Future of the Troubled Antelope Valley Fair Is Uncertain : Attractions: Last week’s dismissal of seven employees is the latest in a series of misfortunes. But optimism abounds as the governing board seeks a new executive.
LANCASTER — For the Antelope Valley Fair board, the past 12 months have been anything but carefree.
The appointees who oversee the half-century-old Lancaster celebration and local fairgrounds have endured the departure of two general managers, a drop in fair attendance, allegations of conflict of interest and an audit that uncovered dozens of state rules violations.
Last week, the tough times continued as fair board members, grappling with a $600,000 deficit in their 1994 budget, laid off seven employees, including the fair’s marketing director and the supervisor of its new telecommuting center.
Moreover, the fair’s administration has been in such disarray without a manager that it missed a Nov. 21 state deadline for the event’s 1995 budget and had to request an extension until January.
Board President Charla Abbott insists that despite the recent setbacks, the future of the fair is not as gloomy as it might appear.
“This fair has survived because of the strong community support and will continue to do so for that reason,” she said.
State officials agree, saying the Antelope Valley operation has experienced turmoil aplenty.
“I would say they’ve had more than their share,” said Kim Myrman, director of the state’s Division of Fairs and Expositions, which oversees California’s 80 state fairs.
She said Antelope Valley was one of only three fairs statewide that she allowed to turn in a late budget.
“We provide extensions only in pretty extreme circumstances, and not having a chief executive officer meets that definition,” Myrman said.
But the state fair director is confident that the Antelope Valley Fair will soon bounce back, particularly after undergoing a rigorous review last year.
The audit, conducted by the state and made public in late 1993, contained 196 recommendations. Noted violations included purchasing alcohol for a board reception with state funds, working temporary employees more days than allowed and improperly investing funds in a local bank with ties to a fair director.
A final report on how the Lancaster fair has corrected these problems is expected to be submitted next month.
But Myrman noted, “It’s my understanding that the vast majority of those things were remedied over the past year.”
If board members “focus their attention on getting a good chief executive officer, that operation will continue to be a viable one for the residents of the Antelope Valley,” Myrman said. “I believe they clearly understand what they need to do and will do that.”
Antelope Valley Fair operations are governed by a nine-member board. Two seats are vacant, awaiting appointments by Gov. Pete Wilson. The fairgrounds are the site of an 11-day festival at the end of each summer and special events year-round.
Abbott said the budget deficit occurred partly because the fair spent a lot of money renovating its aging buildings, while underestimating how much revenue it would take in. The fair’s annual budget is about $3.5 million to $4 million.
Abbott said the board plans to dip into its reserve funds and cut spending to cover the shortfall. “At the end of October, we had stopped all capital improvements,” she said. “All nonessential expenditures are on hold.”
The recent layoffs also will save about $16,000 a month. Abbott said all of the people who received pink slips were temporary employees, who were allowed to work only up to 119 days a year, under state guidelines.
She said a member of the fair’s permanent staff will take over supervision of the new telecommuting center, which offers desks, phones and computer equipment to Antelope Valley residents who would otherwise have to drive to workplaces in the Los Angeles area.
The center, funded by state and local grants, was set up after the Northridge earthquake damaged freeways and made it difficult for many Antelope Valley residents to commute to and from work. Abbott said the board is committed to keeping it open.
The board’s most immediate challenge, she said, is to hire an interim general manager, then a permanent one.
Bruce Latta, who took the post in March of 1993, resigned two months ago to take a similar job with the National Date Festival and Riverside County Fair.
The board then enlisted an interim manager, Roger Vitaich, who left in mid-November to return to the California Fair Services Authority, according to Abbott.
Abbott said the board is now looking for another interim manager to complete the 1995 budget and begin preparations for the next fair. At the same time, it will conduct an exhaustive search for a permanent administrator.
Also unresolved are conflict-of-interest allegations leveled last summer against board members Betty L. Smith and Steve Landaker.
The state attorney general’s office is reviewing allegations that Smith and Landaker inappropriately voted on fair contracts that may have benefited their employers, a trash collection service and a billboard company.
Landaker, who denied any improprieties, resigned several months ago. Smith remains on the board.
Once the fair’s finances and personnel matters are in order, the new manager is expected to focus on relocating the fairgrounds, which have been a longtime fixture at Division Street and East Avenue I. Fair officials say the 80-acre site is too small and too close to residential areas, where neighbors complain about fair-related traffic and noise.
Both Palmdale and Lancaster officials are trying to lure the fair to their cities, although how such a move would be financed remains uncertain. The new fairgrounds could include such expanded attractions as an auto-racing arena, an amphitheater and a convention center.
With such improvements on the horizon, Abbott says she prefers not to dwell on the tough times the fair board has weathered over the past year.
“I don’t see a downside to it,” she said. “I see a number of challenges that I as president and my board have been faced with. I’ve enjoyed every minute.”
