Will Louisville tourism success dip after Beshear's revamp?

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law that we passed a couple of years ago. But Supreme Court rulings are not final or effective for 21 days after publication to allow both parties time to appeal for reconsideration. So it's what they did today in the meeting was illegal. It's outrageous that the governor would allow an illegally appointed board to convene before the 21 days are up because they don't have authority to be there yet and to have new board members first action to determine the highly successful CEO of the organization. And I don't know any other way to frame this other than to say it's been a political hit job carried out for political purposes that I don't really understand. I think the public needs to be aware that Andy Beshear's focus is on running for president, and we need to look very carefully at the donation history of the people who's put on this new illegally constituted board. And what's happened here today is illegal, but it's also very petty and very wrong. I understand that there have been various deadlines that they were trying to meet, the new board. They're trying to get things voted ahead of another deadline that's coming up July 15th. All these other things are sidetracked, though, in consideration of the fact that so much in hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money has been dedicated to the upgrade of the Kentucky Expo Center, a project that's in progress. David Beck has been leading that. How do we know that that project and all those various upgrades to the Kentucky Expo Center are going to come through now? Well, that's a great question, Terry, and I think the taxpayers ought to be asking that. David's an extraordinarily capable CEO, and he has been driving these projects for years. I know you've worked with him. I've worked with him for years. It's very unfortunate to see somebody like that just taken out unceremoniously with an illegally called meeting with an illegally constitutional board. Best case, it's July 15th would be the day the Supreme Court ruling becomes effective and they could do this legally. And I don't know what the rush was, but, you know, he has been removed. And if you watch the meeting online, I think Jonathan Shell was there contesting those actions. And I think there is a 21-day period for people to request. a reconsideration of the Supreme Court's decision and I feel certain that someone is going to do that. So the people of Kentucky still have a chance to get some justice. But we've got a huge investment out there. We've got a state fair coming. It's America's 250th birthday. And we need to be able to pull it off right with some experience senior leadership. Well, it's not just the state fair. That's 10 days. You're talking about all these huge shows that come here. So, I mean, I know there's an interim person. Mike Barry, I know him. He was with Kentucky Derby Festival for three decades. I don't know how much. you know, expertise he has in the areas of recruiting these massive shows and retaining, like the farm machinery show, these things that are huge and also the new ones we're trying to attract because that job's more than anything to do with the Kentucky State Fair. It's just big. And we're told over and over by the governor himself and other leaders in the state. Louisville's the economic engine. Why are we messing with the forward progress of...

Mr. Beck's work? Yeah, great question. I mean, the farm machinery show is one of the biggest shows in the country. It brings in hundreds of thousands of visitors, millions of dollars. And he's got relationships with these people that bring these shows in. And we can't afford to mess that up. You know, Louisville is convention city. And so many of those things flow through not just the state fairgrounds, but the exposition center and the downtown convention center. And we're knocking the CEO out at the height of his success. I don't understand it. I don't understand how the governor thinks this can possibly benefit Kentucky. Yeah, that's the question. I'm wondering, just what we do now with all this hundreds of millions of dollars in construction projects. And are we sure that we have the leadership positions in place? Or I know there's an interim person, but is there a plan? I guess the governor needs to step up and tell us what's the overall vision for making sure that all this money invested by we, the people, is spent properly? Right. Well, I listened in to the board meeting, and Mike Bari Weiss expressed the thought that he is very much an interim person. He's not planning on doing this long term, which means they're going to have to have some kind of a talent search to find somebody, but even more delay into the process of getting someone to lead these hundreds of millions of dollars worth of. projects. So I'm very happy with this. I think your listeners should be too, Chair. We all have paid for this. It's the state fairgrounds and the Exposition Center are an icon of our community. And the governor has done us a great disservice here. And he's done something illegal. And it will be challenged in court. Well, yeah, it can be challenged, but we don't know whether or not that Supreme Court ruling will hold. Nonetheless, this is where we are today. So the matter is, how are we going to handle the business? I know that David Beck visits lots of different groups. and he's pitching Wu about Louisville. This is what we have to offer. This is the hotels. This is what's coming. And it's not just about 2026. It's about 2027, 28, 29, 2030, all these years ahead that you have to sign up these huge convention packages. And so we just want to make sure that the city's not going to miss out and the Commonwealth's not going to miss out on the potential revenue of all this tourism. Exactly right, Terry, and those relationships take years to build in the successful experience, you know, tends to keep those relationships alive, and it is a multi-year process, you're right, to schedule this stuff out. And we've got, we can't screw this up. This could harm the economy of the entire state if we screw this up.

All right. Well, I just wanted to get your perspective on that. I appreciate that. And we'll just keep an ear to the ground. Hopefully the governor will be able to come out and articulate a little more clearly what the vision is for all of us. Well, I hope so for the sake of all of us. Thanks for having me, Jerry. Thank you, Representative Hodgson. Appreciate it very much. He is checking in from, he is the 36th District Kentucky House of Representatives rep in Frankfurt, John Hodgson. Appreciate that. Again, a change at the top of the Kentucky Fair Board, Kentucky State Fair Board today. The governor has put some new people in there. As the Supreme Court noted last week, they said the previous setup by the state legislature taking power away from the governor's office was ruled unconstitutional. So now he is re-grabbing the reins and taking charge of this. But we have a lot of money on the table and just want to know what's the plan. I hope that's forthcoming soon from the governor's office. We'll learn more soon on News Radio 840, WHAS. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with Iheart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeart Media a part of your 2026 plan today. Call 844-844-I-Hart. Again, that's 844-844-I-Hart.