FAIR GAME
There are two versions of the recent upheaval at the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop that resulted in the resignation of the CEO and dismissal of the volunteer fair board.
According to the former board members, the nit-picky city folk and annoying bureaucrats from Sacramento dug up petty financial and personnel “problems,” that were either unavoidable if the bean counters knew how a fairgrounds operated – volunteers do much of the bookkeeping and record keeping, so things get misplaced — or just so small they were not worth mentioning – who keeps all their credit card receipts? Plus, the state folks were mean and rude and overbearing and didn’t listen to the locals and generally picked on the well-meaning, experienced board and fair staff because of “politics” or personal conflicts.
The state audit at the heart of the dispute has a rather dry take on the situation, as expected from accountants and auditors. The audit points out 26 separate issues with the fairgrounds management and finances that range from rather small mistakes — $11,000 from a horse show going to the wrong account – to some eye-popping items – about $100,000 in money from beer sales over the years that never got to the fairground’s bank account. Then there is the list of issues with cash handling, expense reimbursement, free tickets, credit card documentation (for $267,000 worth of purchases) and personnel issues. Taken as a whole, it would be easy to understand how the state folks concluded the fairgrounds fiscal operation was sloppy and not up to basic bookkeeping standards.
The audit and the board agreed on one thing: There was no embezzlement or theft, and not even a hint of misuse of funds.
The former board members’ side of the saga got a full airing at a public meeting in Bishop on Wednesday.
The group (called board members in this story for convenience, even though they aren’t) focused almost exclusively on what they said was the unfair and biased handling of what became, essentially, the forced resignation of CEO Jen McGuire. She cited health reasons for resigning from the Tri-County Fair post and the same job at the Ventura County Fair. That the state suggested and approved her taking on both jobs is confirmation that she was seen as a rising star in the state fair world, it was duly noted.
The former board and the community in general had nothing but praise for the job McGuire has done since being hired in 2018 to dramatically increase use and revenue at the fairgrounds.
The auditors were not as complimentary.
One topic that got plenty of attention was the auditor’s claim McGuire had inappropriately applied for and received a PPP (Payment Protection Plan) grant of $59,000 during Covid. The fairgrounds was not eligible for the grant because it’s basically a state operation. The board said other fairs got the money, no one complained, etc. In the board’s response to the charge in the audit, the board said it would be contacting a lawyer to sort things out. The state replied it has lawyers and it thinks it’s right.
That highlighted one of the points of conflict and confusion about what “our fair” is and isn’t. It isn’t a local operation. It is a state operation. To quote the fair webpage: “The Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fair is also known as the 18th District Agricultural Association, a State Agency, part of the California Department of Food and Agriculture and Division of Fairs & Expositions.”
In all, the board members confirmed that all 26 items in audit were basically correct and didn’t flat out deny the findings in their official response to the audit. The responses did say the board was taking steps to correct the numerous alleged infractions, including creating new policies and procedures and increased training of staff and volunteers.
Confirming there were legitimate concerns and issues outlined in the audit was Leslie Chapman, former Inyo and Mono counties CAO, Mono Treasurer and Inyo Auditor Controller. “They need to fix a lot of stuff,” she said when asked by the board members to speak on her take on the audit, which she looked over as a citizen. The problems brought up in the audit “need to be corrected,” she added.
In reference to the last two fair CEOs before McGuire, Chapman called the financial operation “a shit show,” since both former CEOs were nabbed for embezzlement.
The fair needs “good controls in place” to govern issues around cash, payments, credit cards (the lack of receipts was “concerning”) and the whole list of financial issues in the audit, she said. The board can and has put a number of those new policies and procedures in place, she said. “Those issues are fixable.”
“Jen was an operations person,” Chapman said, “not an administrative person, that’s not her expertise.” So going forward, while the fair needs a CEO it “needs an accounting person, too.”
The audit noted several times that the separate, non-profit Friends of the Fair group was not operating completely independently, as required by CDFA regulations. Fair staff worked on Friends projects and several fair board members were also on the Friends board.
The audit also laid out numerous personnel moves that violated one or more the confusing multitude of state labor or employment laws or regulations for the CDFA.
During the meeting the board members defended the way the fair staff and volunteers operated. Board member Jaque Hickman noted that when McGuire was hired she didn’t have extensive experience in fairgrounds management, but the state did not offer training to her or the board. There is “no handbook” outlining the dos and don’ts of fair operations for the board or staff, she said. Thus, the board relied on its past experience. Several current board members have served for more than a decade and worked with the last four directors. The audit, however, cites numerous state policies and laws and CDFA procedures in its assessment of the issues it highlighted.
Regarding those audit issues, board member Judy Waggoner said the audit included “half-truths and a lot of lies.”
Waggoner and Hickman went into excruciating detail about the back and forth between the staff and board and various members of the California Department of Food and Agriculture over the entire audit process. Waggoner said the auditor that came to Bishop was “unprofessional” and asked “inappropriate questions.” Waggoner said she contacted the state Civil Rights Division to inquire about filing a complaint about the auditor but only requested a new auditor. That didn’t happen. “Then everything went sideways with the audit.”
After the audit was complete, a staffer at CDFA looked at it and said it was not that bad and he had seen worse. He helped devise the board’s answers to the audit points and predicted it would “be put in a drawer” and that would be the end of it, Hickman said.
That didn’t happen.
Another round of torturous phone calls and emails and lobbying without much of a response from the CDFA folks ensued. Finally, on June 24, the CDFA crew arrived, escorted by two California Highway Patrol Officers, and a two-hour meeting ensued. “I told them if they come with a noose and a branch, don’t come,” Hickman said. They did both.
The local board made clear there was no way it was going to fire McGuire, said Hickman, but it did offer to put her on a six-month leave.
The CDFA group already drafted a letter to terminate McGuire, said Hickman. “That play was written beforehand,” she said.
But there also seems to be a local co-playwright, since the board arrived with McGuire’s resignation letter, citing stress-related health issues.
As for the future and the fate of the fairgrounds, things remain unsettled. The state Civil Rights Division is looking into the entire situation. That has stalled the state taking action to appoint new fair board members and recruit and hire a new CEO.
The former board members said they want McGuire rehired as CEO and want to be reinstated as board members. Long-term, they floated the idea of the city of Bishop or Inyo County buying the fairgrounds land from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, cutting ties with the state and creating a truly local fair operation.
What is known is there is a state-appointed interim fair CEO in place and that the 2024 Tri-County Fair will go on as scheduled, since McGuire had planned and organized the massive event before her resignation.
