Op-Ed: Secrecy, Eminent Domain, and the Erosion of Public Trust in Kentucky
By Jonathan Schaafsma, LtCol USMC (Ret.),
What do a runway, a data center, and pickleball courts have in common? In Kentucky, the answer is secrecy and a troubling disregard for taxpayer voices.
In Bourbon County, we recently witnessed the unraveling of the controversial Bluegrass Station Airport proposal—a $300 million-plus project that would have used eminent domain to seize private citizens’ land for the benefit of private corporations. Worse, it was quietly slipped into the state budget without any public input. It was only thanks to a vigilant citizen who uncovered the plan that the project came to light, sparking a wave of public outrage.
Eventually, lawmakers removed it from the 2024 budget, but the damage was done. The proposal exposed a deep and growing problem in our government: a culture of secrecy around how taxpayer dollars are spent and who really benefits.
One might assume that the outcry surrounding this fiasco would serve as a wake-up call for lawmakers. Surely, after such backlash, they’d take public input more seriously and rethink how projects involving eminent domain and public funds are handled. Unfortunately, they’ve done just the opposite.
In the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers quietly expanded a lucrative tax credit for data centers—facilities that typically create very few jobs while consuming enormous amounts of electricity and water. These resources, by the way, are becoming more scarce and costly for everyday Kentuckians. The public didn’t get a say. In fact, they didn’t even get a heads-up.
Case in point: Oldham County’s massive “Project Lincoln.” A $6 billion data center project, the proposal was revealed only after the Legislature had adjourned—perfect timing to avoid legislative or public scrutiny. Planned for farmland, the project would have required major infrastructure investment and significant land use changes, including the likely use of eminent domain. Local taxpayers would foot the bill in the form of infrastructure costs, while the private entity behind the project reaped the rewards.
Meanwhile, in Louisville, a beloved public park became the target of yet another behind-closed-doors public-private partnership. Like the airport project, this deal had been in the works for years before the public found out. And just like before, elected officials acted shocked—insisting they knew nothing, even as documents and timelines suggested otherwise.
These are not isolated incidents. They represent a pattern—a troubling trend toward secrecy, backroom deals, and a fundamental erosion of public trust. In each case, the process has been the same: a major project with significant public impact is discussed and advanced in private, then revealed only after key decisions have been made. Public input is treated as an obstacle, not a requirement.
To be clear, no Kentuckian should be against economic development or sound financial planning. Kentucky should absolutely be investing in its future, and has already spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in recent years developing industrial parks across the state more suited for these types of projects.
But the current model—where public money, eminent domain, and local communities are leveraged to benefit private corporate interests behind closed doors—isn’t economic development. It’s crony capitalism.
The rise of lobbying in Frankfort only reinforces this concern. Lobbying expenditures are at a record high. As concerned citizens, we were advised to hire our own lobbyists just to make sure our voices could be heard in the halls of government, because our grassroots outreach wasn’t enough. That’s not how democracy is supposed to work.
Constituent voices should be the priority—not an afterthought that must compete with corporate dollars.
Transparency isn’t optional. When taxpayer dollars are involved—whether through public-private partnerships, tax incentives, or infrastructure projects—there must be full disclosure and public engagement. This is especially true when projects require eminent domain or result in permanent changes to communities and landscapes.
It’s time for Kentuckians to demand better. We must hold our elected officials accountable. We must insist on transparency, public participation, and responsible stewardship of our resources. Whether the issue is a runway in Bourbon County, a data center in Oldham, or pickleball courts in Louisville, the principle is the same: public decisions must involve the public.
Silence and secrecy erode trust. It’s time to restore it.
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Jonathan Schaafsma, LtCol USMC (Ret.), is a commercial pilot by trade, and he and his family also operate a Bourbon County farm. Citizens for Bourbon County is a 501(c)(4) formed by local citizens for the purposes of helping inform elected leaders and the public of the dangers of the Bourbon County Bluegrass Station Airport project. The group is advocating for the passage of eminent domain reform in Frankfort during the 2026 Legislative Session.
