Santa Clara County Fairgrounds audit reveals conflicts of interest

A new audit suggests the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds harbored conflicts of interest and questionable contracts for years, as county leaders seek to take direct control of the 165-acre public property.

County auditors – in a report published this month – found fairgrounds management approved three contracts that totaled at least $1 million with vendors who were family members of fairgrounds officers and employees between 2017 to 2023, when former fairgrounds executive director Abe Andrade was in charge. The auditors found one of the fairgrounds managers, during that time, was listed as a business agent for one vendor who was receiving payments despite being suspended by state tax officials.

The report also found fairgrounds leadership made payments to vendors with no formal agreements and failed to select contractors through competitive bidding. It was also Andrade’s responsibility to develop the fairgrounds’ strategic plan and annual budget and present them  to the board for approval. Instead, auditors said he farmed these duties out to third party consultants.

In 2024, county prosecutors charged a fairgrounds marketing executive, Obdulia Banuelos-Esparza, with extorting bribes from a security company in exchange for retaining their fairgrounds contract. She was convicted in July 2025 and received a three-month jail sentence, according to DA officials.

The audit — conducted by the County Finance Department — spans activities that go back a decade ago, but was only requested by county leaders in 2024 due to concerns about a lack of oversight into fairgrounds officers’ financial activities and management of the property.

“A recent audit has made it abundantly clear that FMC’s current governance structure is not providing the accountability or transparency that the public deserves,” County Executive James Williams told San José Spotlight. “To ensure responsible stewardship of the Fairgrounds, a revised governance structure is needed to strengthen accountability, clarify direction, and better align FMC’s leadership with the County’s long‑term vision for this important public asset.”

Andrade, who did not respond to multiple requests for comment, became executive director of the fairgrounds in 2017 and left his role in 2024, according to his LinkedIn page. He was succeeded by Salene Duarte, who has worked at the fairgrounds since 2019, according to her LinkedIn page. She was appointed Fair Manager in 2021 and formally named the fairgrounds’ executive director in 2025. Duarte said Andrade’s reason for leaving was retirement.

Duarte said she agrees with the audit issues flagged and clarified those incidents all happened under her predecessor.

“Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Management Corporation (FMC) cooperated fully with the County’s audit and agrees with the audit findings,” Duarte told San José Spotlight. “FMC no longer has ties with the consultants or staff members who were the subject of the audit findings.”

In her response to the audit, Duarte said the fairgrounds has enhanced oversight vendors and “restructured” its relationships with them. She said FMC terminated select contracts with vendors and consultants and transitioned essential work to permanent employees.

It comes as county leaders are moving to consolidate control over the Fairgrounds Management Corporation, which county leaders established as a separate legal entity with a five-member board in 1990. The structure was meant to maintain a level of independence, but officials say the structure has led to a lack of oversight on fairgrounds operations, hampering the county’s ability to plan the land’s long-term future as an entertainment and community gathering space.

A county report earlier this month said the FMC Board of Directors will make a final decision on the county’s proposed changes – going from five county supervisor appointees to two supervisor appointees and three directors appointed by Williams’ office – at their next regularly scheduled meeting, which is May 27. But county officials who more recently spoke to this news outlet said it’s not clear when the FMC board will vote on the governance changes, as they may or may not schedule a discussion on changing their bylaws this month.

Some fairgrounds board members have pushed back on the county’s efforts, saying the governance changes aren’t needed given Duarte was making inroads with providing the county more visibility into the organization. At a Feb. 25 meeting, Fairgrounds Board of Directors Chair Vicky Bosworth stood up from her chair with an impassioned appeal to her colleagues to push back on the county’s efforts to undermine the board’s power.

“We’ve got a new Executive Director who is doing an awesome job — she is making huge inroads to bringing more revenue back to the fairgrounds. She’s doing great and I really feel she is on track,” Bosworth said at the meeting. “The county wants to have control over the development of the fairgrounds … we need to be more active with our voices. The minute you take way the five appointed volunteers, you are going to get 100 (people) going to (Board of Supervisors meetings) complaining about it. This (fairgrounds) is their public place.”

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.