Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named four Napans to the Napa Town and Country Fair Board of Directors on Friday, changing the makeup of the committee that oversees the 30-plus acre site on the edge of downtown Napa.

The four include: Dee Cuney, 62, a five-time candidate for Napa City Council and longtime member of the Napa County Republican Central Committee; Mark Gasster, 51, also a Central Committee member and a retired general manager from WW Shipping Solutions; Lupe Rincon, 42, a Democrat who works at Napa State Hospital and is a member of the Napa County Hispanic Network Board of Directors; and Al Wagner, 44, vineyard operations manager for Clos du Val who is active with the Napa County Farm Bureau and the Napa County Grapegrowers Association. Wagner is a Republican.

Schwarzenegger had previously made one appointment, Marjorie Preston, to the nine-member board. Of the remaining eight seats, two have been vacant and six have been occupied by people named to the board by Schwarzenegger’s predecessors.

According to the governor’s press office, Cuney replaces Paul Battisti, whose seat was considered vacant; Wagner fills another vacant seat, formerly occupied by Maggie O’Kelly; Gasster replaces Dave Dickson, and Rincon replaces Paul Dohring.

Gregory Rodeno, a Napa attorney and member of the board, welcomed the appointments, which were part of an effort by Schwarzenegger to fill county fair board and other seats around the state.

“We are very pleased to see he has seen fit to fill our vacancies and provide confirmed appointments to fill our board,” said Rodeno.

The future of the Expo has been the subject of community interest and speculation for several years. In the late 1990s, a board led by appointees of Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, moved to develop the grounds, proposing creation of three hotels, a conference center and retail operations.

That plan was never put into place, as Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, changed the makeup of the board and iced the private development proposals.

Earlier this year, former board members told the Register that the Expo is essentially lying dormant and that the current board needed to exert more leadership.

Current members of what is formally known as the 25th District Agricultural Association said the inertia was caused by several limitations, including the aging infrastructure of the Expo grounds and the fact that the grounds are in a flood zone.

Today the Expo — home to the Napa Town & Country Fair, an RV campground, bingo games, crab feeds and quinceañeras — is in an area slated for major change.

The city of Napa is moving forward with a Soscol Gateway redevelopment plan that would encompass the area around the Expo, improving the area’s ability to handle flood waters. Just to the north, the Oxbow District is undergoing a major facelift, with a market hall and restaurants slated to open in the coming weeks and months, and grander plans for a Ritz-Carlton resort on the drawing board.

Cuney said she was “excited” by her nomination to the board. She said she thought the grounds, especially the Plaza Stage, could be made more accessible to disabled people.

“I know that some of the buildings need upgrading,” she said. “I certainly would look at some of the old proposals and consider new ones. But I just want to learn what’s on the table at this point.”

Wagner declined comment, and the other new appointees could not be reached late Friday.