Bradford County fair board members and community press for clearer process after fair manager selection

Members of the Bradford County Fair Board and members of the public spent substantial time at a recent meeting pressing the board to clarify how it chose a candidate for the fair manager position and to explain differences between written application scores and interview outcomes. A board member said they had filed a public-records request under Florida Statute Chapter 119, which prompted distribution of applicant materials and score sheets to board members.

Board members described a two-stage selection process in which applicants were first scored on their applications and resumes (the board said scores ranged from 1 to 100), the top six advance to interviews, and all interviewees were asked the same set of 10–15 questions. Board members said there was no formal numeric scoring system for the interview portion; instead, the executive board used interview impressions to reach a final recommendation. Several board…