Senate panel approves bill to reorganize Kentucky Horse Park’s governing board

Claiming that “things have gone awry” at the Kentucky Horse Park, Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer successfully urged a Senate committee Tuesday to sign off on his proposal to reorganize the park’s governing board.

The 9-1 vote by the Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Labor Committee on Senate Bill 200 came after Jamie Link, the park’s executive director, said the park was “a mess” when he came on board in November 2014 but that significant improvements have been made.

Thayer said earlier this month when he first introduced his bill that he had no confidence in Link, who had been former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s deputy chief of staff.

Thayer, whose district includes 200 acres of the 1,224-acre park in northern Fayette County, also expressed no confidence in Beshear’s wife, Jane Beshear, whom the former governor appointed to the horse park commission shortly before he left office last December; and commission chairwoman Alston Kerr, a friend of Jane Beshear.

Thayer told the legislative committee that he started hearing complaints about the park 18 months ago.

He said those complaints involved low employee morale because of political patronage and unhappiness with the park’s campground.

Dick Ray, who camps at the park, told lawmakers that he was upset that a camper had to go online with a New York company to get reservations and that rates have increased.

Link said the online reservation system was implemented during the administration of former Gov. Ernie Fletcher and that he wants to get rid of it after the contract expires in 2017.

Link also acknowledged that some rates have increased at the park but said they had not increased in several prior years.

He said the state’s appropriation to the park makes up about $2.5 million of its $14.5 million budget. “We’re good custodians of our dollars,” he said.

Ron Cornett, manager of the Festival of the Bluegrass event at the park, praised Link and his staff for the way they operate the park.

Thayer’s bill would reduce the number of members on the park’s governing board from 17 to nine. It also calls for a full state audit of the park.

Link said he had no problem with such an audit.

The only senator to vote against the bill was Sen. Reginald Thomas, D-Lexington. He said the bill “puts the cart before the horse,” adding that Thayer should wait for the audit until he decides how the park’s board should be reorganized.

Thayer said he thinks the Republican-led Senate will approve his bill but he did not know how it will fare in the Democrat-controlled House.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Senate panel approves bill to reorganize Kentucky Horse Park’s governing board."