Just days after news broke that the North Florida Fair Association spent thousands on a luxury retirement gift for its former leader, the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency Board is pausing funding for the fairgrounds as they await further information.
Leading the Sept. 11 discussion was Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor, one of a handful of local elected officials to speak out. He believed that Blueprint may have to cut off the checkbook.
“We put $30 million in the fair … It’s not clear what level of transparency there is,” Proctor said. “It’s not clear what voice we would have in decision making. It’s not clear that there is an understanding that this would be a public facility.”
The board moved ahead with his plan on a 9-3 vote, which will include a report at their upcoming agenda in November, when staff will come back with information on the history and current state of the funding project as well as lease information.
Neither Proctor nor any other board members referred to the purchase of a luxury watch for outgoing fair director Mark Harvey. Proctor did suggest the fair’s board appeared to “no longer believe in the core values.”
First reported by Red Tape Florida, the North Florida Fair Association voted to spend tens of thousands of dollars for a luxury watch, defending it as a worthwhile retirement gift for Harvey, who was paid a $174,000 yearly salary. That led to to the resignation of multiple board members.
Fairgrounds among many receiving Blueprint dollars
The Fairgrounds project is one of nearly 20 ongoing Blueprint projects, ranging from parks, roadway improvements, improvements at the animal shelter, and more.
In early 2024, the Blueprint board voted to accept the Fairgrounds Master Plan, prompting Blueprint staff to initiate the design phase to determine what the $30 million given to the project would go toward. Highlights include a new building featuring restrooms, new Capital Park ballfields, and parking improvements.
There’s also been discussion at the county commission on continuing the fairgrounds’ $1 lease, which must be resolved before staff can move ahead with other items. Leon County Commission chair Brian Welch assured that it would be a topic of conversation at the county’s Sept. 15 commission meeting.
Amid Proctor’s concerns came pushback from Tallahassee City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, who reminded Proctor how he had been a strong advocate for the beautification to take place. That’s why she said withholding money may not be the best course.
“You’ve been working on doing something at the fairgrounds for a very long time and, you know, we’d like to do it in your lifetime,” she said.
Leon County Commissioner Nick Maddox sided with Williams-Cox, saying that he didn’t “want to slow down the process.”
“We have worked too long, too hard to try to get the fairgrounds moving,” he said.
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Blueprint board halts fairgrounds funding over transparency fears after gift controversy
Reporting by Arianna Otero, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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