A representative of the group that has taken over operation of the professional rodeo held at the Great Northern Fair asked the Hill County Fair Board Tuesday to fire its fairgrounds manager and bring in someone new.

“We’re trying to improve everything, and it seems like nobody’s working with us, ” Clint Solomon told the board at its monthly meeting. “It seems like every time we get something going, everything’s working against us, and it would be nice if we had somebody as a manager who would work with the different groups. ”

Solomon said he has spoken to many other groups that put on events at the fairgrounds, and they all told him they have problems working with manager Tim Solomon — Clint Solomon’s uncle.

Board Vice President Alma Seidel, who chaired the meeting because President Bert Corcoran was ill, said those groups need to tell the board if they have problems.

“If they have a problem, they need to come to the meeting, ” she said.

Clint Solomon said he expected others to come to voice their complaints.

“It’s not looking good here for how many people are up here that’s for sure …, ” he said. “There are a lot of people who aren’t here. ”

Tim Solomon did not respond to Clint Solomon’s comments.

Seidel said the board — and the fairgrounds manager — appreciate the work the rodeo association and other groups do at the fairground, maintaining and improving facilities.

“There is no way we, as a fair board, have the money to do all that. Anything you can do to make it better, then it benefits the community, ” she said, adding that she was sorry that the group feels the manager is not helping them.

Solomon said he wants to see a manager who would try to help groups put on their events, which also could bring more to the fairgrounds each year. Now, groups might choose to go to Chinook or Big Sandy or elsewhere, he said.

“I would like to see somebody up there that would help the different groups and work with the fair board and work with everybody to try to make the events go good, rather than working against everything, ” he said. “That’s just beating your head against the wall when you’re volunteering your time … and you’re just constantly fighting against the manager. So that’s where we’re at. ”