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During my two decades or so covering the Indiana Statehouse, I would occasionally get questions from readers and friends asking how I could stand to spend so much time in politics and government, a world many people assume is filled only with unethical people doing unethical things.
I truthfully answered that, for the most part, I loved the job, the issues I encountered and many of the people I covered.
Of course, I wrote plenty about wrongdoing—and wrongdoers—including stories about people who broke the law but more often about leaders accused of ethical lapses or conflicts of interest.
But I covered many good people trying to do great things. In fact, more often than not, I found that lawmakers, other public officials and especially the people working within an administration were well-intentioned and honest.
That’s why it’s so incredibly disappointing to see the news that former state Rep. Sean Eberhart, a Shelbyville Republican, has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge related to an alleged scheme in which he supported legislation beneficial to a casino company in exchange for a job.
According to federal prosecutors, Eberhart used his position as a lawmaker “to enrich himself by soliciting and accepting gifts, payments, and other things of value” from Spectacle Entertainment in exchange for “favorable official action, namely future employment at and compensation from Spectacle.”
House Speaker Todd Huston, who was the author of some of the legislation Eberhart is accused of taking bribes to influence, said he was “beyond disappointed and extremely frustrated” by the charge against Eberhart.
“Any such conduct runs counter to our core values and everything our assembly stands for and strives to protect—a trusted, credible and transparent institution that’s responsible only to Hoosiers,” he said.
Huston should be outraged, as should every other lawmaker and elected official in Indiana. Eberhart’s misdeeds are not unprecedented, of course. Two other former lawmakers have already been sentenced for crimes related to Spectacle Entertainment’s attempts to secure casino licenses.
Over the years, there have been other scandals involving public officials—sometimes related to legislative business, as in this case, and sometimes to personal indiscretions. And there are plenty of people who have come into government with good intentions only to be corrupted by power. Those cases reflects badly on the entire political system and undermine public trust in government.
Kudos to the FBI and others who brought the Spectacle-related cases to light. We suspect there will be more news related to the situation before it’s over.
And we urge the U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as state and local officials, to continue their work to root out corruption and hold government and political leaders accountable for their actions.
Legislative leaders, the Governor’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office and other agencies charged with holding officials accountable must set an example that bad behavior—whether illegal or unethical—in government won’t be tolerated. They should look for ways to make government and political systems more transparent so Hoosiers can feel more confident that leaders are looking out for the best interests of their communities, Indiana and its people.
Voters should hold those people who are not upholding the public trust accountable by booting them out of office. That’s the most powerful tool most of us hold.•
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Weidenbener is editor of IBJ. Email her at lweidenbener@ibj.com.
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