Rochester rebuts RAMA claims in legal battle over fairgrounds

ROCHESTER — The gloves are off as city officials filed court documents lambasting the group that owns the Rochester Fairgrounds, asking for sanctions and attempting to blow apart the premise the city is doing financial harm to the Rochester Agricultural and Mechanical Association (RAMA).

The latest court filing from the city accuses RAMA of perpetuating a case based on lies and refusing to provide discovery materials sought by the city, calling it "discovery abuse."

The case has been kicking around in the court, with motion after motion filed by each side. A tentative trial conference date has been scheduled for Jan. 15, 2025, in Strafford County Superior Court.

Rochester calls RAMA's accusation of retaliation untrue

RAMA has previously accused the city of retaliation by denying it permits to hold events (other than the Granite State Fair) that could bring in revenue to help support its finances. Representatives of RAMA have said city leaders took this course of action after the city failed in attempts to buy a portion of the fairground property.

"Not true," said City Attorney Terence O'Rourke. "The latest filing speaks for itself about our actions, and theirs. The city has no idea why the sale didn't happen. After a point, we never heard another word. And RAMA was warned well before that time that events sought outside of the fair might not fit into the grandfathered status the fair has."

O'Rourke said it has always been the city's policy not to comment on pending litigation. He said the documentation provided with its June 17 "motion to compel discovery and request for sanctions" is very detailed and was filed in response to the continued refusal of RAMA to provide discovery requested, primarily on financial aspects of RAMA, dating back to 2017. The city also sought to refute the contention it was acting in a retaliatory manner.

The city asks the court to order a financial sum against RAMA for "abusive conduct," to find the city has not caused any economic harm to RAMA, to find RAMA "knowingly, illegally" expanded its non-conforming use of the fairgrounds beyond the grandfathered use, and to award full judgment in favor of the city.

RAMA has not yet filed a response. Marcia Brown, RAMA attorney, declined to comment for this story.

Rochester claims E.J. Dean has taken control of fairgrounds

The city's court filing places the bulk of the problem between RAMA and the city at the hands of E.J. Dean, owner of Fiesta Entertainment, the vendor that provides the amusement park rides and some of the food vendors for the yearly Granite State Fair.

According to the filing, Dean has gradually taken over the operation of the fairgrounds. Over a period of time, O'Rourke contends Dean went from being merely a vendor, adding the roles of shareholder, bookkeeper and creditor to RAMA, the latter being accomplished along with shareholders William "Bill" Shaheen and Dana Hall.

The court documents indicate attempts to expand the role of the fairground began with Dean and Fiesta Shows of New England. According to the court documents, RAMA paid Dean to run the concessions and paid him $100,000 from ticket sales. Dean kept all proceeds from his ride and food vendors, the city claims.

Dean denied this statement, saying the only money he receives from RAMA is what he makes through Fiesta Shows.

At this point, the city contends Dean has almost sole control over RAMA and their financial books.

Absolutely not true, said Dean.

"I am not in control of the fairgrounds," said Dean. "I am not the bookkeeper and RAMA does not pay me to come to the fair. I make my money from the rides and food vendors I bring to the yearly event. I have no financial interest in the fairgrounds other than that. I do offer guidance when they ask, because of my more than 50 years in the business."

Dean said he is a shareholder and has been for at least 10 years.

Regarding the city's interest in buying part of the fairgrounds, O'Rourke said Rochester had been working with Tom Dubois, chair of the RAMA board, who originally came to the city.

On March 7, 2020, the city's court filing states it received a letter from Dubois and RAMA board member Dana Hall asking if the city would consider buying the property. Then-City Manager Blaine Cox began to work with city attorneys and the City Council on a potential proposal to buy a portion of the property. As part of that effort, the city paid for an appraisal and contacted the New Hampshire Charitable Trust Unit of the attorney general's office and Holy Rosary Credit Union, RAMA's creditor.

On Jan. 13, 2021, RAMA entered into a partnership with Dean and another shareholder, Bill Shaheen, to "prop up" RAMA's financials, according to the city filing. In a letter to RAMA, Dean indicated he'd like to turn the property into a "year round regional event destination." Shortly after, on Jan. 25, the RAMA board voted to have Dean take over the books and the day-to-day operations, the city claims.

On Feb. 4, 2021, Cox sent a letter to RAMA, warning some of its ideas for outside activities would not be allowed, the property only being grandfathered for the fair, not other events, the city states in its filing. This happened during negotiations to buy part of the property before the sale fell through.

"This is in litigation," said Dean. "The city has their opinion, that certain events are not allowed on the property. RAMA disagrees. I cannot comment on this."

On March 8, 2021, Dean proposed a two-screen drive-in movie theater. The city denied the permit on April 12.

"We received a letter from Dubois on May 27, 2021, saying the board needed more time to consider the proposal," O'Rourke said in his filing. "We never heard another word."

On May 12, 2021, the city stated in its filing it sent an offer to buy part of the fairgrounds, to become a development called Cold City Park, according to the court filing. What that would mean was not specified. The offer was initially for $614,166, paying off RAMA's mortgage through HRCU, a second mortgage, outstanding police and fire detail costs, other miscellaneous debts and providing $50,000 in working capital. The city would have allowed RAMA use of the 10 acres used for the fair and would take over all maintenance and utility costs of the entire property.

On May 24, 2021, a $150,000, "Save the Fair" letter of credit came from Dean and was accepted by RAMA, making him a creditor of RAMA, according to the city's court filing.

In January 2024, the city requested certain discovery evidence from RAMA, primarily related to financial reports and to Fiesta Shows and Dean's role in the RAMA organization. O'Rourke said the city is still waiting and called the delay, in the latest filing, "discovery abuse." The city's filing also notes Dean's name is left out of RAMA's court filings.

In his filing, O'Rourke said the city believes the requested financial documents to be the "silver bullet" exposing lies perpetuated by RAMA.

RAMA calls the documentation request, "overbroad and unduly burdensome," according to the city's recent court filing.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Rochester rebuts RAMA claims in legal battle over fairgrounds