Whispered by Someone Who Was Listening a Little Too Closely
Well, well, well… what have we here? In a town where secrets echo louder than sermons, the walls of City Hall have been whispering again and this time, it’s not about potholes or prom queens. It’s about a public building quietly handed over like a Sunday casserole dish to the church that just happened to want it first.
Let’s connect the whispers.
A local church shows up to a council meeting saying they want to buy the old school building, a property not previously for sale. Not long after, the city scrambles to declare it “surplus.” Without proper procurement procedures followed, the city just took over a $100,000 loss on the agreement, on a property that just purchased a few years ago and was voted on to be a community center.
Then, hold your holy water, two sealed bids roll in. One from the church for $150,000, and another, from a private citizen, for $155,000. Guess which one the city picked? Hint: not the one that would’ve earned the taxpayers more money.
And here’s the twist no one’s saying out loud (but everyone’s whispering): the city’s own Chief of Police, Marty Hart, publicly endorsed the church’s bid on the city owned property before the vote. That’s right. The man sworn to enforce the law got himself tangled in a web that looks a lot like playing favorites in a property sale. No badge should be backing a buyer—but that’s what happened, loud and clear, in violation of the federal and state constitution. And the church Pastor, Abram “Osteen” Crozier, also just happens to work for the police department that Marty Hart is the chief of.
Of course, no public justification has been provided. No explanation about why the higher bid was rejected. No record of whether any other parties were notified that the property was even up for grabs. One whisper says council members were told “just trust the process.” Another says the deal was a done deal from the start.
Legally? Questionable. Ethically? Rotten. Constitutionally? Potentially forbidden. Kentucky law requires cities to dispose of surplus property in the public’s best interest, not in the church’s. And the Kentucky Constitution? It bans giving preferential treatment to religious institutions in public matters. Seems like someone skipped that chapter. But it’s the smug silence that really has people whispering.
Where’s the transparency? Where’s the documentation? Where’s the voice of a city council that’s supposed to represent every citizen, not just the ones with pulpits behind them?
Some call it cronyism in a choir robe. Others call it small-town politics at its most predictable. We just call it what it is: taxpayer-funded favoritism, disguised as righteousness.
And while the city pats each other on the back, downing cocktails behind closed doors, the rest of us are left asking: If they’ll ignore the law for a sweetheart deal, what else will they do in the name of “God’s work?” God wouldn’t want a church built on a foundation of lies and deceit.
We’ll keep whispering. You keep listening.
— Unsigned, as always. But we’re watching.