Dauphin County has been paying a former county commissioner $60,000 a year since 2021 to serve as a liaison to the National Rifle Association’s outdoor show. The government claims that the liaison was required to keep the event in the county because there were rumors that the NRA was considering moving it.
The NRA says the rumor is untrue.
Since October 2021, former Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste, who retired mid-term in May 2021, has been receiving $5,000 a month to ensure that The Great American Outdoor Show continues to operate and remain in place. According to county officials, the NRA was purportedly thinking of shifting the event in 2021, which is why they created Haste’s post, which is sponsored by a tourist grant paid for with hotel tax funds.
However, an NRA representative told PennLive that the organization had no intentions to move the exhibition in the future and had not given it any thought in 2021.
According to an email from NRA spokesperson Nick Perrine, “The PA Farm Show Complex and Dauphin County have been great partners, and local businesses and residents are very welcoming to all our guests and staff, as well as our exhibitors who travel from across the globe for the nine-day show.”
According to Shannon Powers, the department’s spokesman, neither the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which owns the venue, nor the management of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center, where the event is hosted, are aware that the NRA has ever expressed a desire to move the show.
“The NRA had already signed a contract with the state to hold the show at the venue through 2025 when Haste was hired as the county’s liaison in 2021,” Powers said. Since the 2021 concert was canceled because of the pandemic, that has been prolonged till 2026.
The relocation speculation has long been touted by county officials as the rationale for the need for Haste’s position.
The NRA and the state had previously inked a deal in 2021 for the show to continue at the PA Farm Show Complex until 2025. Since then, it has been extended until 2026.Zach Gleiter | PennLive Exclusive
In October 2021, the board of the county’s Economic Development Corporation was informed by George Connor, executive director of the Dauphin County Department of Community and Economic Development, that there was a report the NRA was considering moving the exhibition to Texas. According to meeting minutes, the exhibit is still in Dauphin County because the county commissioners wanted to hire Haste to maintain the county’s connection with the NRA.
At the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners meeting on May 29, Connor responded forcefully to a question on the rumor.
That’s right, indeed. Kentucky, Texas, or any other state. Connor stated that they were going to depart. Following a contentious vote in which newly elected Commissioner Justin Douglas questioned the need, the commissioners decided to extend the contract during that meeting.
Connor’s application for the 2024 tourism award, which PennLive acquired through a public documents request, also stated that hiring Haste was essential to ensuring the performance remained in Dauphin County during the pandemic because it had been canceled in 2021.
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According to Connor, Dauphin County must be as cooperative as possible in order to keep this concert inside its boundaries.
When questioned by PennLive, Connor said he remembered the NRA was thinking about moving the event because the Farm Show Complex was overrun by PPE in 2021, making it hard to host the event there.
When the 2021 show was canceled, Connor noted in an email to PennLive, “Mr. Haste at the time was very influential in coordinating with the [Great American Outdoor Show] staff/NRA executives to keep the show here in Dauphin County.”
I believe that the [Great American Outdoor Show] would have been transferred to a different state or location if the PPE things had not been moved and relocated to a different facility by the end of 2021.
They re inviting scrutiny
The NRA exhibition, which has been held at the Farm exhibition Complex since 2014, had no interaction with the county prior to Haste’s employment. It is unclear why Haste’s job is required, especially when the NRA is not thinking about moving the exhibition.
Haste declined to be interviewed for this story, but in a letter to PennLive, he described his responsibilities as a liaison, included attending meetings with vendors and organizers, resolving logistical problems, and getting input from showgoers. He stated that while the majority of his work is done during the nine-day exhibition, the planning for the following year starts as soon as the show concludes.
I am confident my efforts as a liaison will be invaluable when its organizers consider renewing the lease, Haste wrote in the letter. Ensuring they have a positive experience here every year is one of the factors that will impact their decision.
In addition to the $60K he is paid annually for his liaison role, Haste is also paid $12K per year as a member of the Dauphin County Board of Assessment Appeals, as well as a county pension. In 2020, his last full year as a county commissioner, he earned $112K. He had been a county commissioner for over 20 years.
While it is legal for the county to hire Haste as a consultant and for the current commissioners two of whom are his former colleagues to approve it, it could raise eyebrows, said Chalon Young, a professor and ethics expert at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
The way that his contract was written and the timing of his departure his early retirement and the timing of his contract there are some things that would probably invite scrutiny, Young said.
When asked about the origin of the relocation rumor, county spokesperson Diane McNaughton said the county had seen it in several articles and correspondence, but deferred questions about its legitimacy to the NRA. Despite PennLive’s persistent requests, McNaughton failed to produce the cited publications and communications.
Haste s monthly invoices to the county s economic development corporation for his consulting work, which PennLive also obtained through a public records request through September 2022, do not include any details about his work. PennLive is still waiting for the county to provide more recent invoices.
According to McNaughton, Haste is exempt from submitting weekly or hourly time records.
The success of the Show, and its growth over the years, is evidence of his work product, she wrote. The outdoor show brings roughly $80 million to the region, according to the county.
Opening day of the 2022 Great American Outdoor Show at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. Numerous people who attend the Show regularly have told us, There would be no Great American Outdoors Show without Jeff Haste, Dauphin County spokesperson Diane McNaughton wrote.Vicki Vellios Briner | Special to PennLive
When asked how Haste was chosen for the job and if any other people were considered, McNaughton said the county commissioners asked Haste to continue working with the show when he retired, given the value he brings to it.
Numerous people who attend the Show regularly have told us, There would be no Great American Outdoors Show without Jeff Haste, McNaughton wrote.
Perrine of the NRA also sung Haste s praises, saying he played a pivotal role in bringing the show to Harrisburg in 2013 after the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show was canceled. Since retiring as commissioner, Haste has remained a steadfast ally and advocate for the show, Perrine wrote.
Young, the legal expert, said while it s also legal for the county to hire Haste without a bidding process, it s potentially a red flag.
He may very well be the most qualified person for this position, and everything might be completely ethical, Young said. But when things like this are done in the public eye, and of course elections are looming and taxpayer dollars are involved, they re inviting scrutiny. They re potentially inviting some investigation.
Commissioners react to debunked NRA rumor
Dauphin County Commissioners George Hartwick and Mike Pries, who served alongside Haste while he was commissioner and voted to approve his liaison contract each year, responded to requests for comment on this story through McNaughton, the county spokesperson.
Neither commissioner would have any documentation of the rumor, McNaughton said despite McNaughton previously saying the county had seen it in articles and correspondence.
They are always cognizant that the Show could be moved to another county, city or state, so they invest in keeping this asset here in Dauphin County, which our citizens, hotels, restaurants, stores, area attractions and job-seekers appreciate, McNaughton said.
Dauphin County Commissioner Justin Douglas, who was elected in 2023, objected to Haste s liaison contract being renewed during the May 29 meeting.
That just seems like an expensive rumor, to then go and get a consultant for $60,000 a year, he said at the meeting.
When told the NRA said it was not considering relocating the show in 2021, Douglas reiterated his concern in an email to PennLive.
It appears we entered into the agreement under false pretenses, which is highly concerning given our responsibility as the Commissioners and stewards of Dauphin County resources, he wrote.