Looking For A New CEO

On Tuesday, the Tulsa County Fair Board took the first step toward finding a permanent CEO for Expo Square.

Tuesday, August 5th 2008, 12:34 pm

By: News On 6

The Tulsa County Fair Board hopes to move past all the controversy at the fairgrounds. On Tuesday, it took the first step toward finding a permanent CEO for Expo Square. News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports the board says it's happy with the man who has the job now. The board just wants to make sure it finds the best person for the job.

"They're going to look at our facilities and they're going to realize that we have some of the, some of the newest and best facilities in the entire country," said John Smaligo, Fair Board Chairman.

Fair Board Chairman John Smaligo expects to see some high caliber applicants for the CEO job. He hopes one of them will be interim CEO Mark Andrus.

"We would be happy to consider his application in this process and it's very possible that he could beat out the other candidates that we interview," said Smaligo.

Andrus is a former Tulsa Police officer who was head of security at the fairgrounds for years before becoming chief operating officer in May. He says it may sound corny, but he wants what's best for the fairgrounds. He'll apply for the job only if the board isn't satisfied with its other applicants.

"I don't want to compete with those people, certainly with somebody who would ultimately be my boss. I want to work for them and make this place a little better every day," said Mark Andrus, Fairgrounds Interim CEO.

Andrus became interim CEO a month ago. That's when the Board fired Rick Bjorklund, after learning that Big Splash had not paid its 2007 rent and that a check for half its 2006 rent went uncashed for months.

The chairman doesn't think the controversy surrounding the fairgrounds over the last couple of years will affect the search for a new CEO.

"I believe that the job of CEO for this, for Expo Square here in Tulsa, has got to be one of the top five in the entire country for this type of a job," said Smaligo.

The board also voted on Tuesday to take control of the soft drink contract at the fairgrounds. Coca-Cola pays for the right to be the exclusive provider. Until Tuesday, the company had negotiated with the fairgrounds and each of its tenants separately. Now Coke will deal only with the fairgrounds and the fairgrounds will handle the money.