SANDPOINT — The tension was palpable at Tuesday’s Bonner County commissioners meeting as community members waited to share their opinions about a recent special meeting regarding the structure of the Bonner County Fair Board.  

During the tail end of the commissioners’ business meeting, each commissioner shared their interpretations and intentions of the Dec. 4 meeting. Commissioners Brian Domke and Ron Korn continue to stand behind their decision to better define fair board roles and responsibilities, while Commissioner Asia Williams — absent from the special meeting — raised concerns about a lack of clarity with the meeting’s agenda. Community members also shared uncertainty of the fair board’s exclusion from the meeting.  

Discussion pertaining to Thursday’s special meeting started during Domke’s commissioner update. He began by sharing his appreciation for community members contacting him, while also addressing speculations and rumors circulating about the board’s decision to clarify that fairground employees are supposed to report to the county as opposed to the fair board.  

“I do appreciate that folks are contacting me to have conversations, to ask for information, to share ideas and concerns — I appreciate the dialogue,” Domke said. “I don’t appreciate false accusations and false information as compared to actually having conversations about the situation.” 

The claim of false accusations partially stems from comments made on Facebook, where community members accused Korn and Domke of deliberately scheduling the special meeting while Williams was at a different obligation. Domke said that the meeting was scheduled with the intention of all three commissioners participating. He offered to reschedule the meeting at a different time, where the offer was ultimately declined, according to Domke.  

He said that, following discussions with two county civil attorneys and receiving legal opinions, the board is now in the process of defining the separation of duties between the county and fair board. Domke noted that the process will be long and filled with many details and encouraged people to look for opportunities to participate in meetings and workshops.  

“Open dialogue is in order, and that will be very helpful and would be far better than some of the alternatives that have been happening,” Domke said.  

Korn expressed similar sentiments to Domke, noting that the only decision made during the special meeting was determining who the fair employees reported to.  

“We would not discuss the responsibilities of the fair board without the fair board,” Korn said. “I believe that past Boards of Commissioners have over-tasked volunteers; they should not be doing everything that they’re doing. They’re doing a lot. I want to commend them for everything they do. And I appreciate their service.”  

During her update, Williams shared that she was in open opposition to the meeting, sharing that the meeting’s agenda was vague and unclear to the public. She shared disappointment with the agenda and a Bonner County Prosecutor’s Office’s decision that the Dec. 4 meeting had not violated any open meeting laws.   

“I’m not coming out of left field saying that I think it was vague. It was vague and it used exactly what Open Meeting Law documents say we’re not supposed to do,” Williams said.  

Williams also noted that it was inappropriate for HR director Jonathan Holmgren to provide a legal opinion on the matter, which highlighted his concern of potential risk due to fairground employees being “unsure” of who they reported to.  

“It is not for an HR director to give a legal opinion. That’s for legal to do,” Williams said. “So now you have seven members on a fair board who were highly offended for having received that type of input.” 

Williams announced that her position on the matter ultimately stems from the vagueness of the agenda of the meeting, stating that she wouldn’t get into the granular content of the matter.  

During public comment on Domke’s commissioner update, a handful of community members spoke about the special meeting, sharing that the fair board felt blindsided by not being included in the special meeting. Most comments centered around the commissioning board’s potential inability to manage all events that occurred at the fairgrounds.  

“They were horribly blindsided,” Amy Lunsford said. “Those people are upset, they’re heartbroken, they’re hamstrung, they don’t know what to do anymore. Although I’m not sure what your intent is.” 

In an attempt to better understand the roles and responsibilities of the fair board, Domke and Korn participated in a special meeting Dec. 4 with the Human Resource department and legal. As a result of the meeting, commissioners unanimously determined and clarified that fairground employees receiving benefits and a paycheck from the county are responsible for reporting to the county as opposed to the fair board.  

The conversation stems from HR director Jonathan Holmgren’s professional opinion that the fair board had been overtasked with responsibility relating to events outside of the county’s fair. He further noted Idaho Code 22-204, which states that the “county fair board shall be charged with the care and custody of all property belonging to the county and used for fair purposes, and shall be responsible for all moneys received by it, raised by tax levy or levies for fair purposes as well as all receipts from the operation of the fair and any other moneys received from other sources for fair purposes.”  

Legal counsel noted that it was the county board’s responsibility to delegate tasks to the board, sharing that the board had never divested themselves of authority over the fairgrounds or the fair event.