Fair board meets Nov. 16 – time to submit a theme
By Mari Erin Roth
Staff Writer
The Fair Board is set for its next regular meeting, Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 5 p.m. in Quincy at the Fairgrounds. The meetings are open to the public with time for public comment at the very beginning of the meeting. There are generally one or two members of the public attending.
Submit a theme for the 2023 Fair
A topic for the Fair Theme will be chosen at the next meeting so if anyone has ideas for the theme, submit them to Fair Manager John Steffanic at 283-6272 or online at plumas-sierracountyfair.net before the 5 p.m. meeting Nov. 16 and the board will choose the theme from the submissions.
For the last meeting, held in person on Oct. 12, the agenda was short and the meeting was anticipated to be equally short. Fairgrounds Manager Steffanic jokingly greeted board members as they arrived before the 5 p.m. starting time, “S’up!” followed by an amusing short story of welcome. A mini discussion of the agenda took place.
During his report, which generally kicks off most points of discussion, two informational bits were delivered. One, the State Rules for Fairs and Expositions had not yet responded to a request for a determination from last month’s meeting. Two, Steffanic responded to the questions regarding fairgrounds employment needs/requests. The board wanted to address the small number of staff that work on the large list of tasks reviewed each meeting and commented if more staff could not be utilized to complete the list more quickly. The board inquired whether employees were being sought, “Are you looking right now?” The board asked if Steffanic had considered getting some office help. “I would love it, just no one is stepping up,” said the Fair Manager. “We had six applicants since spring and all six were hired,” said Steffanic. “No one else applied. Janitors, maintenance, landscaping, we made full use of whatever was made available to us.” Employment advertisements began in the Spring of 2022 for office help, maintenance, landscaping, and janitorial workers. Of the six that applied and were hired, two took over the flower projects on a part time basis after Fred Surber retired. The rest were maintenance workers who worked full time throughout the season. Following up on a request from the previous board meeting, Steffanic ran down the list of each specific hire and the tasks they were assigned to during the year, and what the project status and that of the employee was currently.
The board was interested in receiving “a list of projects that would require helpers.” A detailed task and status list is presented prior to approval of the annual budget each year. Progress on projects is reported at each board meeting during the Managers Report with detailed updates on cost, material, labor, prognosis for completion, and current position on the priorities list throughout the year. The board proposed a list of immediate project priorities be made. Steffanic said he has a “before the snow flies” list. Steffanic said that list will be presented to the board.
Exhibit guide
Every year the Fair Manager checks with FFA and 4H for any group rule changes. The rules are printed in the schedule as relayed, unedited. “There was a year something was in that should not have been and it was then taken out,” said Steffanic; 2013 was the guesstimated year. Who are the people who relay the information of what has changed in their group and what has not? “The changes came from whomever was sitting in the office at 4H or FFA and that is what was put in the guide,” said Steffanic. The Board members discussed this information. The question still comes down to 4H and FFA groups making their own rules and sharing what they want to have in the Fair guide regarding their club rules. It was discussed and clarified during discussion that it is not up to the Fair board to decide who can sell from FFA or from 4H clubs. Fair regulations are open to anyone showing at the fair. The Livestock Committee, however, can determine who can sell. It is possible that people may be able to show but not sell. Steffanic expressed that taking action to prevent people from showing is most likely a conflict with state rules and any infringement of that sort is a concern to the Fair Manager. Without a determination from the State Rules for Fairs and Expositions, any decisions on the mater of Livestock rule changes was put off until the Nov. 16 meeting, tomorrow.
The board discussed disallowing out-of -ounty persons from showing and thus making them ineligible to sell at the livestock auction. Steffanic said, “The fair allows club members in good standing to participate in showing their animals. The fair board cannot prohibit those people from showing at the fair.” A line of verbiage in the Fair Guide was discussed that states only County residents can participate in showing or livestock selling. It was determined during the board discussion that this was probably not a 4H or FFA rule. Steffanic stated that changes have not been made to the Fair Guide rules section, they are state rules. Another line in the Fair Guide that was discussed states that champions must sell and showing is to be by people who are members in good standing of County clubs. These are not fair rules and the fair does not change that. They are reprinted from the participating clubs. The summary of Changes to State Rules, the Independent Junior Livestock Exhibitors guidelines, 4H information, and FFA information are all available for viewing on plumas-sierracountyfair.net.
A point of agreement
The board voted to accept an agreement from the CDFA and request disbursement of the allocated funds. The state “likes” to see a note in the minutes that the Fair Board votes to receive the distribution money. There was no argument on that. The vote passed unanimously.
The 2022-2023 budget
The County approved their County budget Oct. 7 which included the proposed budget from the Fair Board. Board members already had approved the Fair 2022-23 budget and there are no changes to be made, “It is what it is,” said Steffanic. A vote was taken to approve the County budget for the Fairgrounds, and it passed unanimously. Tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 16, is the next Fair Board meeting at 5 p.m. at the Fairgrounds. The only reason the board didn’t meet every month was either no quorum or there was a decision to not meet made by the board.
