Villa Hills mayor faces removal hearing

VILLA HILLS, Ky. - The mayor of Villa Hills was the first witness called during day one of a hearing that will determine if he stays in office.

The hearing is expected to last until Wednesday night when the Villa Hills City Council will vote on whether Mayor Mike Martin will stay in office.

It would take a unanimous vote to remove Martin from office.

Martin denied accusations from the prosecutor that he has acted as if he's above the law during his time as mayor.

The prosecution is trying to prove willful misconduct on the part of Martin.

When asked if having a city employee print more than 2,000 political documents during working hours violated the Villa Hills ethics ordinance Martin said, "I don't know what the ordinance states, so I don't know."

A previous investigation showed that Martin violated state law and city ordinances when he had city documents burned. Martin said Wednesday that the documents were duplicates.

Martin's attorney says the proceedings are a waste of time and money.

"What we have is a circumstance where a mayor came in as a mayor, learned some lessons as he went forward, none of which amounts to anything sufficiently severe to undo the will of the people of Villa Hills that elected him as mayor," said Martin's attorney Todd McMurtry.

The hearing will continue Tuesday at 6 p.m. at River Ridge Elementary.

A final vote on Martin's future is expected Wednesday.