In My Opinion - by Bob Ruth
June 16, 2026 — Bob Ruth
Mayor Ike Stage last night defended his handling of more than $67,000 in missing taxpayer money from a group that organizes Grove City’s annual Wine and Arts Festival.
The mayor’s remarks came in a brief interview with In My Opinion involving a news article yesterday (June 15) in the Columbus Dispatch about Grove City Town Center Inc. The non-profit is being investigated by Grove City police and Ohio Attorney General David Yost’s office, according to the Dispatch.
The probes are focusing on Town Center Inc.’s late director, Andrew Furr, who died in January 2025. Town Center Inc., which Furr led since 2012, also organizes the bimonthly Food Truck Friday and other local events.
After Furr’s death, officials discovered $67,846 in taxpayer money could not be accounted for. Also, the organization had been fined by the IRS for filing two tax returns late, the Dispatch reported.
Town Center Inc. has received more than $600,000 in tax subsidies from Grove City since 2017, the newspaper added. Also, Furr received an additional $71,000 in a COVID economic-recovery loan from the federal Small Business Administration, according to the newspaper.
Stage was told of the missing money in late 2025, the Dispatch reported. But the public was never informed until at least six months later when the Dispatch ran its front-page article. Stage told the newspaper it was Town Center Inc.’s responsibility – not his – to inform the public. Like Stage, the non-profit did not publicly disclose the missing money until contacted by the Dispatch.
Stage told In My Opinion that the missing money came from the SBA loan, not from any revenue provided by Grove City taxpayers. The fact that the unaccounted-for money was federal revenue, not the city’s, put the onus on Town Center Inc. to inform the public, Stage argued. Also, he told City Council members of the scandal, Stage added.
In My Opinion strenuously disagrees. In an on-line article yesterday posted on ProtectGroveCity.org, this commentary likened Stage’s handling of the scandal to a cover up. In My Opinion stands by that assertion.
Stage is splitting hairs. Town Center Inc. has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Grove City taxpayers. If there was any question about the non-profit’s alleged misuse of taxpayer money, the public had a right to know – at once.
Stage apparently doesn’t get it. He is a public servant whose salary is paid by taxpayers. As mayor, he should immediately make public financial scandals within any organizations that receive significant subsidies from Grove City taxpayers.
Full and immediate public disclosure is the best way to ensure scandals like Town Center Inc. will not occur in the future. Passing the buck is no way to run City Hall.
