The Comanche County Fair board fired Executive Director Richard Poole and Chef Todd Fischer during a special meeting Wednesday night, with the vote taken behind closed doors in executive session. Both men were ordered to return their keys immediately and were given a two-hour window Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., to collect personal items.
Oklahoma law allows public bodies to go into executive session to discuss personnel matters, but it requires any vote on that business to be taken publicly, with each member’s vote cast and recorded in open session. Attorneys offered conflicting opinions to the Lawton Constitution on whether the board’s closed-door vote ran afoul of that requirement. One attorney said plainly that discussion happens in private but the vote must happen in public.
The firings follow a string of reports involving the fairgrounds: allegations of improper use of a county purchasing card, a lease Poole signed without authority, and an ABLE Commission investigation citing 240 alcohol-related offenses against the property. A hearing on those citations is scheduled for Dec. 7 in Comanche County District Court. After emerging from executive session Wednesday, the board elected Marty New as chairman, Josh Sullivan as vice chairman, and Tyler Glover as treasurer.
This involves a public trust authority, county taxpayer money, and a fairgrounds that hosts everything from livestock shows to community events. So we want to hear from you: should public boards be required to cast personnel votes in open session, or is there a case for keeping them private?
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