Agricultural society lawsuit is settled
Board must post meeting minutes,
amended bylaws
The St. Clair County
Agricultural Society has changed its website to meet
the terms of the settlement of a lawsuit against the
society and 18 members of its board of directors.
Barbara Yockey, lawyer for 4-H
parents Amy and Bryan Balon and Cindy Leone, said the
agricultural society recently finished making the
changes agreed to in the settlement of a lawsuit. The
lawsuit accused the fair board of defamation, not
complying with a Freedom of Information Act request,
and violating the fair board's own bylaws.
Yockey said neither side
admitted liability, but the settlement will lead to
more transparency within the society.
Yockey said the settlement
required the board to:
- Make changes to its bylaws
regarding agricultural society membership, and
election to the fair board.
- Post on its website
downloadable and printable copies of the society's
bylaws, articles of incorporation, minutes of the
board's monthly public meeting, and membership
forms.
- Submit a letter to Amy and
Bryan Balon withdrawing the fair board's 2012
discipline of the family, and advising them that their
pig at the 2012 fair was negative for any illegal
substance.
The St. Clair County
Agricultural Society's main project each year is to
put on the St. Clair County 4-H and Youth Fair.
The Balons and Leone filed the
lawsuit against the fair board when the board
eliminated the way people could become members of the
agricultural society.
Previously, 4-H members would
become members of the group by purchasing a week-long
pass for the fair. When the fair switched to tokens,
that avenue for membership closed, Yockey has said.
The settlement required the
society to amend its bylaws to allow a year's
membership to anyone at least 18 years of age who
purchases a weekly admission to the fair, or pays $25.
That is what they were truly
trying to get because that was what was taken away
from them, Yockey said.
Another amendment to the bylaws
creates a procedure for someone to submit his or her
name for election to the fair board.
The new provision requires
agricultural society members to submit their names for
fair board at the society's September meeting, and
fill out a biography on the website by Oct.1 to get
their names on the November ballot for fair board.
The original lawsuit claimed the
fair board's failure to appoint Cindy Leone to the
board of directors was arbitrary and capricious.
The Balons also made a claim of
defamation in the lawsuit.
They said the fair board harmed
their family's reputation when the board put the
family on probation after testing their son's pig
for illegal substances at the 2012 fair.
The drug tests came back
negative for illegal substances, Yockey said, but the
results were not released to clear the Balons name
and the family was put on probation.
Because there was an aspirin
given to the animal, the board decided they had acted
improperly, Yockey said.
Yockey said the defamation claim
and a claim that the fair board did not comply with a
Freedom of Information Act request were not addressed
directly.
But Yockey said the posting of
the group's minutes online will aid transparency,
and the letter from the board to the Balons clears the
family's name.
Yockey said the Balons and Leone
received no money in the settlement.
The Balons and Cindy Leone
financed this themselves,†Yockey said.
They really saw a wrong that
needed to be corrected and they tried for a long time
to get the board to correct it and this is what they
had to do.
Yockey said the changes to the
bylaws and the availability of fair board documents
will lead to a more transparent process.
The most important thing was
to create an ag society where people could be welcomed
and they had the clear ability to become members and a
very direct and efficient way for them to run for
board positions if they wished to, Yockey said.
Fair board president Rob
Usakowski said the board is focused on getting ready
for the St. Clair County 4-H and Youth Fair in July.
Our primary focus has been
really on that, Usakowski said.
Hopefully, our board can work
with people who have concerns moving forward.
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