky area is $30.74 per hour. The taxpayers are giving Schaber $16.76 more than that per hour.

It may seem like we’re piling on. But the fact that Mayor Martin refuses to enforce the contract that he and Schaber both signed requiring her to have Errors and Omissions insurance-to protect the taxpayers-makes this whole arrangement even more disturbing.

It gets better. According to someone in attendance at a city Administration Committee meeting, it was suggested Schaber apply for the open-for-several-months city clerk position. The thought was her accounting “skills” would be helpful in that role. Mayor Martin’s reply? He chuckled and said, “She’d never do that. She’d have to take a pay cut!” Roll-on-the-floor-hilarious, huh?

You want to know the funny part? It only took The Martin Chronicles about ten minutes to gather this information. How much time did the Ethics Board spend researching before they concluded that Schaber’s pay was “in line”?

Ethics Complaint:UPDATE

The Martin Chronicles has learned that a city purchase order and a canceled city check have been secured clearly demonstrating Mayor Martin’s original intention to use taxpayer money to pay for the misleading “Vote ‘YES’ To Repeal The License Fee” flyer that was distributed in the Voice of Villa Hills. Remember? The flyer Martin told a resident he knew nothing about?

How can we be sure that it was Mayor Martin’s intention? Because he is the one who signed the purchase order.

We are sure Martin will play the victim once again, saying he paid for the flyer out of his own pocket. But you-and the city Ethics Board-must keep in mind that Martin reversed field only after he saw the ethics complaint. His personal check does not change the fact that an ethical “lapse” occurred.

Besides, paying for the distribution of the flyer does not represent a complete remedy. Has Martin also reimbursed the taxpayers for the cost of the city clerical time used to print the flyer? Has Martin also reimbursed the taxpayers for the use of the copier (a resident is charged 10 cents a copy at the city building)?

Even if the “CEO” reimburses the taxpayers for all the costs related to the printing and distribution of the flyer he knew nothing about, the fact remains that an ethical “lapse” occurred.

All the “truth and integrity” flowing from the city building is simultaneously sad and laughable.

The clock is ticking on the time the Ethics Board has remaining to hold a hearing on the complaint. The Martin Chronicles will be keeping a close eye on their findings.

The Strange Views Of The Villa Hills Ethics Board

The Martin Chronicles will take the cronyism, disregard for city ordinances and state statutes, persistent inability or unwillingness to fill open records requests, lawsuits, willful destruction of city property, unintelligible financial reports and other ethical "lapses" off the table for this post.

We want to focus on one issue that has cropped up recently in the comments made by the resigning Ethics Board chairman and in a recent letter to a councilman vaguely "signed" by "The Villa Hills Ethics Board".

What is the issue? The board members seem to think that information "leaked" to The Whistleblower Newswire and The Martin Chronicles is "undermining public confidence" in the Villa Hills city government. For the record, this is not the first time the Ethics Board took this bass-ackward view. They complained about the same thing during the turmoil under then-Mayor Steve Clark. How did that turn out?

Can they be serious? Sadly, we think the answer is "yes".

Why do we call that bass-ackward thinking? Did the members of the Ethics Board ever stop to think that it isn't the "leaked" information, but the highly questionable actions of the current city government being leaked to news outlets that is responsible for undermining public confidence?

Perhaps the Ethics Board would prefer the three chimpanzees' "See No Evil-Hear No Evil-Speak No Evil" approach? Maybe they think the head-in-the-sand ostrich has the right idea? The Ethics Board members may be adherents to Hogan's Heroes Sgt. Schultz' way of dealing with bad behavior, "I zee nuss-ing!"

Richard Nixon would have loved the Villa Hills Ethics Board. If they had investigated the Watergate break-in instead of Sam Ervin, Howard Baker and the rest of the Senate Select Committee, "Tricky Dick" could have finished his second term standing on his head.

Candidly, The Martin Chronicles wonders if the rest of the Ethics Board should follow their chairman's lead and go find something else to do.

No Time For A Circular Firing Squad

The Martin Chronicles knows it has to be tough. We watch the council meetings. They are dreadful. Sitting there at the council table has got to be many times worse. But this is not the time for the council members who are trying to keep the Villa Hills' city government from going over the cliff to begin to go after each other.

That is why we were bothered to see one solid councilman lose his temper and launch into an inexplicable tirade at another solid council member who was guilty of nothing more than asking questions about the wisdom of giving blanket emergency powers to an out-of-control mayor at the last meeting. Be careful. If you think Mayor Martin won't try to exploit any divisions between you to his advantage, you had better reach for the smelling salts.

We can only guess that some council members hear the "high-minded" critics who complain they are so tired of the "bickering" at city council meetings. Keep in mind that most of the critics are standing safely on the sidelines. While you are in the trenches wrangling with a Third World dictator mayor, wing nuts like Mike Pope and a shockingly disinterested city attorney, they are waiting for Jeeves to bring their car around after an evening of chablis and brie at the Vanderbilt estate.

Council, you see what's going on. You know what the score is. You know which way the wind is blowing. The growing mess is only going to get far larger at a far faster rate if you don't stand together and stand up against what's going on. Cronyism, a complete lack of transparency, no accurate financial reporting, a total disregard for city ordinances and state statutes, ethical "lapses", lawsuits. The list goes on.

Things are not going well. Next year is stacking up to be much worse. As the special counsel begins to lay out his findings the mud will be flying like a rainy night at the demolition derby. All of you are going to get hit. It's the "Mike Martin way".

Martin will want you to cut and run. But by then it will be far too late. In fact, it already is. This is not the time to form a circular firing squad.

Mike Pope: More What's The Point?

The Martin Chronicles knows we can't be the only one who sees Councilman Mike Pope for what he really is. Pope is a dazzling combination of combatively arrogant and totally clueless.
More observations from last night's meeting:

• Pope and the roads issue. Pope was the guy who wasted a lot of taxpayer money having the city engineer forecast road costs to the year 2200. As the chairman of the finance committee, how can Pope not even know how much money is left to spend on roads this year? This is only "year one" of his 189-year road plan!
• Pope and the police budget. Pope is always complaining about the police budget. How, after eleven months as the finance committee chairman has he not gotten a handle on the police budget issues?
• Pope and the budget surplus. Pope was the guy who predicted a six-figure budget surplus earlier this year. Now he says the surplus will be less than $2,000. In reality it will most likely be a deficit. This despite the fact that the city has been down one police officer and a city clerk for almost an entire year. Where did Pope's predicted six-figure surplus go?
• Pope and his dealings with fellow council members. Pope is the guy who has demonstrated month after month after month that he couldn't explain the city financial records if his life depended on it. How can he say that Councilman George Bruns doesn't know what he is talking about regarding the current state of the city finances?

Quite simply, Mike Pope-what's the point?

Mike Pope: What's The Point?

After watching last night's Villa Hills' city council meeting, The Martin Chronicles believes it may make sense for the rest of his council mates to simply ignore Mike Pope. If for no other reason than to keep their own sanity. After all, what's the point?

Pope is never an agreeable fellow. But last night was a new low even for him. He loves to criticize the ideas of others but never proposes an alternative solution. By now that should be no surprise to anyone. So why deal with him? What's the point?

Pope is also always quick to criticize the police department. Last night he cited them as the primary reason for the ongoing, fouled-up mess with the city financials. We wonder if Mr. Pope has ever had a meeting with the police chief to discuss the financials? Has there been any sincere attempt to resolve whatever it is that Pope believes is causing the confusion? We have good reason to believe the answer is "no". Why bother? What's the point?

By now council has to see it. He baits them and when they take the bait, he sits back with a perverse grin. It is the grin of someone trying to hide the fact that they just took a big gulp of rancid milk. What's the point?

Pope has no intention of ever providing his fellow council members with decipherable financial reports. He says the law doesn't require him to do so. And, the city attorney heartily agrees. What's the point?

While it represents a change in our previous position, The Martin Chronicles now thinks there is no purpose in council expecting Pope to ever provide accurate financial reports to them. Despite the fact that he always downplayed the value of annual audits in the past, Pope will most likely now hide behind a "clean" audit report. No need for council oversight. Let it go. What's the point?

Here's the beauty of it. Mike Pope, and his mentor Mayor Martin, have complete ownership of the growing mess. Maybe that's the point.

Open Records Are "OPEN" Records

A brief exchange took place at last night's monthly council meeting between a resident and the city attorney about an open records request that has The Martin Chronicles wondering about the ongoing records problem in Villa Hills. It was obvious during the exchange that the interim city clerk-who is the custodian of the city's records-was very uncomfortable about something. Perhaps it is because she is responsible for filling open records requests.

As this post's title says, Open records are "OPEN" records. It's really that simple. The State of Kentucky enacted legislation in 1992 that is also referred to as "The Sunshine Law". For anyone who is interested, the guidelines for how a government agency must handle open records requests can be found in Chapter 61, Sections 870 through 884 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes.

Public records are any books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, discs, diskettes, recordings, software, or other documentation, regardless of physical form or characteristics, which are prepared, owned, used, in the possession of or retained by a public agency. Public records include anything that relate to functions, activities, programs, or operations funded by a state or local authority.

When you think about it, free and open access to public records bolsters confidence in the operation of any government agency. It allows people to see that their tax dollars are spent wisely and that public employees and elected officials are acting in the taxpayers' best interest. To that end, if a public agency has the requested records in their possession, they should provide them in a timely manner as outlined in the Kentucky statutes.

Back to last night's exchange. The city attorney assured the resident that he would "have a talk with the staff" about proper open records procedures. That's fine. But the open records problems go beyond a "staff" issue.

The Martin Chronicles hopes that the city attorney also has a "heart-to-heart" discussion about open records with Mayor Martin.

More about last night's meeting later.

News Briefs From The Land Of Martin

A few months ago Mayor Martin announced he was hiring a part-time clerk-yes, another clerk-to assist during the property tax "rush". The waves of humanity beating down the city building door to pay their property tax has long-since subsided. But the part-time clerk-a Martin civic club buddy-remains. One observer noted, "Property tax season may be over, but cronyism season is still in full swing!"

Have you been by the city building lately? It has more barrels, fencing and barricades surrounding it than Checkpoint Charlie. One civic club regular believes that Martin's fortification of the city building is a direct result of the thumping his road tax took on November 8. The Martin Chronicles does not believe Villa Hills is on the verge of its' own version of Bastille Day. At least not yet. It is more likely that Martin just wants to make sure nobody puts their hand print in the expensive new parking lot he used your money to construct.

We do understand why folks think Mayor Martin may be getting a little skittish. No new budget for the current fiscal year. A special counsel investigation. Multiple ethics complaints. Tough questions from city council. More than 70% of the voters turning thumbs down on his road tax proposal. Things are a little rough for "the CEO" right now. Do you think that's why we just learned that the mayor will not be attending tonight's meeting?

We are sure it's just a coincidence, but the auditor also announced yesterday that he will not be presenting his annual report to council tonight. We are unable to confirm reports that the auditor became unglued when he was advised that he had been examining records that Mayor Martin swears don't exist. Cue the dramatic music!

We have also just learned that Martin clipped his personal check to a copy of the bill from the Voice of Villa Hills for the "Vote 'YES' To Repeal The License Fee" flyer distributed the weekend before the road tax vote. You remember-the flyer Martin said he knew nothing about!

Isn't this fun?

Laughter May Be The Only Medicine Left!

The Martin Chronicles reports the painful revelations of what is actually going on in Villa Hills. It is necessary. Understanding that all of what we are learning can be overwhelming, The Martin Chronicles thought it might be nice to try to have some fun now and then to lighten up what is otherwise most depressing news. Here goes-

Successful shows often spawn spin-offs, and The Martin Chronicles is wondering if Mayor Mike Martin believes Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) is no exception to that trend. After all, Martin's Footloose approach to governing Villa Hills has all the elements of DWTS. So The Martin Chronicles is going to handicap how competitors Councilman Noll, Councilman Pope and Mayor Martin would perform on such a show. For a working title we will go with Dancing With The Subpoenas.

Councilman Noll would have a tough time as a competitor. Name recognition got him elected to city council. And, although his campaign style (doing next to NOTHING to EARN votes) should have been a hint that he is NOT a member of the well-respected Noll family who have served the city in its early days and continues to do so today, he was elected. Noll's campaign style was also a foreshadowing of his frequent absences from meetings-either missing them altogether or going MIA for a while during the ones he does attend. Hydration is important! Noll has two degrees (one of which is a Juris Doctor). This proves he is book-smart, but sorely lacking in common sense. "What is a caucus?" and "What is winterizing?" come quickly to mind to illustrate that point. The judges won't be "mediating" the results of the contest either. So Noll will have to depend on "Chinese hackers", his 5 year old or himself to text all the votes he wants, but we think he will be running out quickly-he won't practice. The Martin Chronicles believes Noll will be dancing to Rod Stewart's Do You Think I'm Sexy?.

Our next contestant, Councilman Pope will also have real trouble with this. Pope is confident that it will only take two key strokes to get the numbers and results he needs to move on in the competition. But the problem is no one knows which two keys to hit! The Martin Chronicles predicts a tough time is in store for the pro assigned to partner with him. Pope doesn't play well with others and will second-guess the pro. For instance, if he is assigned to dance the paso doble, Pope will want to dance the passive aggressive. (We admit that the passive aggressive IS one of Pope's strengths.) Pope will agree with the pro in rehearsals, but deny that he did during the live show. Then Pope will post on his "alternate reality" website that he has a better way of dancing-as if saying it will make it so. The problem is that Pope won't understand that dancing is something that takes action. We extend our wish of good luck to the judges who try to critique Pope. He will be obsessed with their destruction! The tune for Pope's dance will be Dancin' In The Streets! (But don't ask us to make an assessment of which road plan Pope will be choreographing. We are guessing it will be all his own.) Also look for a re-enactment of the movie They Shoot Horses Don't They? as Pope vows to dance until the year 2200.

That leaves contestant Mike Martin, whose "quick-step" approach to avoiding the duly enacted Civil Service ordinance is to hire clerks as contract employees. But the contracts don't appear to be worth the paper they are written on. When a councilman questioned whether or not Cordelia Schaber (the $47.50 per hour "clerk" preparing the city financials) had insurance, "CEO" Martin said "no" and that he would just "rewrite the contract". And his "emergency powers" to hire badly needed police officers doesn't exist-at least not yet. That won't stop our fearless leader Martin because he doesn't lead at all-he is a "think outside the box" kinda guy. That's why his dance is going to be painful to watch if you care about dancing-or Villa Hills.

Scheduling practice shouldn't be a problem with Martin rehearsing-after all, Martin schedules the police department. So he can surely do this.

Martin will do his own lighting for his dance-but don't tell anyone. His dance will be a medley of the Billy Joel hit Honesty (but don't look for that, or integrity-artistic or otherwise-here) and A Boy Named S-U-E.

The Martin Chronicles has learned that only phone and text votes will be possible since computers are kind of like being in the Land of Oz: "Computers, they come and go so quickly!"

It is our hope that the show will be canceled sooner, rather than later. But it is a SAFE bet that it will be even more painful to watch than city council meetings!

November Council Meeting Is Tomorrow Night

The November Villa Hills City Council meeting is this Wednesday, November 16 beginning at 7PM. If you cannot attend in person, the meeting will be broadcast live on Insight Channel 16.

The Martin Chronicles understands. We all have busy lives. But we hope you do whatever you can to stay informed about what is happening in your city government.

Some of the things we all might learn by watching the meeting:

·         What do Mayor Martin and the council plan to do regarding street repair in the aftermath of the lop-sided defeat of the road tax?

·         What progress is being made to recruit and hire a new police officer to replace the one who moved on weeks ago?

·         Will Mayor Martin reconsider his refusal to bring the police department back up to full 8-man strength given the great concern about license fee compliance?

·         How did the auditors do their work if Mayor Martin is being truthful about all the city records having gone missing?

·         Will Finance Committee Chairman Mike Pope provide accurate financial reports to council for their review?

A brief aside. If you look at the TBNK’s meeting schedule for this Wednesday night, they plan to air a replay of Elsmere’s November meeting starting at 9 o’clock. Given the marathon nature of the last several Villa Hills’ council meetings, the TBNK may be overly optimistic.

Again, we know the meetings can be tough to watch. But stay informed.

A Special "Thank You" To Our Growing Audience

The Martin Chronicles has been averaging more than 450 unique visits a day over the last two weeks. Not too bad at all for a new blog covering a city only 3.5 square miles in size.

We understand that the interest in the road tax vote played a major role in the surge of unique visits. That's fine with us. We're glad that people were engaged in this important vote. We are also pleased that many of these new readers continue to check in.

While we are sure a few people will disagree(and we know you can guess who they are), The Martin Chronicles tries very hard to be fair and accurate. We have several ongoing blog contributors. We never run a story without multiple sources and we check and double-check all the tips that are sent to us. There are several stories we are still checking into that would certainly be sensational. But we want to be as sure as we possibly can be that they are also factual before we run them.

Yes, we freely admit that we enjoy gigging hypocrites and lampooning politicians overly-impressed with their own power. Bloviators and demagogues drive us crazy. These folks are spending our money after all. Heck, a blog like the Martin Chronicles is as American as apple pie and Mom's fried chicken on Sunday!

Stay with us. Tell your friends to read us. Things are just starting to get interesting.

Sometimes It's Hard To Keep Up With All The "Truth and Integrity"

The Martin Chronicles has just confirmed that Mayor Mike Martin paid for the "Vote 'YES' To Repeal The $40 License Fee" flier distributed in the most recent edition of the Voice of Villa Hills with a personal check.

Some readers might think we are going to write that a payment with a personal check doesn't derail the recently filed ethics complaint. While that is our belief, that is not the purpose for this post.

Remember when we told you Mayor Martin contacted the gentleman responsible for distributing the yard signs opposing the road tax? Remember when we told you that gentleman respectfully declined to surrender his First Amendment rights?

Here is the big "remember?". Do you remember when the gentleman asked the mayor if he knew who put the flyer in the Voice of Villa Hills and the mayor claimed he knew nothing about it?

Here is our question. If Mayor Martin had no idea who put the flyer in the local paper, WHY IN THE WORLD DID HE PAY FOR IT WITH A PERSONAL CHECK?

Strange, huh?

Don't Buy The Baloney!!

The Martin Chronicles has some advice for those who have been watching the back and forth in Villa Hills city government. Don’t fall into the trap set by those who want you to chalk up all the turmoil to divided “camps” who just can’t get along. You’ve heard it. These guys are just a bunch of spoiled brats. It’s described as “bickering”. But that is an intentional smoke screen.

Sure, there are some serious divisions that are obvious when you watch a council meeting. But not all the disagreement can be explained away by the years of incessant personal attacks against various city officials from the likes of Councilman Mike Pope and yes, now-Mayor Mike Martin himself. In almost every case there are legitimate policy reasons for the divisions.

Many of the issues now coming to a head have been “in-the-making” for several years. You are doing a huge disservice to your community if you try to minimize those issues as simple “bickering”. Local government has more impact on your daily life than any other level of government. It is important.

Let’s take a look at one of the many examples of legitimate divisions in Villa Hills.

There has been a big push for consolidation of city services across Northern Kentucky now for several years. The supporters of consolidation bitterly complain that there are too many little fiefdoms wasting too many taxpayer dollars.

There are certainly examples of efficiencies and economies gained by some consolidation. But the recent unwinding of the Highland Heights/Southgate police authority demonstrates that consolidation is not a universal truth. There are other recent examples where consolidation efforts have failed as well.

So what is going on in Villa Hills? The current staff of the Villa Hills police department is down 25% from just one year ago. The sharp increase in overtime expense is a good indicator that the department is spread too thin. One could also conclude that, because of the seeming lack of concern about the overtime, the current reduction in staff isn’t about cost savings.

The majority of council is concerned that Mayor Martin’s ultimate goal is to force Villa Hills to contract for services with The City of Erlanger for police protection. The council majority believes such a move is not in the best interest of Villa Hills’ residents. Perhaps that is because those council members have benefited by private, candid discussions with Crescent Springs officials about the “success” of their contract with Erlanger’s police department.

Mike Martin and Mike Pope have gotten as far as they have by playing to a crowd who hates all government. The irony is that it is often those from that crowd who are the first to complain when their roads are in disrepair, their snow isn’t plowed to their liking or a police officer dares to take a dinner break from his overtime shift patrolling their streets at a Crescent Springs restaurant. Such is life.

What your city government does makes a big difference. Don’t take the bait. Don’t buy the baloney. The majority of council has serious, legitimate disagreements with Mayor Martin over several important issues. They are fighting for you.

So Bad It Was Banned!

The Martin Chronicles has already reported about Mayor Martin's life-long strategy of throwing enough (EXPLETIVE) against the wall, hoping enough of it sticks. Such is the life of an uneducated Norwood street brawler.

Believe it or not, nky.com had its' fill of the (EXPLETIVE).

Using a libelous screen name, Martin or one of his dwindling group of supporters was posting equally libelous and defamatory attacks against city employees and former city officials. The problem? None of those being attacked are public figures. Even nky.com is smart enough to understand the libel threshold for private citizens is much, much lower.

The only defense against a charge of libel? Well, that would be THE TRUTH.

We suspect nky.com read the judges' Order of Dismissal when it embarrassingly tossed Martin's $1.505 lawsuit against the taxpayers out of court. The dismissal derisively wrote that "Martin was 'barking up the wrong tree' with his allegations against two police officers and his predecessor."

We aren't going to repeat what was in the libelous nky.com posts. If you haven't seen 'em, you never will. At least until the Norwoodians conjure up a new screen name.

That's leadership?

Ethics Complaint: UPDATE

The Martin Chronicles continues to look into the ethics complaint that has just been filed against Mayor Mike Martin and Councilman Jim Noll regarding the use of public resources and personnel to distribute the "Vote 'YES' To Repeal The License Fee" flyer that was distributed in the most recent edition of the Voice of Villa Hills.

Given the previously reported harsh comments by the departing Ethics Board Chairman, there is concern that the Ethics Board may not do a thorough review of the current complaint.

There have been previous ethics inquiries presented to the board over the last several months. In each case, the board has dismissed the inquiries. Their stated reason for doing so raises more questions.

How so? The board announced that they discussed the issues with the mayor-prior to the public hearing-and the mayor provided what they considered "satisfactory explanations". Perhaps it might have been better to have the mayor provide his explanation at the public hearing.

We understand that the board members are volunteers. It's a tough assignment. But a thorough review of ethics complaints that includes examining all the facts will raise public confidence that the board is handling their tough assignment well.

The Martin Chronicles has learned that there are multiple witnesses to verify what is contained in the current complaint. We have every confidence that the Ethic Board members will not simply rely on the mayor's account of how the flyer got into the local paper but will talk to the witnesses as well.

The Ongoing City Records Issue

Villa Hills Mayor Mike Martin has grown quite fond of telling anyone who requests copies of city documents or questions the accuracy of his bookkeeper's financial reports that all the records were missing when he arrived on the scene January 1, 2011. He'd love to fill those open records requests-but none of the records can be found. He promises that, just given a little more time, the financial reports will make perfect sense. Or so he says.

We have now confirmed that the previous city clerk had an interesting meeting with the special counsel hired to investigate all the questions swirling around the mayor. The clerk worked for Martin for several weeks before departing to take a job elsewhere.

Want a few highlights? The current, interim city clerk and mayor were shown where all the records were kept. A detailed description of how the records were organized was provided. As is the norm, city ordinances, municipal orders, proclamations and Executive Orders were stored in what is commonly referred to by clerks as a "Book of Ordinances". Meeting minutes, committee report minutes and financial reports presented to council at their monthly meetings were all stored in binders organized by date. In summary, everything was in proper order.

So how is it that records are now missing? Councilman Mike Pope has taken it so far that he sent an e-mail to the city attorney urging a criminal investigation into the "missing" records. From Pope's perspective, the mayor is the victim of the previous administration. But, what has really happened-and why?

Perhaps the interim city clerk is incredibly disorganized? Maybe the mayor simply resents having his "broad powers" scrutinized? Or is there another reason for the resistance to provide records when they are requested?

When the auditor presents his annual report to the city it might be interesting to ask him if he was provided all the city records he needed to conduct his review. If the answer is "Yes", that raises many, many other questions about the "missing records" claim.  

Ethics Complaint Filed Against Mayor Martin and Councilman Noll

The Martin Chronicles has just learned that an ethics complaint has been officially filed against Mayor Mike Martin and Councilman Jim Noll. We will bring you more details as we gather them.

We do know that the complaint focuses on Martin and Noll's roles in the use of public resources and personnel to produce the "Vote "YES" To Repeal The City License Fee" flyer that was distributed in the last edition of the Voice of Villa Hills.

We have also independently confirmed that the complaint was filed based on a recommendation from Kentucky Ethics Commission Chairman John Steffen in Frankfort.

Again, The Martin Chronicles will continue to report this story as we gather more facts.

City Website Story: Update

We have been doing a little follow-up on the city website story and the outcome is even funnier than we originally thought. It's a classic example of Mayor Mike Martin's "Mighty Mouse" approach to life. Martin cons people into believing there is a terrible problem and proclaims, "Here I come to save the day"!

Prior to the arrival of Mayor Martin, a young man who was once a member of the Villa Hills Explorer Post and a computer prodigy was assisting a clerk and a police officer to maintain the city website.

Enter Mayor Martin. During his mud-slinging mayoral campaign, Martin vowed to make the website a key communication tool for the residents. Uh-huh. Several months into his administration, Martin was asked why his city website was still "under construction". Always one to assign blame to others, Martin famously said, "I inherited a sloppy website. They had a clerk and police officer uploading information and needed the assistance of some guy who used to be an Explorer. The whole thing didn't make sense."

As we have already reported, Martin squandered tax dollars auditioning companies to "fix" the city website. Then, with little fanfare he re-assigned website duties to the same clerk and police officer who handled them before. That is funny enough.

But it gets richer. The Martin Chronicles has confirmed that Martin is now also using the services of the very same former-Explorer, computer prodigy who was working with the clerk and police officer.

Does that mean Martin has decided he now likes the sloppy way the website was being run before?

Honor Our Veterans

Thank you to all our military veterans for your willingness to defend our freedom. We hope our readers take time to say "thanks" to any veteran they know today.

Elected leaders can best honor the sacrifice made by all our veterans by adhering to principles of good government. Blogs can best honor our vets by reporting on those elected leaders who fail to do so. That means the Martin Chronicles is going to be very busy.

Just not today.

Happy Veterans' Day.

The "New Tax" Tar Baby

The Martin Chronicles thinks the four “sane” members of Villa Hills’ city council are probably Baby Boomers. If we are correct about that, we hope that they have at least a dim memory of the Uncle Remus stories retold in Disney’s Song of the South.

If they don’t remember, they may want to reacquaint themselves with the story of “Br’er Rabbit and the tar baby”. It is a cautionary tale that is directly related to their travails with Mayor Mike Martin. This Uncle Remus parable is a warning to people that some problems only get worse when you struggle with them.

We understand how frustrating it must be to deal with someone who is as loose with the facts as Mayor Martin. A direct question prompts a mayoral shuck and jive that could leave the uninitiated head’s spinning. But council has dealt with the mayor’s tap dance routine for almost a year now. They can’t allow themselves to do what Br’er Rabbit did, reaching out to a “new tax” tar baby built by Martin and getting hopelessly stuck to it.

Martin and his council allies Mike Pope and Jim Noll spent the last couple of months trying to convince the voters that it was a great idea to vote themselves a massive tax increase. Why, because then the three of them could claim phony political credit for "getting rid of the license fee". All but 29% of the voters saw through their deception.

The Martin/Pope/Noll tax proposal was CRUSHED by the voters. Even still, Martin is already talking about raising all kinds of other taxes-allegedly for the purpose street repair. Council, don’t grab on out of your frustration. You will be grabbing on to the proverbial tar baby built for you out of higher taxes by Martin. And you will never be able to let go! The voters won’t let you.

Martin is the one who said he would repeal the dreaded $40 “sticker tax” and squeeze the money for needed street repair out of the current budget. Wait for him to show you exactly how he plans to do it. That will be truly fun to watch.

Whatever you do, keep your hands off Martin’s “new tax” tar baby!  

A Little Historical Perspective

Do you remember who Andrew Johnson was?

Give up?

He was the man who had the unhappy task of assuming the presidency in the wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Do you know what else makes him famous?

Give up?

Johnson was the first American president to be impeached. Just as happened with President Bill Clinton, the Senate failed to convict Johnson after he was impeached by the House of Representatives.

One of Johnson's harshest critics was Pennsylvania Senator Thaddeus Stevens. Stevens is said to have colorfully described President Johnson as, "even dirtier than cartwheel grease". That's pretty darn dirty.

Given all the rampant corruption, fraud and waste we have reported in Mayor Mike Martin's Villa Hills' city government, The Martin Chronicles suspects Senator Stevens would have gone to the next level. You guessed it. Stevens would have described Martin as, "even dirtier than Andrew Johnson".

That, my friends, is flat-out filthy!

One More Chuckle From Last Night

Much like the aging rock star who shouts "Hello CLEVELAND" when coming out on stage in Philadelphia, Mayor Mike Martin seemed to be a little confused about where he was last night.

While delivering his poorly received remarks at Officer Rick Gilbert's reception, Martin thanked "The Villa Madonna" for allowing the use of their facility. Just one problem. The reception was at the Madonna Manor. Absolutely no connection between the two organizations.

You would think a guy who is president-and only member-of the Villa Hills Historical Society and professes undying love for his city would have at least a vague clue where he was.

When an individual connected with the Madonna Manor was informed of Martin's clumsy comments, their terse reply was, "IDIOT".

An Icy Reception

Sources report to The Martin Chronicles that city employees held a dinner for departing police officer Rick Gilbert last night. Officer Gilbert was humorously called "Gunnery Sergeant Rick" by his fellow officers for his firearms training techniques and knowledge of weapons.

Mayor Martin and other city officials attended the send-off. That was certainly the appropriate thing to do. We are told that Martin was not warmly received by city employees, particularly the police. We are also told that we have a strong propensity for understatement.

Let's face it -

It is completely understandable that the police department would not embrace the man who cut their staff by 25% and routinely throws them under the bus for the poor compliance with the license fee ordinance.

It is also completely understandable that the police department would not embrace the man who has made so many outrageous claims about certain members of the police department that he triggered a lawsuit.

What have we been told was last night's most memorable Martin moment? The sound of crickets from the crowd after "the CEO" delivered a few stumbling remarks from the podium.

We have also learned that one councilman brought a guy with him nobody knew. One observer suggested that as unsupportive as this councilman has been of the police-he probably brought some poor schlep to take the first few bites of his food for him!