POCATELLO — The Bannock County Commissioners on Friday suspended members of the Bannock County Fair Board until further notice and ordered that an outside entity conduct an audit.
Concerned over how money is being handled and whether all who use the north and south fairground facilities are being treated equally, Bannock County Prosecutor Steve Herzog asked the commissioners to conduct the audit.
Ian Service, chief civil deputy for the county, said that during the course of his work to fashion an ordinance that empowers the Fair Board in a way that is compliant with Idaho statutes, he found some discrepancies
that concerned him.
Service said he consulted with Herzog, his boss, and advised that those concerns should be looked into further.
“Mr. Herzog and myself found there was some disorganization there, and we want to look into that deeper,” he said, adding that it is county money be-
ing spent, and they want to ensure that “everyone is being invoiced equally, everybody is paying the same fee schedule and everyone has equal access to our fair properties.”
Herzog and Service brought these concerns to the Bannock County Commissioners Friday afternoon during an emergency meeting, which began with Commissioner Howard Manwaring making a motion that they go into executive session to consult with the attorneys.
Service later explained that Idaho Statutes allow for the commissioners to go into executive session under certain conditions during an emergency meeting, including the need to discuss potential legal issues.
All three commissioners voted to go into the executive session, which lasted about an hour. Once the session was completed, the commissioners went back into the regular meeting which was open to the public.
That portion of the meeting was also brief, lasting about five minutes. It began with Commissioner Steve Hadley making a brief statement.
“We have been asked by the prosecuting attorney not to answer any questions pertaining to this issue that we just discussed in executive session,” Hadley said.
Manwaring then made a motion, this time to suspend the Fair Board.
Based on request of the Bannock County Prosecutor and preceding meeting, I make the following motion that effective immediately, the Bannock County Commission suspend the current Fair board, chairman of the Fair Board, and hereby send notice to the county that all Fair Board activities be immediately suspended, including Fair Board meetings, any decisions, discussions, financial transactions connected to the county, including the fairs and all entities, associates, at any time during the period of the suspension,” Manwaring began his motion.
He also included the requirement that the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office secure all records at the fairgrounds that may pertain to the audit.
That motion was also unanimously approved.
Relations between the Bannock County Commission and the Bannock County Fair Board have been tense during the past few months.
A year ago, the commissioners asked Service to look into whether the Fair Board was operating within Idaho statutes. He determined it was not and fashioned an ordinance spelling out the Fair Board’s role that he believed would comply with Idaho statutes.
Under that new ordinance, which was adopted by the commissioners last fall, the Fair Board had complete management authority over Bannock County’s two fairs and took on an advisory role in all other matters.
The old board was disbanded and a new seven-member board was formed under the new ordinance.
But the Fair Board’s new role was met with substantial resistance. At a meeting earlier this month, Manwaring chided the Fair Board members and made a motion to repeal the new ordinance, to temporarily give the Fair Board authority only over the two fairs, and to hold a meeting April 30 to hash out what it is everyone believes is needed in a new ordinance.
After Friday’s meeting, Service said the primary concern is now the integrity of the county and its fairgrounds’ operations. Of concern also, he said was that everyone was treated equally when accessing the fairgrounds.
Service declined to comment in any detail about the depth of the audit and the concerns in that regard.
“I won’t comment on what indications our investigation will go into or the audit will go into,” he said. “We want to make sure there is no improprieties, we want to make sure there is no misuse of county funds.”
He also said the audit was not of a criminal investigation nature.
(3) comments
Yes, Jimmy you should have identified who is on the fair board. The commissioners are playing a ball and shell game to keep the public guessing on who is in, who is out, who is back in. The last I heard was that Dale Almond had been reappointed as the chairman of the country club, I mean the fair board. That was an extremely poor choice and the one that I'm sure Steve Hadley is getting his panties in a wad over. The citizens of Bannock County have repeatedly said GET RID OF DALE ALMOND! He has his own agenda and I'm sure what spurred the audit. Steve Herzog seems to be a fair and level headed guy, so let him do his work. If Hadley is chastising the public for being involved in fair board meetings, what has he got to hide? He should in fact apologize to Moonbeam and be put on a short leash. People should be involved in governing themselves and not criticized publically for participating. Hadley sure rocks back on his knuckles when Almond speaks.
Pokyfree,
If you would have ever been to a fair board meeting you would already know who was on the board. But for your information the only one who does any talking is the chairman. Shame on the rest of the board for never having their own input. But yes I think all their names should have been in the article also. I do attend the fair board meetings & I have been the only member of the public there since the new board was appointed. They have been operating outside the law for a long time under the direction of the chairman. When this all started & I asked the question of why the commissioners reappointed the same chairman to a board that had been operating outside the law. At the next meeting in the chambers of the commissioners Steve Hadley chastised me for asking that question & he apologized to the chairman of the fair board for my question. It was a valid question that not only I had. One should never ever be chastised for asking questions in a public meeting. I am a tax payer like everyone else. Steve Hadley owes me a very big public apology. A couple of years back the chairman of the fair board fixed it so there could be no public comments at the meeting unless you were on their approved agenda. At the fair board meeting on 4/7/14 I did make a comment. At the next fair board meeting on 4/21/14 my wife & I were there. The chairman had my comment stricken from the minutes. He also had many changes made because he did not like them. Not one of the other members of the fair board said a word & voted to let him change the minutes to read as the chairman wanted them, not the real way they were taken. I think that may also be a violation of the law. I thank Howard & Karl for having the guts to stand up and start fixing this problem. It would behoove anyone who has an opinion about the fair board to be at the meeting on 4/30/14 at 6 pm. I will be there. I will be looking forward to Steve Hadley's apology to me [beam]
Two of journalism's core 5 W's are "why" and "who". So why, Jimmy Hancock, didn't you identify who comprises the Fair Board?
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