Deborah Carona, an Orange County Fair & Exposition Center board member since 2001, was elected as president at the annual Meeting of the Board in August. Carona has assumed the responsibility of leading the organization by working with Chief Executive Officer Becky Bailey-Findley. The Fair Board is composed of nine volunteer members whose role is to set and approve policies for OCFEC. In addition to Carona becoming president, Ruben Smith, a board member since 1999, was elected as vice president. Smith previously served as Board vice president from 2001 to 2002, and as president from 2002 to 2003.

Deborah Carona

Ruben Smith

Joyce Tucker

Also, in August, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Joyce Tucker to the OCFEC's Board of Directors. She will serve a four-year term and succeeds Frank Barbaro, who was appointed in 2002.

Tucker, a Newport Beach resident, volunteers for the Orange County Performing Angels of the Arts, Museum of Art Visionaries and the University of California Irvine Successful Aging program. Tucker was formerly an Orange County public elementary schoolteacher.

The Board of Directors as a whole focuses on policy objectives; the operational, financial and administrative functions of the Fair; strategic planning, the budget, and the long-term welfare of the Fair. The Board sets broad policies and goals, giving the CEO the support and authority to implement them in the day-to-day management of the organization.