With more than 100 elected officials in the north county, you would think there would have been some kind of proactive effort to work with the Brooks-TLC Hospital System board of directors in the last five years. Sadly, especially for those in Silver Creek and Hanover, those you chose to represent your interests have let you down.

They did nothing to help prevent or even discuss the crisis in Irving that has been documented over the last seven years in this newspaper. In fact, with one exception in outgoing Fredonia Mayor Athanasia Landis, those elected have been slow to react to anything that has happened with the two major health-care providers in recent years. Even in Dunkirk, Common Council members seem uninterested in what is happening at Brooks and its potential move out of the city.

Sure, there was a rally last February. But that was spearheaded by non-elected official Frank Beach — and he had not even decided at that time he would be running for the council at-large seat in November. His effort was due to a lack of inaction by the city.

In Irving, the damage has been done. In 25 days, the facility will be closed.

Those from the state, county, town and village may be talking now about how “devastating” the situation is for the area, but the milk has already spilled.

What did those elected officials do about this for the last five years of the facility’s turmoil? Absolutely nothing.

Remember that next time they celebrate some five-figure grant. They sat silent while a $30 million entity — community supported, by the way — prepared to shut its doors.