To the editor:

I frequently travel Becks Grove Road in my Van Buren Township comings and goings. I’m so tired of the bone-jarring ride it gives me. I know many others in the county have it bad, some worse than me.

And I’m sure plenty of others are just as disappointed as I am that money meant for our road repairs will instead go to something our elected officials assured us it never would: to pay the debt they made us responsible for when they got us into the entertainment business with the Brown County Music Center.

“Let’s just say, in three years, this thing goes bottom-up. It still would be here, but it goes bottom-up and Lizton Bank owns it. (Then) we start collecting property tax on it,” said council member Dave Critser about the music venue.

“(We) can’t do a bait-and-switch that way,” said commissioner Diana Biddle about using taxpayer funds, after giving assurances that it would never happen.

Those quotes were in The Democrat. I’ve never read of either of these officials questioning their accuracy.

But what I’m reading quite often is “no one could’ve known this would happen.” I’m sorry. That doesn’t work for me. Elected officials, excuse me folks. You jumped into a business venture, taking county taxpayers along. If ventures required no planning, preparation and recognition that not every conceivable outcome can be foreseen, we’d all be wealthy entrepreneurs. And there’d be no risk to involving government in every can’t-miss deal that comes along.

The best business models can go down in flames because of fire, natural disasters, untimely death, technological change, change in consumer demand, market saturation, litigation, changes in the law, and unlimited other reasons. Our debt must survive them all for 30 years.

So take solace in the knowledge you’re absolutely right — no one could’ve foreseen a pandemic. But responsible officeholders would realize that’s the point. A business venture is inherently risky and in ways not always predictable. You were obligated to safeguard our government assets, not gamble our future on unpredictable ventures. Leave that to the private sector.

This saga may be the best poster child ever for term limits.

Kevin Fleming, Brown County

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