Orange County Fair CEO Michele Richards to retire in spring, after 23-year career
- Share via
Officials with the Orange County Fair & Event Center — organizers of the annual O.C. Fair — announced Tuesday General Manager and CEO Michele Richards will retire this spring after more than 20 years of working with the organization.
Although no date has yet been set for her tenure to end, Richards confirmed her replacement is likely to be installed by the time next year’s fair begins in July.
“It will be sometime in May, definitely before the fair,” Richards said Tuesday. “It’s actually a really good time, because everything will have been set by then.”
The 65-year-old Laguna Niguel resident plans to return to her home state of Georgia for family reasons and to care for her aging mother. She said the prospect of leaving behind the fairgrounds and the people who work there is especially difficult.
“I just have to focus on where I’m going, as opposed to where I’m leaving, because it’s hard to think about the place I’m leaving and the people I have loved for so many years,” said Richards, who informed the center’s board of directors of her imminent departure last fall, and looped in fairground employees earlier this month.
“It’s natural when a leader leaves, people wonder what’s next. [But] I keep telling people this place is great because of them, because of what they do and what they create, and that won’t change.”
OC Fair & Event Center Board Chair Nick Kovacevich said Tuesday Richards will leave an “unforgettable mark” on the center for her years of leadership, resilience and innovation.
“Under her guidance, OCFEC has not only weathered storms but has emerged stronger, with a business model focused on sustainability, community satisfaction and safety,” he said in a statement. “Her vision, dedication and heartfelt service have been the bedrock of our success.”
Appointed in 2019 to helm the organization, which functions as California’s 32nd District Agricultural Assn., Richards formerly served as vice president of business development for seven years and, before that, worked as a consultant at the Costa Mesa fairgrounds since 2002.
She replaced Kathy Kramer, who left for a similar position at the Central Washington Fair Assn. and was terminated by OCFEC’s board in what officials then described as a personnel matter.
Months after her official promotion in December 2019, Richards steered the organization through the pandemic, announcing the cancellation of the 2020 Orange County Fair, a precaution that cost millions in lost revenue, and retooling the campus into a site for drive-thru COVID-19 tests and, later, a venue for vaccines.
In 2022, Richards was named a “Woman of the Year” for California’s 37th state Senate District by Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine), in part due to her leadership during the pandemic.
On Tuesday, she recalled the reopening of the fair in 2021, in a post-pandemic capacity with distancing and limited daily attendance — one of her happiest memories at the fairgrounds.
“Getting to open that main gate on opening day of the 2021 fair, after a year of struggling and not having the fair in 2020, was a real pivotal moment for me,” she recalled.
Although Richards plans to help advise the OC Fair & Event Center’s board of directors on some of the skills and qualities of a replacement, she will have no say in selecting her successor.
Aside from the pandemic, the chief executive counted developing a master site plan and a five-year strategic plan for the facility, along with the expansion of community programs, among the most important assignments undertaken during her tenure.
However, implementing those sweeping plans — including a $30-million expansion of the site’s administration building and the reconfiguration of the fairgrounds’ 7.5-acre Equestrian Center into a more public-facing community programming concept, the Ranch Community Center, has not been without its challenges.
After a group of longtime equestrian boarders refused to sign onto new rental agreements, and the rent hikes therein, Richards spearheaded an ultimatum that led to a mass exodus of tenants at the end of the year.
As of Tuesday, only seven boarders representing six horses remained housed at the Costa Mesa site, which under the new Ranch concept, carves out accommodations for as many as 60 horses. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed against OCFEC by a group of equestrians, alleging unfair practices by Richards and board members, remains ongoing.
Still, Richards remains hopeful about the progress started on her watch, primarily because of what she called an amazing team of about 250 full- and part-time employees who will carry on after her departure.
“They’re the best human beings I have ever worked with, and their commitment to this organization makes my job easier,” she said. “They just need to keep going.”
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
