Commissioners Again Table Elimination of Fairgrounds Groundskeeper Position
- Nathaniel Smith | Editor-in-Chief
- Sep 2
- 5 min read
The Commissioners Meeting on the morning of Tuesday, September 2 provided more updates to the issue of the elimination of the fairgrounds groundskeeper position held by Randy Lee – a topic of passionate discussion at the previous commissioner meeting. Although the board was missing one key member – Commissioner Todd Ewen – business was still conducted.
The meeting began as usual with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer, followed by the approval of the agenda. Next, Lucy Brenton stepped up to make her public comment.
“I come to you this morning to talk about Randy Lee once again,” began Brenton. “For those of you who don’t know, he had a heart attack on Friday and ended up in emergency surgery. Apparently he had 90% blockage, and that’s what we call a 'widowmaker'. He is very lucky to be alive. Thank God for the good surgeon. So, for those of you who have been following Randy’s plight, obviously the stress has now gotten to him.
“Just before the last meeting, his wife took a fall and ended up with a concussion and was in the hospital. So, with that said, let’s not stress this poor man out anymore. Everytime I’ve gone to the county fairgrounds, they’ve looked great to me. I’ve gone to 4-H functions with my kids, and the buildings looked great, the bathrooms were functionally clean. So, what’s going on with Randy does seem to be a little bit of political backlash. I just want to say I stand in support of him.”
Brenton continued by asking why the Planning Commission meeting, which was scheduled for September 2 at 6:30 pm, was moved to September 9. According to Commissioner Phillip Marshall, this was likely due to Commissioner Ewen, the President of the Planning Commission, very recently testing positive for COVID-19.
“One of the things I want to briefly touch on, because I know my [commenting] time is coming to an end is the rights that you have recognized by God because we were lucky enough to be born into this country,” Brenton said. “We have the right to life, we have the right to liberty, and we have the right to the pursuit of happiness. If you have the right to life, of course, that’s your personal body and it extends to the things that you do with it. By the way, I am pro-life. The unborn baby in your uterus is not your DNA, so let’s just get that clear. The baby has the right to its own life. You don’t have the right to terminate that. Beyond that, you have the right to what your body produces, which is your labor. So, when you are tasked by the government, you’re nothing more than an economic slave. They are stealing that money from you, which is your labor, which is an extension of your personal body. You have the right to all of that in spite of what the government says. Second, with regard to your property rights, the rights of the property that you have accumulated with your labor is second only to those rights in your body. So, see me at the Planning Commission next Tuesday at 6:30 pm... Support us. We need your help, citizens.”
Misty Sullivan, another member of the gallery, had also signed up to make public comments regarding Randy Lee’s position.
“Good morning. I’m here to speak on behalf of Randy Lee,” Sullivan began. “Randy has been the groundskeeper for 15 years now. He has never been reprimanded, and he’s always dedicated his service. He takes care of the grounds, the buildings, setups, tear-downs, maintenance, checking the buildings, leaks, heat, air, everything like that. He helps with cleaning snow, he helps up here with the Courthouse whenever it’s needed. I don’t understand how we’re going to save money by eliminating his job and hiring a mowing crew. Do we have any paper bids on that yet other than the 'verbal' that Todd talked about a couple of weeks ago?”
“I can’t answer you on that one,” responded Commissioner Marshall.
“Just wanted it to go on record that it’s being asked,” said Sullivan. “Who will be responsible for all of the other jobs that Randy does throughout the year? Todd mentioned at the last meeting that getting Fair Board members and other people to help up there is getting harder and harder. So, if we eliminate the position of everything that Randy does, who is going to take over those responsibilities? Another question I know you cannot answer, but still I just want it in the record. According to Randy’s termination letter, his position was to be eliminated on August 23. Well, on August 25, a list of stuff was brought to Randy to have done before the races last Friday and the truck and tractor pulls. He put in over 50 hours trying to get all that done for the race. So, if his job was supposed to be done on the 23rd, why was that brought to him after the fact to get all of that stuff done for the race? Once again, something else I know you cannot answer. Something else I want to know is how can a non-elected board eliminate a county position?”
“That is a screwy situation,” replied Marshall. “This whole thing is. The commissioners own the fairgrounds, the Fair Board runs the fairgrounds during a fair. And then all the other events are pretty much left up to the commissioners… I’m not making excuses, but there are certain things I don’t get privy to, and this is one of them. When this came up the other day, based on the recommendation, the Fair Board wants to run it in a different way.”
“I think more stuff needs to be brought to light before that position is eliminated because I don’t think it’s fair or just how it’s being done,” Sullivan responded. “If it’s being brought across to save the county money, then show us that it’s going to save us money. Nothing has been produced showing us that it’s going to save us money. Todd isn’t here, but one other thing I would ask is that with a police investigation being ongoing between Todd and Randy Lee, I don’t think he should be able to vote on anything that has to do with Randy’s job. I believe it would be a conflict of interest.”
“I can answer your question about the 23rd,” stated Commissioner Tony Cardwell. “ I got with Todd, and seeing that at the last Commissioners Meeting we voted not to do away with the groundskeeper job at that time. So, I got with Todd and I basically said I’d take charge and go up there to have Randy do whatever. I called Rose and let her know, and everything has been running smoothly since then… That’s what happened in that situation. Everything got suspended for a bit until we can work through the unintended consequences and all that good stuff. So, there are a lot of questions to be answered.”
“I mean, I just don’t see or understand getting rid of a good employee that has dedicated time, money and energy to a job that he’s done well,” said Sullivan. “He would get up at all hours of the day whenever the need was there, and I don’t see other people getting up and doing it.”
With the commissioners once again tabling the discussion, the issue surrounding the security of Randy Lee’s position as the fairgrounds groundskeeper still remains in limbo. While the commissioners acknowledged lingering questions and complications, the matter remains unresolved, leaving the future of the position still to be determined.
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