Real “Domestic Terrorists,” Attack Honest Man

Citizens Of Portsmouth - Please support your honest councilman.
Attend the next City Council meeting, 6:00 p.m. Monday, April 23, 2007 at City Hall.
The more citizens present to witness their acts, the less chance that the
evil ones will dare try to throw 3rd Ward Councilman Bob Mollette
out of office.

Writers are “Domestic Terrorists,” according to Police Chief Horner

The Shawnee Sentinel website takes a look at Portsmouth Police Chief Charles Horner’s long record of terrorizing citizens. http://www.portsmouthohio.info/
By Austin Leedom, Thursday, April 18, 2007 aleedom@verizon.net

Police Chief Charles (Chuck) Horner recently publicly declared persons who write on local websites are “domestic terrorists.” Even a casual study of Horner’s career-long record of misdeeds, and wrongful acts will indicate that Chief Horner is himself a dangerous and abusive terrorist, who, under color of law, has for many years arrogantly attacked and abused innocent victims.

Horner is fearful of truthful publications concerning his illegal activities, and has declared war on website journalists for personal reasons while acting under color of law, as a police officer. Apparently in Horner’s mind, truthful publication of real facts is terrifying and damaging to the public, and anyone operating or writing on a website, forum or blog is a criminal “domestic terrorist.” This includes honest 3rd Ward Councilman Bob Mollette who has owned and operated a website that has furnished vital, factual public information to interested citizens of Portsmouth for the past two years.

Chief Horner recently asked, during a council meeting, that the honest Councilman be investigated by City Council because the Councilman dared publish a public document on his informational website. This public document was a letter written by Horner to all City Council members asking for $5,000 to pay for a liability settlement. Horner created this liability because he had, under color of law, and as an employee of the City, wrongfully and willfully committed violations of the United States Constitutional Rights of a young lady citizen of Portsmouth. Horner created this debt; he should have personally paid it, but by a vote of 5-1 the council used your money to pay for Horner's unlawful acts.

Council President Howard Baughman has said that the honest 3rd Ward Councilman (who did not agree with the other five to pay Horner's debt) Bob Mollette, may be removed from his elected office for publishing this public information. Council President Baughman has asked City Solicitor David Kuhn to investigate Councilman Mollette for publishing a public document?
6th Ward Councilman Marty Mohr supports Baughman and Chief Horner in this action. Is this America?

Will City Solicitor David Kuhn recommend removing Councilman Bob Mollette from his elected office because Mollette provided public information to the citizens? Maybe, if there is no one there to watch him. The more citizens are present to watch, the less chance Kuhn will act against Mollette. Mr. Kuhn is already suffering from a deficiency of electability, and is facing a strong challenger in the election this fall.

Please come to the meeting; bring a friend.

Written By Austin Leedom, Thursday, April 18, 2007

Police Chief has new City checking accounts

NEW CHECKING ACCOUNTS FOR POLICE CHIEF HORNER

By Austin Leedom, Thursday April 12, 2007

The DRUG TASK FORCE was disbanded early 2003 by Sheriff Marty Donini and Police Chief Charles Horner when another law officer, a village mayor, an assistant county prosecuting attorney, reporters and website writers began asking the question, “Where’s the money?” They were asking about drug task force raids and the money that had been seized. Neither the Sheriff nor the Chief of Police wanted to answer. Horner and Donini swiftly disbanded the Drug Task Force, rather than to make an accounting of the seized money. This breakup made big news in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. The news was aired on radio and television in three states and published in many newspapers.

For over four years Portsmouth Police Chief Charles Horner refused to fully account for expenditures from his “private slush fund” of city money earmarked for drug investigation work. The money from this fund came mostly from money seized in drug raids and no proper reports were made to the City. The Chief had this money in a special checking account, made deposits and wrote checks with no oversight from the City Auditor’s Office. The Chief had his own personal City check book until finally forced by the City Auditor to turn the funds into the City Treasury. When Chief Horner did make an accounting of checks written he reported that $30,000 had been expended on an item identified only as “Other.” No further details were reported on this “Other” expenditure.

In 2004, efforts by Investigative Reporter Doug Deepe uncovered proof that Chief Horner had improperly spent some of the money that was to be expended on drug force work.

HORNER OBTAINED ANOTHER CHECK WRITING ACCOUNT

On Tuesday, April 10, 2007 Reporter Doug Deepe discovered that Chief Horner now had the ability to write checks on City accounts again. Mayor Kalb, and Chief Horner with no authority or permission from the City Auditor, had set up two accounts and permission again had been given to Charles Horner to write checks on a City Account.

Yesterday, Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 4:15 p.m. I entered City Hall to speak with the Auditor concerning the bank accounts that had been opened in the City’s name by the Mayor and the Chief of Police.

The Auditor was out of the office temporarily so I went across the hallway and talked with the Honorable Mayor Jim Kalb concerning the bank accounts. When the Mayor comprehended my question about new city bank accounts he reacted much as the now-recalled Mayor Greg Bauer did in 2003 when we asked Bauer about the illegal account that his City Service Director Mike Blackburn had established at DESCO bank.

The Mayor appeared to be embarrassed by the question, but said that recently officials of the DESCO bank came to his office and asked that accounts be set up at their bank to accept donations for restoration work on damages at Greenlawn Cemetery and for rewards to be paid for information about the vandals who had committed the damages.

According to the Mayor, the bank official, a few days later, called his office and asked who should be listed as the person to be in charge of the new City bank accounts. The Mayor said he told the banker that it be okay for Police Chief Charles Horner to be in charge of the accounts as the Chief would be the one writing checks from the accounts.

I asked the Mayor if he had talked with the City Auditor before authorizing the accounts; he replied that had not been necessary. He said, as Mayor he didn’t need to talk with the Auditor, he had given authority for the new accounts without consulting the Auditor.
I left the Mayor and proceeded to leave the building.

MAYOR DOESN’T UNDERSTAND FEDERAL, STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS

I left the City building at 4:25 p.m. The nervous Mayor followed me downstairs and out of the building. The Honorable Mayor questioned me about whether I pay city income taxes when working out of state on disasters such as the Katrina Hurricane in New Orleans, and other work on the East Coast? Respectfully, I told the Honorable Mayor that I would not answer his question, as it was not his concern. (Apparently the Honorable Mayor has little knowledge of federal and state laws of citizens’ rights of privacy.)

The Honorable Mayor demanded an answer saying that he was the Chief Executive of the City, the city was short on money and it was his duty as Mayor to make sure that I pay my fair share of taxes. In reply I asked him if it was true that he has been taking money from citizens for use of facilities at Mound Park for many years and had never turned any money into the City Treasury. He admitted that he had not turned any money into the City because he ran a “private corporation” called Proud, Inc., and money he collected went into his account for Proud Inc.

I then left the Mayor and at 4:31 p.m. I drove away, west on Front Street, to the west side of the City building and then north toward Second Street where I saw Chief of Police Horner and City Auditor Trent Williams standing and talking in a misty rain behind the police station.

For more information on what has happened since, please click on… http://dougdeepereturns.blogspot.com/
By Austin Leedom, writer for Shawnee Sentinel Online - at 11:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12, 2007

Shawnee Sentinel

October 2006 - Portsmouth Ohio City Council
According to Scioto County Board of Elections records, Howard Baughman made an 11th hour filling as a write-in candidate, hoping to keep his stranglehold on the taxpayers of Portsmouth as 5th ward councilman and city council president. It is no secret that he is related to the infamous Marting’s Foundation inventor, Clayton Johnson, as Baughman has admitted the relation during a council meeting. On many occasions Baughman stated he was not interested in running for office again; he claimed that he wanted to spend more time sitting on his front porch drinking beer.
We are all well aware of his employment at Coverts Furniture store, having seen the half page ad in the Daily Times promoting a 50th birthday sale on his behalf. The sale was a big flop, since they mentioned the word RECALL several times in the ad.
The question to voters come November will be: Do you want to continue with the only item on his agenda? The Martings Scam. Baughman has done nothing during his term on council but vote on ordinances to help promote his own betterment, such as giving his relative two million dollars, which is still being held hostage by Clayton Johnson.
We may never know the true reason Baughman has decided to run for re-election as a write-in candidate in the 5th Ward, but you can bet it wasn’t of his own choosing. Could it have been pressure applied from Covert’s to continue to try to place the city offices in the old Martings building, hoping to bring business to their store? Or was it the fact the Martings Foundation has been under attack along with the SOGP by other council members who are now questioning the ability of the property owners to pay for this albatross for the next 25 years.
It’s no secret that Baughman’s only mission, along with Mayor Kalb’s, is to tax whatever property owners are left in the city with the Martings tax. Forever. Neither Baughman, nor Kalb, as councilmen, have succeeded in encouraging any type of new employment in the city. Why should they? This would only hurt all the grant monies that the SOGP receives on behalf of the city in the way of grants from the United States Department of Agriculture. The city government never sees a penny of this money. It’s for the SOGP to decide who gets it.
Is it not clear why this city is dying? Placing city offices in the Martings Department Store building will not help a thing. Some of the downtown shop-owners are already complaining about parking problems and the prospect of the criminal element waiting for court appearances on Chillicothe Street, it is feared, would entice shoplifters and potential break-ins. Is this what’s left of downtown needs? Howie Baughman thinks so and that’s why he running as a write-in for the 5th ward council seat.
This is the only reason for Baughman and Kalb to stay in control-- to force the Martings building down the people’s throats, like it or not.