Sharp quits as fairgrounds manager

Great Northern Fairgrounds Manager Mike Sharp submitted his resignation, following a tumultuous meeting of the fair board Tuesday night, where members of the community and fairgrounds stakeholders packed the multipurpose room at the Havre-Hill County Library.   

The board rescinded its firing of Sharp, after acknowledging the Oct. 8 meeting had not been properly posted in advance. Members claimed that as fairgrounds manager, scheduling and posting such meetings was the responsibility of Sharp.

Given that Sharp, who was hired in April was on a six-month probationary employee period, board members initially claimed that they did not need to give a reason for his dismissal. But members of the audience would have no quarter, and after Sharp waived his right to privacy, the meeting was kept open, and fair board members said his termination was the culmination of months of tasks unfulfilled.   

  While board members credited Sharp with injecting new energy into the fairgrounds, they said he had not lived up to their expectations when it came to its maintenance and operation.  

“I don’t want anybody to say he was just fired,” said fair board member Scott Doney. “It’s been the course of action over the past three or four months that’s gone on.”

Board members said they had laid out a list of objectives for Sharp to meet in evaluating his performance, which he failed to meet.

Complaints from board members included allegations that Sharp had not properly secured fair board money and he had failed to submit invoices for goods and services performed at the fairgrounds in a timely manner.

One incident in particular included the improper handling of a deposit that had been in Sharp’s pickup, as well as a series of past due invoices. The fair board secretary, said she has been sifting through paperwork in search of invoices from Bear Paw Lumber, Havre Hardware and Home and North 40. At one point, Missy Boucher said North 40 is threatening to close their account with the fairgrounds, because invoices were turned in late.

Sharp argued that board members have been dredging up issues from months past but had failed to work with him to implement a “plan of action” or establish a line of communication regarding how he could improve his performance.

The Oct. 8 meeting that has aroused so much interest, board members said, was called by Sharp. He had summoned the members and gave them a letter explaining a Sept. 26 incident that happened on the fairgrounds.

In the letter, Sharp said that Sept. 25 he had been steer wrestling in the Bigger Better Barn when he twisted his knee. He was brought to the hospital and told he would need surgery. In the interim, he was given pain medications. Sharp then said in his letter, that he is not one to take medication until the pain becomes unbearable.

The next day, he said he had been drinking beers and watching football with several friends when the pain became unbearable, and he took the pain medication. Sharp went on to say he then went to the Bigger Better Barn to feed his horse when he fell unconscious.

Later, some members of the Montana State University-Northern Rodeo team stumbled upon him in the barn, Sharp said, and he was barely breathing and uncommunicative. He went on to say he initially became defensive when he was awakened, but soon “regained his bearings.”

Rodeo members later brought him back to his house on the premises. A letter from the rodeo team read by board member Paul McCann, detailed a profane exchange between Sharp and the rodeo members that ensued after they had taken him home.

Sharp ended his letter by apologizing for the incident,

“I feel as though I have let the board, my family, and my friends down,” said Sharp in his letter, “I would like to express my sincere regrets for this event.”

Some in the audience said the episode did not merit Sharp’s termination, since it happened on hours when he was not working.

Board members however, maintained Sharp was not fired for this episode, but for failing to meet the standards laid out by the board relating to his position. They did say, though, that Sharp, as a county employee, was expected to conduct himself in a professional manner when interacting with the public.

After submitting his resignation at the meeting, Sharp issued a statement to the Havre Daily News.

“I had hoped that differences in my vision for the future of the fairgrounds and some of the board members’ vision of the future could be resolved. However, it was apparent to everyone that certain board members were never going to change their minds. At this point it became evident that I would have no choice but to resign.”