Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Fair meeting ugly

About the best to be said of the Nov. 11, meeting of the Nevada County Fair Board is that it was ugly.

Tempers flared, names were called, accusations made and keys throws. Still, in the end, nothing was really resolved.

The meeting opened on a more upbeat note as Vicki McLelland said the 4-H is applying for two grants and wanted the Boards approval to continue with the application process.

One of the grants, if approved, would be used to help form a shooting club. The other is to help landscape the fairgrounds.

McLelland said shes talked to members of the Rose Garden Club and they will help determine what would work best at the fairgrounds. The grant amounts could be as much as $5,500 if approved.

Wed like to make the front of the building more attractive, she said. We want to use native plants, and it would be a learning experience for the kids. It will take all of us working together.

According to McLelland, a lot of children are members of the 4-H clubs, and their parents will help out on the two projects. The Board approved going ahead with the application process.

However, the applications must be in by Nov. 30.

Rebecca Holley, Board president, said an additional $1,650 was deposited into the general account. Of this, $1,500 is from the county for insurance, with $150 from Julie Oliver for a class reunion held recently.

According to Holley, the Nevada County Quorum Court has agreed to budget $3,000 toward insurance for the 2006 fair.

At this point the meeting began going downhill. Holley said the special called meeting held in October wasnt called as a fair board meeting.

John Henderson spoke up, saying the meeting was called by Clark Crellin, the vice president.

I was told to come to the meeting, be quiet and listen to what was said, Holley said. Ive talked with officials and was told that cant be done and decisions made cant be called null and void because someone doesnt like them.

The Nevada County Judge and Mayor of Prescott, Henderson said, dont run the fair board, adding it was a called meeting.

There was a considerable argument between Holley and members of the Board, some who havent attended a meeting in more than a year and others who show up sporadically.

She said as far as shes concerned the special meeting didnt take place, and the recent problems stem from the Boards September meeting, where there were threats of lawsuits and people wanting refunds because of the way the fair pageants were handled. I said we should remove Lisa (McClure) from the pageant till it was all worked out.

Henderson said the best thing the Board can do is nothing, as people have threatened to sue before. As far as the pageants are concerned, he added, all judges decisions are final.

This has nothing to do with removing Lisa till we deal with it, Holley said.

There were accusations about accounts being moved, though none were. However, there was some apparent confusion about who gets the bank statements. Holley received them, but said she had asked for a copy to be sent to her, not the statement itself.

She also said Carol Tyree has been asked to provide a financial statement, but refused.

Tyree disagreed. But, the treasurers report she furnished to the Board only shows account balances and includes a statement that $23 was spent for postcard stamps.

The arguing became more heated, with Holley throwing her keys on the table and leaving the meeting, telling members of the Board what they could do with it.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, and Board member, said the pageant committee meeting got ugly and she thought it would come to blows.

Godwin said McClure gave her all she had in the way of receipts from the pageant. It was decided the information will be taken to Dalrymple-Crain Accounting because there were some apparent discrepancies. Brad Crain will do a financial review of the account, which will be ready for the Boards January meeting.

In fact, the election of officers, nullified at the special meeting in October, will be held in January as well.

Jake Tyree suggested talking to people to see if they were interested in serving as officers and presenting a slate at the January meeting. James Cannon said there would be no problem having a nominating committee, but the Board cant say a slate are the ones to be elected. Nominations must be taken from the floor as well.

It was decided to set up the checking accounts to have more than one person sign checks. It was also discussed to remove Holley from all accounts, but not done. Until the January meeting, she remains Board president.