VILLA HILLS — A guy named Al Van Hagen seemed to have accurately summed up how a lot of residents in this city feel about its council's nonstop scandals when he stood up at Monday night's council meeting and delivered this eloquent bomb:

        “I'm tired of getting up every morning and reading all this crap” in the newspaper,” Mr. Van Hagen said to loud cheers to the nearly 300 people packed into River Ridge Elementary.

        Way to go Al, even though I'm the one who has served up a lot of the news — make that “crap” — about the city.

        For me, Villa Hills is a great story. It has all the elements of a bad TV movie and some great column fodder — political scandal, money, sex, warring factions, officials thirsting for power, enraged citizens, spurned employees, Hooters, lawyers, alcohol, cops, investigations, grand juries, more lawyers, secret documents, more Hooters and a guy named Charlie who interrupted Monday's meeting so many times he looked like Al Gore butting in to George W. Bush's answers at their first presidential debate.

        But for City Council members, and Mayor Steve Clark, there is a growing desire to just get this over with so more energy and time can be spent on important things like sidewalks, water lines and the budget.

        “I hate this,” said council member Julie Schuler. “We all used to get along. Now we're all so divisive. I hate that this has happened.”

        There are things getting done. It's just hard to notice — or talk about them — right now.

        For the family members of two fired city employees — former Police Chief Michael “Corky” Brown and former City Clerk Sue Kramer — they just want what they believe is justice for their loved ones.

        It's easy to forget that people's lives are being affected by what is happening in Villa Hills. That is until Shannon Kramer, Sue Kramer's daughter, and Bev Brown, Mr. Brown's wife, come to a City Council meeting and silence a rowdy crowd with their simple statements.

        That's what happened Monday night. And no matter what side of this you're on, if you didn't get a lump in your throat when Ms. Kramer talked about her mom and Mrs. Brown talked about her husband, then you need some perspective.

        So many citizens ust want this soap opera/political scandal to go away.

        Villa Hills has never had this kind of controversy before. Things weren't perfect, but they sure weren't like this.

        A grand jury and the attorney general investigate but don't charge the mayor with misspending city money. A state audit reveals thousands of dollars in taxpayer money spent by city officials on bar bills and restaurant tabs. Two longtime — and popular — city employees are canned three days after Christmas.

        Lawyers are hired. Lawsuits are threatened. More investigations begin. Angry words are exchanged. The police need to be at meetings. Sides are chosen. Accusations are made. Reputations are smudged. Jobs are lost. Lines are drawn. A community divides.

        Al is right.

        This is a bunch of crap.

       Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for The Kentucky Enquirer. He can be reached at 578-5581, or by e-mail at pcrowley9@home.com.

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