DRAFT MEETING MINUTES EXPOSE ALLEGATIONS, FAIR BOARD TO DISCUSS GENERAL MANAGER JOB

The Humboldt County Fair board has not renewed the employment contract of fair General Manager Stuart Titus. Today, the allegations about why are becoming more public. Board President John Burger says the position will be discussed at their next regularly scheduled meeting at the end of January. In the mean time, Titus has been asked to conduct “business as usual.”
The board discussed a special meeting scheduled for Thursday to talk about the search for a new G.M. but that meeting was cancelled late Wednesday afternoon. The board made the decision not to renew Titus’ employment in closed session on Monday. Wednesday Titus released a statement, alleging that the board’s decision was not based on job performance, but rather personal discrepancies about Titus’ enforcement of the Brown Act during public meetings and his role as a silent partner of the Ferndale Enterprise newspaper- how the board should be quote “made not look bad” in published articles.
Investigation into the allegations of Titus’ dismissal finds a draft copy of the minutes from the meeting from which Titus alleges his employment was questioned. The draft states on three separate occasions that Director Olsen “Questions Titus as to his understanding that this matter could impact his future employment with the association.”
News Channel 3 is obtaining further information as to the board’s knowledge of Brown Act enforcement. And the board at their May 21st meeting moved to wait for approval of these minutes until they could obtain recommendation of a legal council on the matter. Stay with News Channel 3 as the story develops.