Martin County Fair opens under cloud of exec director's resignation; search to begin next month
MARTIN COUNTY — The Martin County Fair opens Friday with a cloud over its head. Its executive director quit last month, making accusations of "serious financial misrepresentations" on applications for state funding to help move the fairgrounds to a new location. Moreover, that upheaval may jeopardize the move altogether.
The board of the Martin County Fair Association, which puts on the annual event, won't even begin discussing finding a replacement for Kasey Ingram Mullen until March, board President Chester Edwards said Wednesday.
“We want to put this behind us,” Edwards said of the allegations by Mullen, a radio talk-show host on WSTU-AM.
County lawyers are reviewing the matter, County Commission Chair Harold Jenkins said. Officials of the County Attrorney's Office were unavailable for comment.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office is not investigating Mullen's allegations, a spokeswoman said, and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services so far has found no improprieties in the fair's applications for financial help in its move to an 80-acre fairgrounds in Indiantown.
"Based on the information available, our review found that the fair’s applications followed all applicable department polices and state law," Aaron Keller, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said in an email.
Ensuring the move
Edwards said he wants to ensure any agreements between the Fair Association and the county are still in place. The county owns the proposed new fairgrounds and would lease it to the association for the fair and other events.
The association has been trying for seven years move the fair to the Treasure Coast Agriplex or Agricenter site on Southwest Citrus Avenue, adjacent to Indiantown High School. The current site — on Dixie Highway in unincorporated Martin County near Stuart — is only 11 acres.
When the association board meets next month, a committee of three board members will evaluate applicants for executive director, Edwards said.
Mullen had said she hoped to relocate the fair to Indiantown next year, but Edwards last month said that's not going to happen. A move for 2026, though, is not unrealistic, Edwards said.
Jenkins, however, said he is concerned Mullen's resignation and the subsequent upheaval might be the final setback for the fair's move. Still, he admitted Thursday he is "not completely up to speed on the details."
More: Top administrator for Martin County Fair quits; will it jeopardize a new fairgrounds?
More: Can radio host KC Ingram jump-start long-discussed plans for the Treasure Coast Agriplex?
The fair association needs $3.4 million to move the fair to Indiantown, and already has $1.7 million in grants and $1.7 million available to borrow, Edwards said. Additional grant money may be coming, he said.
Fair to go on
The fair is the biggest event in the county each year, drawing more than 70,000 people for the food, the rides and the youth livestock show. A staff of mostly volunteers puts on the fair, and the money raised goes to maintaining operations, putting on other community events and for opportunities for youth.
Keith Burbank is TCPalm's watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com and at 720-288-6882.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Martin County Fair board to talk next month about finding new director
