Wednesday, September 15, 2010

"Don't Tase Me, Bro!"

Although not as dramatic as this famous free speech muzzling moment ...

I was ejected and escorted out of City Council Chambers on Wednesday evening by the Allentown Police. Yep.

Was it something I said?

Here's what I said, as reported on by WFMZ-TV 69 News.

I’m Bill Villa from Allentown here to expose a just amazing statement Mike Donovan made about me at City Council on September 1, after I left, that 69 News caught and reported on the next day.

Donovan said, "If I had done something wrong, I would be the first to apologize" to Mr. Villa.

Okay, well here’s 10 things Donovan did wrong, his apology should follow.

It was wrong and highly provocative of Donovan to allow fellow Morning Call blogger [Redacted] to post and sign, cruel and libelous comments about my family and me at Donovan’s blog the whole month of March, knowing that I had filed a lawsuit against [Redacted] for libel the month before. Donovan’s provoking of me obviously worked ... but it was wrong.

It was also wrong of Donovan to not monitor more closely and not delete the hundreds of cruel comments about my family that built up at his blog all of March … for example, one vile comment suggesting I engage in necrophilia with my deceased daughter stayed up at Donovan’s blog for 17 hours before he either finally saw it or got cold feet staring at it for 17 hours and deleted it.

Clearly, it was smoking gun wrong of Donovan to encourage vile comments against my family at his blog, by commenting there himself that the vile comments were, quote, "fun to read," as was also caught and reported on by 69 News.

It took Donovan 4 months to clean house and delete all his blog filth about my family, and waiting that long was wrong.

It was wrong of Donovan to terrorize my family at the same blog he uses to promote "civility" and "mutual respect" when blogging with constituents about matters of City Council.

As an Allentown Arts Commissioner, it was wrong of Donovan to encourage threatening comments about removing The Villas band from the Mayfair schedule and disrupting our performance with noisemakers.

And it was unbelievably wrong of Donovan to encourage personal insults and attacks against my wife Angie (left) ... a community volunteer … who accepted an Arts Ovation Award from The City in May on behalf of the Chen Arts group she co-founded to help revitalize downtown Allentown.

It's wrong of Donovan to not admit wrongdoing … it's wrong of Donovan to refuse my family an apology … and it's wrong of Donovan to put the City of Allentown through this at every meeting of City Council.

So there's 10 things Donovan did wrong.

Mr. Hanlon [City Clerk & Timekeeper], I'm now giving the balance of my 3 minutes to Councilor Donovan to apologize, and because it's my time remaining, Donovan may use it to apologize but for nothing else, Councilor Donovan …

Approximately :30 seconds remaining … tick ... tick ... tick ...

Council VP Donovan (refusing to apologize for a 4th time): "I relinquish my time to the next speaker."

Council President D'Amore: "Thank you Mr. Villa."

Note: They had this pusillanimous "evasion strategy" all worked out, and this was all they had. At this point, I still had about 20 seconds of time left ... but Council President Mike D'Amore clearly wanted me gone from the podium, and the microphone.

As I tried to get one final sentence in, the buzzer went off before I was finished and I kept going after the buzzer ... for a matter of seconds. That's when Council President D'Amore asked the Allentown Police to eject and escort me from City Council Chambers. To everyone's trigger-happy dismay, I went quietly.

AND ... I'll be appearing again regularly at Allentown City Council starting w/ their very next meeting on Wednesday, October 6.

See, as it turns out, despite spending who knows how many taxpayer dollars researching legal loophole maneuvers to shut me up, D'Amore & Donovan can't stop me from speaking at City Council, as long as I don't go any longer than 3 minutes flat.

Sadly, no more of my ingenious 30-second "dramatic silences" and watching the beads of sweat roll down Donovan's forehead and onto his clownish bow tie as he refuses to apologize while the clock ticks audibly. Good times.

But not to worry, from now on, I'll use every second of my 3 minutes and turn all of it into mesmerizing, must-see TV. And when the voters see it, they'll realize that all 7 City Councilors must-go, w/ Donovan going first.

I'm counting 9/15 as another big win.

FYI, "W" Mike Donovan teaches ethics (swear to God) at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA.

Mike D'Amore PhD teaches political science (!) at Sussex County Community College.

39 comments:

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

Thanks for reading, Allentown (for an hour and three quarters). We hope you're learning something.

Domain Name > (Unknown)
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ISP > Verizon Business

Time of Visit > Sep 15 2010 8:12:00 pm

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Visit Length > 1 hour 40 minutes 2 seconds

Anonymous said...

Must have been the workings of King Baby the City Council President.

I wonder if he got a special tingling sensation in his loins when he had you ejected?

Ah the wonders of power. Like a drug.

Keep up the good work and continue to hammer away at these goons.

The City Official said...

Ejection and police escort? All captured by the TV cameras. Nice. You played D'Amore like a violin.

Bill Villa said...

Thanks 6:28 and "City O,"

it was a classic "Kill The Messenger" moment.

Here's 69 News's coverage ...

Consigliere said...

" ... now the city solicitor says the issue needs to be further looked-into." -69 News

Uh oh, sounds like the City Solicitor may have jumped the gun (not a threat) in his ruling. Uh oh for The City that can't afford the huge settlement they could be looking at here.

Bill Villa said...

I hear ya, and we could use another $3.1 million.

Anonymous said...

"It was wrong and highly provocative of Donovan to allow fellow Morning Call blogger" ...

Well this here sure explains the Morning Call's curious silence on this story, eh?

Allentown taxpayer said...

Congratulations, Mr. Donovan. Your gambit to save 20 seconds of embarassing silence turned into several minutes of full-color, HD-quality publicity on Channel 69 for Villa's message. You guys on council are rocket scientists.

Bill Villa said...

7:57, Touché.

Allentown taxpayer, all 7 City Council rocket scientists need to be booted off the dais and out of office. Help us spread the word on this.

Angie Villa said...

LVS Sitemeter(R) says ...

Visits to this blog (already) today have shattered our previous one day record for most visits. And it's really early yet. Merci for reading ... ;D

Bill Villa said...

Ditto.

(almost forgot)

The 2nd "guest libel blogger" at Mike Donovan's blog, who posted 50% of the sadistically cruel and libelous comments about the Villa family at Donovan's blog in March was Lehigh County Democratic Committee "man" from Trexlertown (for now), Chris Casey.

Credit where credit's due.

Rokkin Easton said...

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Donovan to rise to the level required to do the right thing (apologize).

Here's the level his thought processes are operating at: The only thing he could think of to blog about on September 11th - September 11th - was people getting into a supermarket express line with more than 10 items.

!!!

'Nuff said.

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

Of the 100 most recent visitors to LVS, 27% were from IP addresses at The Morning Call "newspaper."

Bill Villa said...

Rokkin' Easton, you rock.

And, you're right ... wow, what an embarrassing intellectual and emotional light-weight Donovan is. Profoundly self-absorbed and incapable of empathy and self-examination, which, sadly, characterizes a sociopath.

Betcha the gals at Cedar Crest think he's dreamy.

Angie Villa said...

(for now) ;D

Brew Worker said...

One thing I've noticed about the Donovans (all of them) is that they can dish it out but they can't take it.

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

14 visits to LVS so far today and counting ...

Domain Name > covad.net
IP Address > 67.101.139.# (Covad Communications)

Time of Visit > Sep 16 2010 11:55:07 am

Bill Villa said...

"Brew Worker," we're hearing that from more & more people, which only affirms our many first-hand experiences w/ "W" Mike, his limousine liberal/Morning Call freelancer wife Diana Morse (who has sent us vile emails), and precocious son Neddy who emailed me a threat of physical violence last week which was likely inspired by the similar actions of his "Uncle Mike."

Sadly, all 4 are unraveling before Allentown's eyes.

Angie Villa said...

Thanks to you ... ;D

Bill Villa said...

Credit where credit's due.

Norco Courthouse said...

I know you Villas have "gone through hell to pay" to get here, but my informal poll at work says LVS is (by far) the most popular political blog here at work. Imagine even more popular at Lehigh's.

Anonymous said...

Are there any Human on the Alientown City council? It appears more and more like a pack of grifters everyday.

Bill Villa said...

Thanks NorCo, glad you're enjoying our travails.

3:25, I can tell you unequivocally that there is absolutely no humanity on Allentown City Council.

Donovan is so clearly (no gray area) wrong. And yet, not one of the other 6 will break ranks and issue one syllable of disapproval of Donovan's outrageous behavior ... or empathy with us. In our up-close and personal experience w/ them, they're all a disgrace to the human race.

And let's all remember that next election.

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

There were approximately 300 visits to LVS today (so far) from IP addresses at The Morning Call "newspaper," but curiously, they write nothing about this story.

Domain Name > (Unknown)
IP Address > 163.192.12.# (Tribune Company)
ISP > Tribune Company

Time of Visit > Sep 16 2010 5:41:51 pm

Tappa Kegga Brew said...

Man of the Hour

Bill Villa said...

Nice catch.

We know Doctor D'Amore can dish it out ... but can he take it?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

Visit #50 today (and he doesn't "write" about this story neither :)

Domain Name > (Unknown)
IP Address > (Unknown)
ISP > Unknown ISP
Continent > Unknown
Country > Unknown
State > Unknown
City > Trexlertown

Time of Visit > Sep 16 2010 7:34:06 pm

Bill Leiner Jr. said...

I just don't understand why people don't apologize if they made a mistake. Even if they feel they did not make a mistake, if they listen to someone who says they are offended by a remark or action they thought they did in good faith, there is no harm in saying I'm sorry. I was an elected official for 14 years, won all six contested elections I was in, and said I'm sorry to many who I had a misunderstanding with. People appreciate honesty, sincerity and apology. If you are all three you will be held in high regard by almost all (Not Shawn Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingrim, et al.). I hope you get the apology you are looking for. PS - Let me know when your next CD comes out.

Bill Villa said...

Thank You, former (and very much missed) Lehigh County Commissioner Bill Leiner, seen here leaning to the left, and is there any better direction to lean?

Readers, please see our Right Sidebar Feature Blurb on Bill Leiner if you wanna get the full (backstory) effect of what a terrific "stand up guy" Bill Leiner actually is.

And we're w/ ya, Bill, there's no rational (or civil) explanation for "W" Mike Donovan's refusal to apologize to Sheena's family-- and respectfully, how in the hell can "W" possibly rationalize not having done anything wrong here? Jesus. How about picking lousy blogging companions? Which is what we've been crucifying him over at this blog, and, considering the hot water his out-of-town blogger pals have gotten him into, it appears we were ("ding ding") right all along about Donovan's bad character judgement.

We need people like you in elected office around here.

WORTH REPEATING DEPARTMENT

We need people like you in elected office around here.

On the Villas Music (which you always so graciously mention, thanks!) ... just today, we received awesome masters from Ed Stasium (Ed's mixing our new songs) on 5 new Villas songs. Back-Channel me your current mailing address and we'll burn you a custom advance disc and FedEx it to ya!

And Bill, thanks again for taking a stand, again. Speaking out for what's right shouldn't be as rare a quality as it is around here (i.e., rare like extinct) ... but we know that's never stopped you from being a remarkably rare gem. Thanks again.

Bill Villa said...

Readers, FYI, today I filed a "Right To Know" request w/ the City Solicitor's Office.

My attorney and I will be closely examining the opinions and rulings Council President (for now) and community college teacher Mike D'Amore referenced on 9/15 as his justification for muzzling me and ejecting me from City Council under Police escort.

69 News has quoted the City Solicitor as saying the issue "needs to be further looked-into."

Quite possibly, the City Solicitor, the City of Allentown, and Allentown City Council fucked up royally on 9/15 ... and it's all on TV.

Sadly, and usually, the only way to properly dole out consequences, and punish people, is to take as much of their money as you can (e.g., via civil litigation).

Nuff said (for now).

Bill Villa said...

WORTH REPEATING DEPARTMENT

Bill Leiner Jr. said...
I just don't understand why people don't apologize if they made a mistake. Even if they feel they did not make a mistake, if they listen to someone who says they are offended by a remark or action they thought they did in good faith, there is no harm in saying I'm sorry. I was an elected official for 14 years, won all six contested elections I was in, and said I'm sorry to many who I had a misunderstanding with. People appreciate honesty, sincerity and apology. If you are all three you will be held in high regard by almost all (Not Shawn Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingrim, et al.). I hope you get the apology you are looking for. PS - Let me know when your next CD comes out.

Thu Sep 16, 07:48:00 PM 2010

Bill Villa said...

Readers, FYI ...

Attorney (for now) and "Troll Blog" originator Dave Najarian, Lynn Township Supervisor, weighs in "expertly" on the topic of this post (albeit at the allied safety of Chris Casey's blog) ...

Attorney (for now) Dave Najarian said...

"The 1st Amendment allows governmental redress, i.e. one's opportunity to address one's government for transgressions is protected, but content neutral limitations designed against persons who seek to obstruct governmental functions are constitutional. This is a two part question.

The first question concerns governmental redress. A personal vendetta against one's non-governmental albeit alleged action is not protected against content neutral limitations which permit the government to efficiently function. The context of alleged actions here have already been determined as non-governmental vis-a-vis the Allentown Ethic's Board." September 16, 2010 8:23 PM

--------

On a related subject, "attorney" Najarian represented himself in similarly "expert" fashion in a recent losing legal effort he initiated against me.

Just sayin'.

Anonymous said...

Najarian slyly misstates a legal doctrine called "res judicata." That is when a dispute has been decided upon and no longer has any standing to be re-argued. He appears to suggest that because a city body (the ethics board) saw no ethical violation in Donovan's behavior, then the subject matter of Villa's complaint (Donovan's behavior) somehow has become a non-govermental matter and not eligible for airing at a city council meting. Well, here's a beter analogy: An individual may be found "not guilty" of a crime in criminal court but then can be sued by the crime victim and found liable or negligent in civil court (remember OJ Simpson?). One does not preclude the other. Najarian's position is that because Donovan's behavior was not deemed violative of the ethics law, then Villa no longer has the right to request an apology. That's not a very creative thought process. As they say up there in Lowhill, "Thar's more than one way to skin a mule!''

Bill Villa said...

Wow. Well said. Thank you.

Q. Would attorney (for now) David C. Najarian care to comment and further confirm his brainlessness? Or will he "stay down" on the mat and spare hisself further painful humiliation?

Maybe consult (and conspire) w/ Rod Beck on this one?

Anonymous said...

This must be Najarian's home office ...

Anonymous said...

"Najarian slyly misstates"

Anonymous said...

"Najarian slyly misstates" and Co-Creates

Anonymous said...

"the ethics board saw no ethical violation in Donovan's behavior"

Anonymous said...

"Thar's more than one way to skin a mule!''