Williams County Ag Society & Former Board Member Feud Over Keys

The Williams County Sheriff’s Office has been inves­ti­gat­ing what has been termed a dis­crep­ancy over keys and reim­burse­ment between the Williams County Agri­cul­tural Soci­ety and a for­mer fair board mem­ber. The inves­ti­ga­tion involv­ing for­mer board mem­ber John McDon­ald was launched last month at the request of the fair board. That inves­ti­ga­tion wrapped up July 17th, and no crim­i­nal charges have been filed. It began with a dis­pute over copies of mas­ter keys to fair­grounds build­ings that McDon­ald made at a hard­ware store in Michi­gan back in April 10. McDon­ald, at the April 16 fair board meet­ing, told the board that he had made 10 copies of keys when he sought reim­burse­ment for the cost… about $100. A receipt how­ever, which was turned in to sup­port the reim­burse­ment, showed 15 keys at $2.27 each plus a labor charge of $4 per key for a total of $99.69, includ­ing tax. McDon­ald was ques­tioned about the dis­crep­ancy in num­ber of keys made. He said he had made a mis­take… five of the keys were for his per­sonal use, and the cost of the extra five keys should be sub­tracted from the total due. Then, at the May fair board meet­ing, McDon­ald announced he was resign­ing from the board over what he termed “con­flict over the integrity of the exec­u­tive board.”