Nashville Fair Board approves 2% merit increase for executive director; expands job description to include fundraising

The Nashville Fair Board voted unanimously July 21 to grant a 2% merit increase to Executive Director Laura Womack, using the newly established baseline salary of $160,000. Board members discussed an updated job description that adds development and fundraising responsibilities and directed staff and the personnel subcommittee to develop measurable performance metrics before the next review. Board chair Jasper framed the discussion by noting Metro-wide compensation changes that were implemented after this board submitted its budget; board members said they wanted clarity on what Metro had already funded and what remained the board's discretion. Personnel and human resources matters were discussed in open session. Board members cited a recent Metro salary study and said raises for Fairgrounds staff were implemented across Metro positions and that council funded the increases in the adopted budget. Members agreed to forward the draft job description to the personnel subcommittee for review and to return to the full board in August with recommendations on how to measure fundraising and development performance tied to the executive director role. The motion to approve the 2% merit increase passed unanimously. The board also recorded that the additional Metro-wide salary adjustments had been funded by Metro and that the board’s budget would be reviewed for any downstream effects. The board did not set final, quantified fundraising targets at the meeting; members directed staff and the personnel subcommittee to produce specific, actionable metrics and consider whether the job description should be formally adopted by a future vote. Next steps identified by the board include personnel-subcommittee review of the revised job description and a follow-up at the August subcommittee meeting to define evaluation metrics and reporting cadence.