New records reveal Fair Board’s ‘Funding Committee’ held closed-door meetings on how to spend $1 million in state grant funds
Editor's Note: The Prineville Review is a content partner with KTVZ News through the Oregon Journalism Project
By: Justin Alderman
Prineville, Ore. (Prineville Review) — Newly released Crook County Fair Board records are providing substantially more detail about a previously undisclosed Funding Committee that met privately to discuss how Crook County should spend $1 million in state funding for horse-racing facilities — and appear to conflict with claims the County is now relying on to argue the committee was not subject to Oregon’s Public Meetings Law.
The Prineville Review first reported last month that Fair Board records revealed a three-member “Funding Committee” had begun meeting outside the Fair Board’s regular public meetings without any publicly available notices, agendas, minutes or recordings.
April Fair Board minutes identified Fair Board members Casey Kaiser, Gail Merritt and Larry Blanton as members of what county records described as a “Fair board committee.” Those records stated the committee would begin meeting May 7th to discuss “how money will be spent.”
The revelation prompted additional scrutiny and was subsequently included in a lawsuit filed by this reporter in Crook County Circuit Court challenging alleged violations of Oregon’s Public Meetings Law.
Newly available Fair Board minutes — along with video recordings of those meetings reviewed by the Prineville Review — have provided a clearer picture of the Funding Committee’s work, who was involved and how its activities were being reported back to the Fair Board.
The records show the committee was discussing how Crook County would use a $1 million state appropriation for horse racing at the Crook County Fairgrounds, including disagreement over what projects were legally eligible for the funding.
The money was approved by the Oregon Legislature earlier this year through House Bill 5204 (see page 8), the state’s 2026 budget reconciliation measure. The legislation appropriated $5 million, divided into $1 million each for Crook, Harney, Josephine, Tillamook and Union counties. The appropriation was intended to support horse-racing events at county fairgrounds, including maintaining racing tracks and building or maintaining infrastructure that enhances or protects the safety or well-being of racehorses.
That language appears to have become a significant subject of the Funding Committee’s discussions.
Funding Committee met privately as questions emerged over use of $1 million
During the Fair Board’s May 18th meeting, an agenda item identified as “Funding Info Committee Update” was presented by Fairgrounds Manager Casey Daly.
According to the official minutes, Daly told the Fair Board that the committee had met the previous week and that there was “a difference in how the money would like to be spent.” Daly further reported that the committee was waiting to hold a conference call with the Oregon Racing Commission.
The committee’s discussions also brought the Oregon Racing Commission into the process at a time when the state agency has faced its own scrutiny over transparency involving money connected to Oregon’s racing industry.
Last year, our partners at the Oregon Journalism Project also reported that the Racing Commission had stopped publicly disclosing company-specific wagering figures that had been released for more than a decade. The decision, made without a formal vote of the commission, surprised Gov. Tina Kotek’s office and drew criticism over transparency surrounding an industry responsible for billions of dollars in online wagering.
The commission reversed the decision the following day, after the Oregon Journalism Project’s reporting, and resumed disclosure of the figures.
The entry confirms not only that the committee had been meeting, but that information about its deliberations was subsequently presented directly to the Fair Board as part of the board’s regular meeting.
Crook County has not revealed if the Funding Committee was even taking minutes or recording the meetings.
The committee again appeared as a specific discussion item during the Fair Board’s June 15th meeting.
This time, Daly was not present. The official minutes identify Parker Gales as the staff member attending the meeting and later expressly state that Daly was absent, requiring Gales to present the manager’s report in his place. Despite Daly’s absence, “Funding Committee Updates” remained an item of business before the Fair Board.
Gales reported that a conference call was scheduled. Fair Board member Larry Blanton then told the board that County Commissioner Susan Hermreck and county administration were still conferring about the next step for the $1 million grant.
Kaiser added that discussions were occurring over what projects could be completed with the money — specifically whether the grant was limited to projects involving the safety of horses or could be used more broadly for projects not directly related to horse racing.
Records raise questions over County’s defense of private meetings
The newly documented discussions have taken on added significance following Crook County’s response to the lawsuit seeking to stop the County from holding the meetings in private.
The County has denied that the Funding Committee constituted a governing body subject to Oregon’s Public Meetings Law, contending in part that the committee was created by Fairgrounds Manager Casey Daly and made recommendations only to Daly, rather than to the Fair Board.
That distinction is important under Oregon’s Public Meetings Law — but it involves more than simply identifying the person who ultimately delivers a committee’s report.
County Counsel Eric Blaine has previously explained to other Crook County officials that an advisory committee does not necessarily fall outside the Public Meetings Law simply because its recommendations pass through a single public official before reaching a governing body. Blaine has discussed that distinction on multiple occasions, including in advising the County’s Natural Resources Advisory Committee and the Fair Board itself.
Under that distinction, the relevant question is whether a committee was appointed by an individual public official for the purpose of providing advice or recommendations to that official in support of decisions the official is authorized to make individually.
By contrast, an individual official cannot simply serve as a conduit through which a committee’s recommendations are transmitted to a governing body whose decisions those recommendations are ultimately intended to inform.
The County’s defense maintains that Daly created the committee and that its recommendations were made to him. But the Fair Board’s own records repeatedly identify the committee as Fair Board business and document the substance of its work being reported directly to the board.
The May minutes then placed a “Funding Info Committee Update” before the Fair Board, with Daly reporting that the committee had met, that there was disagreement over how the money should be spent and that the committee was awaiting a conference call with the Oregon Racing Commission.
The distinction becomes even more pronounced in June.
Daly — the individual the County now says was the intended recipient of the committee’s recommendations — was not present at the meeting at all. Nevertheless, “Funding Committee Updates” again appeared as Fair Board business, and Gales, Blanton and Kaiser discussed the grant process directly before the board.
The June discussion included the involvement of Commissioner Hermreck and county administration, the next steps for the $1 million grant and disagreement over what types of projects could legally be funded.
Commissioner, Roundup representatives also involved
Review of the Fair Board meeting recordings has also provided additional information about who participated in the Funding Committee’s work.
While the April minutes initially identified Kaiser, Merritt and Blanton as the three Fair Board members serving on the committee, subsequent Fair Board discussions revealed that the process also involved County Commissioner Susan Hermreck and individuals connected with the Crooked River Roundup, the nonprofit organization that oversees the annual horse races at the Crook County Fairgrounds.
The Roundup’s involvement is significant because the $1 million state appropriation is specifically connected to horse-racing events and facilities.
Fair Board discussions also show the committee was communicating with, or preparing to communicate with, officials from the Oregon Racing Commission.
The May minutes state that the committee was waiting for a conference call with the Racing Commission. The June minutes document another scheduled conference call as county officials continued discussing the appropriate use of the grant.
The extent of participation by Hermreck and representatives of the Crooked River Roundup provides another area of scrutiny over the committee’s composition and purpose, particularly as the County maintains that it was created solely by Daly to advise him.
It was also not clear if the involvement of officials with the Crooked River Roundup would be presented with potential or actual conflicts of interest under Oregon’s ethics laws, which apply to members of governing bodies who are required to publically disclose those conflicts during public meetings on the record.
Committee repeatedly appeared in Fair Board business
The Funding Committee was not an isolated reference in Fair Board records. Its activities were repeatedly mentioned beginning in April, when Fair Board records first disclosed the committee and stated that it would have its first meeting on May 7th. This included not only the meeting minutes, but the meeting agenda notices.
The May records then confirmed that a meeting had occurred and reported some of the substance of the committee’s deliberations to the Fair Board.
The June records again listed a Funding Committee update and documented additional discussion before the Fair Board concerning the committee’s work and the $1 million appropriation.
The Prineville Review has not identified corresponding public notices, agendas, minutes or recordings for the Funding Committee’s own meetings.
That absence formed part of the basis for this reporter’s lawsuit filed last month.
Oregon’s Public Meetings Law generally requires meetings of governing bodies of public bodies to be open to the public, with advance public notice and written minutes or recordings, subject to limited statutory exceptions.
Funding Committee disappears from July discussion
The Fair Board subsequently met July 20th, shortly after the Prineville Review’s complaint had been filed in Circuit Court and Crook County officials were made aware of the lawsuit.
Unlike the board’s meetings in April, May and June, the July 20th agenda did not identify a Funding Committee update as a principal subject for discussion. The Fair Board also did not publicly discuss the committee during that meeting.
The change followed several consecutive months in which the committee’s activities had appeared in Fair Board records.
The timing does not establish why the committee was no longer discussed, but it represents a notable change following the filing of litigation challenging the private meetings and failures to provide this publication and this reporter notice.
This is a developing story that we will continue to keep you updated as we continue to seek information from the county.
