On The Sixth Day of Grinchmas (Part Two of Two)

NOTE: Well, we're just halfway through the Sixth Day of Grinchmas and it's already Christmas Eve. It just seems like the more we dig into the rat's nests of the CAVE People's incestuous little schemes, the more we uncover. (It's sort of like termites.) We hope to finish our 12 Days series by New Year's and we appreciate the patience of our readers.

Now enjoy Part Two of the Sixth Day of Grinchmas...

Fourth Ward: Wayne Nichols

We now return briefly to our Fourth Day subject, the pitiable tool of the CAVE People, Wayne Lee Nichols.

On election night, Nov. 3, Nichols' home on Eighth Street burned nearly to the ground. Robert Forrey had the indecency to make the truly bizarre claim that Mayor Kalb had something to do with the fire, despite the fact that Forrey knew Nichol's house was a fire trap piled high with so much trash it endangered Nichols' neighbors. He also knew that Nichols had a criminal record and a reputation for consorting with drug addicts and prostitutes. Still, he defended Nichol's 2007 run for City Council. He and the other CAVE folks were unanimous that he was the best candidate, even though they were well aware of his sordid past. Nichols, now awaiting a January trial for

Was Nichols truly "qualified" for the office for which the CAVE People endorsed him? We'll let his record speak for itself. Specifically his record in the Scioto County Common Pleas Court and the Portsmouth Municipal Court. (See below.)

Source:

http://www.sciotocountycpcourt.org/

Source:

http://www.pmcourt.org

Fifth Ward: Larry Essman In 1993, Larry Essman moved to Portsmouth and bought a house on Grandview Avenue. Shortly after purchase, he installed a commode in his basement...without getting a building permit from the City. On several occasions over the next decade, sewage backed up into Essman's basement through the non-approved basement commode. By his own admission, it was recommended to him that he install a backflow preventer in his sewer line, at a cost of $5,000, to prevent continuing property damage, but he decided "the preventer probably would not solve the problem." So instead of installing the recommended backflow preventer (or removing his basement toilet), Essman and others sued the City of Portsmouth for over $2,000,000. The lawsuit has been in limbo for several years now, but is slowly workingits way through the courts. (You can read the story in Essman's own words here.) Essman is a darling of the CAVE People and a supporter of Jane Murray. She recently appointed him to serve on her cabinet of volunteer advisers. Essman will “deal with all financial matters of the city,” according to a report in the Portsmouth Times. So the citizens of Portsmouth face the following bizarre situation: a man with a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the City will serve as a volunteer advisor "on all financial matters" to the newly-elected mayor, who has another multi-million dollar, copy-cat, lawsuit of her own against the City. Huh? As the kids say nowadays: "Awkward!" Only in Portsmouth, friends. This could happen only in Portsmouth. Sixth Ward: Richard Noel Who could represent the CAVE People as Sixth Ward Councilman better than Rich Noel? That's a rhetorical question. No one could. Next to Wayne Nichols, Rich Noel is probably the most cynical, hypocritical candidate ever put forward by the CAVE People. In 2005, the C.A.V.E. People organized Citizens For Responsible Government, whose purpose was to recall Councilman and local businessman Marty Mohr (6th Ward.) In Portsmouth, to recall a candidate, you must provide a name on the recall ballot to filled the candidate's un-expired term. The pawn they chose was Rich Noel. Fortunately, Mohr survived the recall. But after months of lies and vicious attacks by the CAVE People (including attacks on his business, accusations of adultery, and other lies we won't repeat), he decided not to seek re-election. Unfortunately, Mohr's withdrawal opened the door for the CAVE candidate to run and win the 6th Ward Seat in 2007.

"Integrity and experience." Yeah, right. 1. When Noel campaigned to recall Mohr in 2005, one of his arguments against Mohr was that he illegally accepted City-provided health insurance as a City Councilman, a benefit that all council members have had available for many years. When Noel was elected in 2007, one of his first acts was to sign up for the same insurance. (The man has a strange concept of integrity.) 2. Due to an oversight dating back over 30 years, Rich Noel's residence was never connected to the City water and sewer systems. To this day, Noel remains on a private well and a septic tank while all of his neighbors on Dunlap Road, above and below him, have to pay for City services. As a result, when the garbage collection fee was initiated in the 1980s, Noel's residence was never added to the City's billing system and Noel knowingly received free garbage pickup for over 20 years. Shortly after his 2007 election the City found the mistake. Noel is now being billed but he refused to pay for the 20-plus years of free service the City mistakenly provided. We understand that the City Health has yet to enforce sanitation regulations that require Noel to connect to the water and sewer system, like every other citizen who lives adjacent to a sewer line. Much of this information was reported in the Scioto Voice newspaper of Wheelersburg. (Click on images below to read the articles.) 3. Maybe he doesn't need the water/sewer and garbage service because he doesn't really live there. A 2008 report in the Scioto Voice newspaper (see the first article above) accuses Noel of maintaining his residence in Porter Township. Noel's Wheelersburg home is larger, nicer, and better maintained than the Dunlap Road house. He forwards his calls to his phone in Wheelersburg, and neighbors report that he spends most of his time at there, near his daughter and grandchildren. Oddly enough, he DOES have water and sewer service in Wheelersburg. So Noel's only water and sewer bills are paid, NOT to the City he represents, but to Scioto Water, Inc., and the Scioto County Sanitary Engineer. Now that's some "integrity" for you, right there. If you would like to discuss Mr. Noel's integrity with him, make sure you call ahead of time. It can take 30 minutes or so to get from Wheelersburg to North Moreland. If that's not enough evidence of Noel's hypocrisy for you, how about this? Back in 2006, when the Mayor and some members of Council were trying to salvage something positive for the City out of the Marting's fiasco, they held an open house at Marting's so citizens could see architectural drawings showing the development possibilities for the structure, which for better or worse is now owned by the City. The City displayed the drawings, gave tours of the building, and provided refreshments: punch and cookies. Noel and several other CAVE People showed up wearing hardware store dust masks, as if it was dangerous to breathe the air.(An environmental study had already shown the building air was safe). During the open house, Noel kept his mask on. Except when he went to the refreshment table to eat cookies and drink punch! That is our classy Sixth Ward Councilman, Rich Noel. (If Noel wasn't a hypocrite he would were a dust mask every time he walks in the City building and work toward replacing it. Instead he is content to condemn City workers to inhale whatever flakes off the crumbling ceilings and walls.) Remember. Mr. Noel is the kind of candidate the CAVE People want to see running Portsmouth. MERRY GRINCHMAS TO ALL!