Amador County - At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, approval of funding for this year’s state fair exhibit took the backburner to a dispute over reimbursement for last year’s exhibit. As stated by Supervisor Richard Forster, he did not want to authorize county funds until they found a resolution to a dispute between the Amador County Chamber of Commerce and Kam Merzlak, last year’s exhibit designer and the owner of Merzlak Signs in Jackson. Merzlak claims that Jackie Lucido, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, verbally promised him any prize money that would come as a result of the exhibit. He has received none. Merzlak’s exhibit, titled, “Picture Yourself in Amador County,” took both the Silver and Superintendent’s award at the 2008 State Fair. Merzlak says this was ironic considering Lucido nominated him to receive the Superintendent’s award. Merzlak was also upset that the Chamber allegedly reversed this decision during a closed session meeting which he was not invited to attend. “This is an issue that has been blown way out of proportion,” said Lucido when it was her turn to take the podium. She added: “I feel very disappointed that the Supervisors would look to undermine the decisions of the chamber.” She said the issue before the Supervisors was funding for this year’s exhibit and any dispute with Merzlak was not their business. Supervisor Brian Oneto said, “we’re just trying to do due diligence.” Supervisor Ted Novelli offered to play mediator between the Chamber and Merzlak in helping to settle the dispute. Forster said he wanted to “make sure the books are clean before we go into next year.” Merzlak said he would only work on this year’s exhibit if changes to the contract were made that would specify how the funding would be disbursed. The Supervisors agreed to make language changes in the contract and to authorize approximately $3,300 from the County coffers for exhibit construction. The estimated costs for an exhibit this year are between $10,000 and $20,000. In addition, Supervisors will look into contributing additional money from their own funds. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Amador County - At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, approval of funding for this year’s state fair exhibit took the backburner to a dispute over reimbursement for last year’s exhibit. As stated by Supervisor Richard Forster, he did not want to authorize county funds until they found a resolution to a dispute between the Amador County Chamber of Commerce and Kam Merzlak, last year’s exhibit designer and the owner of Merzlak Signs in Jackson. Merzlak claims that Jackie Lucido, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, verbally promised him any prize money that would come as a result of the exhibit. He has received none. Merzlak’s exhibit, titled, “Picture Yourself in Amador County,” took both the Silver and Superintendent’s award at the 2008 State Fair. Merzlak says this was ironic considering Lucido nominated him to receive the Superintendent’s award. Merzlak was also upset that the Chamber allegedly reversed this decision during a closed session meeting which he was not invited to attend. “This is an issue that has been blown way out of proportion,” said Lucido when it was her turn to take the podium. She added: “I feel very disappointed that the Supervisors would look to undermine the decisions of the chamber.” She said the issue before the Supervisors was funding for this year’s exhibit and any dispute with Merzlak was not their business. Supervisor Brian Oneto said, “we’re just trying to do due diligence.” Supervisor Ted Novelli offered to play mediator between the Chamber and Merzlak in helping to settle the dispute. Forster said he wanted to “make sure the books are clean before we go into next year.” Merzlak said he would only work on this year’s exhibit if changes to the contract were made that would specify how the funding would be disbursed. The Supervisors agreed to make language changes in the contract and to authorize approximately $3,300 from the County coffers for exhibit construction. The estimated costs for an exhibit this year are between $10,000 and $20,000. In addition, Supervisors will look into contributing additional money from their own funds. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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