In My Opinion - by Bob Ruth
June 15, 2026 — Bob Ruth
Another scandal. Another attempt by Mayor Ike Stage to cover up potentially unfavorable news from taxpayers.
The latest scandal to rock Stage’s administration involves the potential misuse of at least $67,000 in taxpayer money by the late director of Grove City Town Center, Andrew Furr. The scandal was documented in an article on the front page of the June 15 edition of the Columbus Dispatch.
Furr’s alleged crooked dealings involving the taxpayer-financed organization are under investigation by state Attorney David Yost and the Grove City police, according to the Dispatch. Town Center sponsors such popular Grove City events as the Wine and Arts Festival and the bimonthly Food Truck Friday shindigs.
Furr, 59, was appointed Town Center director in 2012 and died in January 2025.
One of the most disturbing aspects of the news article is Stage’s attempt to cover up the scandal. His administration became aware of Furr’s alleged mishandling of Town Center’s money in late 2025. However, the mayor never informed taxpayers. He left it up to the non-profit organization to inform the public, Stage lamely explained to the Dispatch. Like theStage administration, Town Center also did not make the scandal public.
Notice to Mayor Stage: This scandal involves our money – taxpayers’ money. As the mayor of Grove City, you are obligated to tell taxpayers – the folks who pay your salary – of any potential misdeeds involving the spending of our money. Don’t try to push that obligation for transparency onto some other organization. The buck stops with you, Mayor Stage.
The Stage administration appears to be engaged in similar tactics involving unexplained delays in processing public-records requests for documents surrounding Grove City’s proposed data center.
One public records request was filed seven weeks ago. Another was filed five weeks ago. Neither request has been filled. And the Stage administration has not given the requesters any reasons for the delays.
The administration’s stonewalling forced one of the requesters to file a complaint with the Ohio Court of Claims. Citizens should not be forced to go to court to have their public records requests filled.
And don’t give us the same lame excuse that other politicians have been using for decades – “We can’t comply with your requests quickly because we have too many other public records requests to handle.”
Grove City taxpayers have a right to know how City Hall conducts its business and spends our money. And one of the most important ways of informing us is through timely responses to public records requests.
