The Kosciusko County Fair Association annual dinner and meeting held Monday night resulted in two new board members being elected and the tabling of proposed bylaw changes.
The members-only meeting was closed to the media Monday, but Fair General Manager Jeanette Wood said 57 of the 130 voting members showed up.
The members re-elected Michael Bower to the board of directors and elected Ben Jacobs to replace retiring board member Randy Shepherd.
Proposed changes to association bylaws were tabled until next year’s annual meeting, Wood said. Discussion about the changes surrounded mostly around the appeals process and will be figured out by a subcommittee. While some members at the meeting volunteered to be a part of the subcommittee, who and how many have not been put in place yet. Board member Shane Checketts will head the subcommittee.
The proposed changes received some blowback at the Nov. 11 monthly fair board meeting. Association members present at that meeting claim the changes will allow the board of directors to have complete control over who can – or cannot – be a member, going as far as saying the board can kick people out who “say things they don’t like.” Those members also said that while the board has the authority to kick people out, the appeals committee consists of the same exact people.
The Kosciusko County Fair Board meets at 7 p.m. the second Monday of the month in the Shrine building at the fairgrounds.
