KOSCIUSKO — Warsaw Mayor Joseph Thallemer has responded after the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds named him personally in the venue change motion for the case regarding motorized racing.

The motion for a venue change addresses multiple arguments. The motion states that Thallemer is related to one of the plaintiffs and has “openly opposed the manner in which many of the events take place at the fairgrounds.” The motion goes on to state that the case has been highly publicized and that any citizen who lives near the fairgrounds could become potential jurors.

The motion’s conclusion states that the fairgrounds “will be unlikely to receive a fair trial on account of local prejudice and bias against the defendant and the claims being made by plaintiffs from local leadership on down to private citizens within the community.”

In regards to the claim that Thallemer is related to one of the plaintiffs, Thallemer states that his niece is actually married to defendant Randy Shepherd’s son and that he is not related to any of the plaintiffs in the case.

In regards to the claim that Thallemer openly opposed the manner in which events were taking place at the fair-grounds, Thallemer presented multiple facts to dispute this. Thallemer states that he approved permits requested by the fairgrounds board for proposed racing and non-racing events for 2018 and offered to assist defendant Randy Shepherd develop compromise. Thallemer states he also asked the fair board to voluntarily limit racing and non-racing events to not go past 11 p.m., which the board declined.

Thallemer states that he has attended no meetings organized by the plaintiff nor contributed any funds to support their efforts, and at fair board request continues to provide city services for all fairgrounds events including fair-week events and activities.

Lastly, Thallemer states that he personally supports 4-H Livestock Auction and 4-H Livestock Poss-Abilities Program.