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Record of Proceedings

Alameda County Fair Ad Hoc Committee Meeting - September 8, 2026

Board of Supervisors — Tuesday, September 8, 2026
BodyAlameda County, California
SessionBoard of Supervisors
DateTuesday, September 8, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:54:05

Original source
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0:13

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Alameda County Fairgrounds and the Alameda County Fair ad hoc committee meeting.

0:20

I'd like to start this morning with a Pledge of Allegiance so if everybody can rise.

0:26

Rose, would you lead us?

0:28

My Pledge of the Black of the United States of America is one nation with liberty of justice for all.

0:41

Thank you.

0:45

So we will be taking public comments.

0:47

Uh I guess at the first of the meeting, if there are any that are not specific.

0:52

Would you like to do roll call?

0:54

Yeah, we'll do the roll call.

0:55

Tessa, you want to do roll calls?

0:57

Supervisor Miley.

1:00

Supervisor Howard.

1:01

Present.

1:02

Susan Yananishi, excuse Jerome Hoban.

1:05

Yeah.

1:06

Rose Johnson.

1:07

Here.

1:07

Chuck Moore, excuse John Smith.

1:10

Here.

1:12

Gordon Galvin.

1:14

Excused.

1:16

Bill Harrison.

1:17

Yeah.

1:19

We have a quorum.

1:20

We have a quorum in the room.

1:22

Thank you very much.

1:23

So if there is anyone that likes to would like to make comments before we get started into the agenda, please let us know.

1:31

Three minutes for anyone.

1:33

Anyone online with comments?

1:37

I have no online speakers.

1:39

Okay.

1:39

Oh, yes, I do.

1:40

I'm sorry.

1:43

Amy.

1:47

Hello, can you hear me?

1:48

Yes.

1:49

Hello.

1:50

We can hear me.

1:51

Yes.

1:51

Hi.

1:52

Yes, I am with the uh crane rings at Alameda County 4-H.

1:59

And uh I am going to ask.

2:03

I'm here to speak for the exhibitors this year.

2:06

Um we received a letter or an email from uh the staff of the fair.

2:15

So animals, I'm sorry, I want to do the fair.

2:18

Um they could bonnie uh the chief of the fire department as the president said we were not allowed to be looking for our children.

2:28

Were they well they're uh exhibiting at the fair?

2:31

Um we have a lot of families who are uh they don't have a lot of money and all their money goes in to their project animals up until the day that we auction them off, though we try to facilitate feeding the children at the fair.

2:49

Um we are a little concerned that the fair use the people in the livestock often have the ones to say we couldn't have fair.

2:59

They use uh Bonnie's name, the chief of the fire department's name uh to try to prevent the still picking there.

3:07

We have a lot of families who can't really afford to eat every meal at the fair.

3:12

We do eat bills at the fair, but we can't afford to spend our money at the fair every day for every meal.

3:19

Um we would uh appreciate that we had a couple of uh people who are on the board help us be able to facilitate using our children.

3:32

Brian Nielsen and Vanessa Hoffman for instrument instrumental and uh coming up with another plan so that we could still keep feeding the kids.

3:43

Um we've noticed that on occasion the exhibiting of staff is a little bit rude with people when we went to try to ask them what was going on with the email and what we could do to facilitate feeding with the children.

4:01

Um maybe we would really appreciate if there was some kind of a investigation or um you guys could like look into the matter.

4:18

That's the only half of the conclude comments.

4:21

She said, Yes, ma'am.

4:24

Thank you.

4:32

So we had some conversation about that before we got started.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████13%
Public Engagement████████████12%
Fairgrounds Management████████████12%
Fair Operations██████████10%
Horse Racing██████████10%
Economic Development████████8%
Public Comment███████7%
Parks and Recreation██████6%
Community Engagement█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Alameda County Fair Ad Hoc Committee Meeting - September 8, 2026

The Alameda County Fair Ad Hoc Committee met on September 8, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. in the Fair Board Room and via Zoom. The meeting covered a recap of the 2026 fair, vision plan updates, hotel development, horse racing, and proposed contract amendments. Key decisions included forming a subcommittee to negotiate contract changes.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Amy, representing Alameda County 4-H, expressed concerns about restrictions on feeding children during the fair, citing a letter from the fire chief. She requested an investigation into staff conduct and asked for continued support for youth exhibitors.
  • Katie (remote) raised concerns about livestock safety, injuries at wash racks, and the lack of youth facilities in planning, urging preservation of agricultural heritage.
  • George (horse owner and industry participant) argued that the fair board did not support horse racing date applications and criticized the lack of racing in Northern California, stating he was willing to fund racing during the fair but not in May.

Discussion Items

  • Change in Committee Members: Bill Harrison replaced Frank M. Hoff. Harrison participated remotely citing a medical condition (hospitalization and IV antibiotics), which qualified as just cause under the Brown Act. The committee accepted his remote participation.
  • 2026 Fair Recap: Presented by staff and CFO Vivian. Highlights: 399,000 attendance (down 3% from 2025), net income of $4.7 million (down from $5.03 million in 2025 but up from $2.2 million in 2024). Per capita spending was $55. Free ticket programs expanded: school tickets (34,000 claimed), senior tickets (7,200 distributed, 3,800 redeemed). The food drive collected 59,221 pounds (up 26%). A new sensory morning attracted 717 guests. Marketing campaigns (geofencing, voice recognition) exceeded industry averages. Guest satisfaction scored 8.6 out of 9. Economic impact: $14.3 million in sales tax, $186 million in hotel tax, nearly 2,000 ongoing jobs, and 17,000 hotel room nights generated annually.
  • Vision Plan Progress: Projects include OTB facility remodel ($1.2 million), Grandstand plaza and wine garden ($1.8 million, phase 1 in 2026), pickleball complex discussion (34 courts), and farm project (phase 1 complete). Solar capacity exceeds 2 megawatts. A C3 stormwater compliance project is planned for 2027. The committee noted that 11 trees will be removed in the grandstand area with 6 replacements.
  • Hotel Development Project Update: No developer identified. The committee discussed the need to go through the surplus land act process. County staff advised working through GSA on parcelization and a formal request. The item remains informational.
  • 2027 Horse Racing Update: Discussion focused on May dates. Alan Aldridge (racing chair) explained the horse flow from Phoenix to Seattle and the financial benefits of off-track betting. The fair board reaffirmed interest in racing but requires a financial partner. A public commenter (George) stated he was willing to fund racing during the fair but not in May. The committee noted that the fair board previously voted to support racing under conditions that have not been met.
  • Fair/County Proposed Contract Amendments: County staff proposed changes to the 2017 contract focusing on governance, transparency, code compliance, and board composition. Fair board CEO Jerome Hoban listed key disputed items: reducing board size from 21 to 15 with majority county-appointed, making the committee a county-only committee, imposing Brown Act obligations, and administrative protocols. County representative Lori Cox noted the parties are far apart due to limited discussions. County attorney Andrew Manson explained the September 30 non-renewal notice deadline. After debate, the committee agreed to form a subcommittee consisting of John Smith, Chuck Moore, Jerome Hoban, and David Haubert to negotiate before the next Board of Supervisors meeting on September 15. The subcommittee will meet on Friday, September 11, 2026.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee acknowledged the change in committee membership and accepted Bill Harrison's remote participation.
  • Fair recap and vision plan updates were received as informational.
  • No action on hotel development; staff to continue working with GSA.
  • No action on horse racing; the fair board reaffirmed interest in May dates but requires a financial partner.
  • The committee formed a subcommittee to negotiate contract amendments: John Smith, Chuck Moore, Jerome Hoban, and David Haubert. They will meet on Friday, September 11, 2026, to discuss the proposed changes before the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 15.
  • The approval of the annual meeting schedule was postponed pending the subcommittee's outcome.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Alameda County Fairgrounds and the Alameda County Fair ad hoc committee meeting. I'd like to start this morning with a Pledge of Allegiance so if everybody can rise. Rose, would you lead us? My Pledge of the Black of the United States of America is one nation with liberty of justice for all. Thank you. So we will be taking public comments. Uh I guess at the first of the meeting, if there are any that are not specific. Would you like to do roll call? Yeah, we'll do the roll call. Tessa, you want to do roll calls? Supervisor Miley. Supervisor Howard. Present. Susan Yananishi, excuse Jerome Hoban. Yeah. Rose Johnson. Here. Chuck Moore, excuse John Smith. Here. Gordon Galvin. Excused. Bill Harrison. Yeah. We have a quorum. We have a quorum in the room. Thank you very much. So if there is anyone that likes to would like to make comments before we get started into the agenda, please let us know. Three minutes for anyone. Anyone online with comments? I have no online speakers. Okay. Oh, yes, I do. I'm sorry. Amy. Hello, can you hear me? Yes. Hello. We can hear me. Yes. Hi. Yes, I am with the uh crane rings at Alameda County 4-H. And uh I am going to ask. I'm here to speak for the exhibitors this year. Um we received a letter or an email from uh the staff of the fair. So animals, I'm sorry, I want to do the fair. Um they could bonnie uh the chief of the fire department as the president said we were not allowed to be looking for our children. Were they well they're uh exhibiting at the fair? Um we have a lot of families who are uh they don't have a lot of money and all their money goes in to their project animals up until the day that we auction them off, though we try to facilitate feeding the children at the fair. Um we are a little concerned that the fair use the people in the livestock often have the ones to say we couldn't have fair. They use uh Bonnie's name, the chief of the fire department's name uh to try to prevent the still picking there.

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