CHICO — Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Bob Mulholland to a vacant seat on the Silver Dollar Fair’s board of directors.
Mulholland said he was pleased to be a part of the board and grateful for the appointment.
“The Fairgrounds is the Crown Jewel of the north state,” Mulholland said in a statement, “especially when it comes to disasters whether the Oroville Dam spillway — with 5,000 refugees — or the Camp Fire which became an ‘Army’ base for Cal Fire but the annual Memorial Day weekend fair is what has the biggest crowds and joys for tens of thousands of visitors and the hundreds of kids showing off the animals they spent a year caring for.”
The board saw some turmoil in 2023 when former board member Ed McLaughlin was removed from the board after what he claimed to be a conflict with the fair’s executive director, Nick DiGrazia. Following McLaughlin’s removal, Les Heringer resigned from the board citing that he was “dismayed” by McLaughlin’s departure. Longtime member John Blacklock also resigned last year, leaving an additional board seat open.
“When I applied for this appointment, I thought it came with a nice salary with plenty of zeros but now I find out the salary is all zeros, and I have heard a rumor that I may have to hand milk two cows in 20 minutes as an Initiation to the Board,” Mulholland joked. “I also want to thank a long-time friend, Michael Flores, deputy secretary for fairs at the state Department of Food and Agriculture for his support of me in applying for our fair board.”
Other board members consist of board President Hugh Santos, as well as Stacey Jones, Cindy Heffren, Ryan Cheung, Robert Vanella, Robin Cook and Benjamin Clark.
DiGrazia could not be reached by deadline to comment on this story.
