LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A Kentucky Supreme Court ruling last month led to a surprise leadership shakeup at the Kentucky State Fair Board.
At the end of a special meeting, David Beck was removed as president and CEO of Kentucky Venues, the organization that manages the Kentucky Exposition Center and other state-owned venues. Beck had served in the role since 2018.
Mike Berry, the former head of the Kentucky Derby Festival, was appointed interim president and CEO. Berry also previously served as Kentucky’s Tourism, Arts and Heritage secretary under Gov. Andy Beshear.
"I support the action they took yesterday," Beshear said during his weekly news conference Thursday in Frankfort. "What we got from the Supreme Court is a decision saying that I, ultimately, am accountable for what the fair board and these other boards the legislature tried to make independent do. The buck's gotta stop somewhere in the executive branch, and it stops with the governor.
"... If I'm going to be accountable, then the person who heads that board and runs that operation has to be willing to be accountable to me and work with me and the various board members. And the individual that is no longer there led a charge to prevent any form of accountability from a governor, was not willing to work with me and made that pretty clear."
This came just one week after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled in Beshear vs. Coleman a GOP-backed law changing control of fair board appointments was unconstitutional. That law, House Bill 518, moved appointment power away from the governor and to Jonathan Shell, Kentucky's agriculture commissioner. The court ruled that violated separation of powers, giving the authority back to Beshear.
A spokesperson for Beshear's office said in a written statement Thursday that the board had been "operating for five years in an unconstitutional manner, and every budget, contract and decision from that time will have to be evaluated."
Beck's new contract was set to take effect July 1, according to an internal letter sent to Beck by Ray Perry, chair of the board. So his contract was voided.
The public meeting was difficult to access Wednesday, with the webcast link set to private. Calls and messages made to Kentucky Venues leadership Wednesday weren't returned.
According to the meeting agenda, newly appointed board members were sworn in before the leadership change.
The board oversees about 260 events each year at the Kentucky Exposition Center and related venues, generating nearly $450 million for the state economy.
And the move came just weeks before the annual Kentucky State Fair, one of the board's biggest and most high-profile events.
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