Fair manager responds to commissioner's complaints

To The Eagle:

I’ve been the fair manager for five years. After reading what Mr. Backman had to say at the June 13 commissioners meeting, I would like to get some facts straight for him. At the May fair board meeting, there was a motion to call off the bull riders if a goal was not achieved ($15,000). It was also stated that there would be a committee meeting on May 30, and they were to decide if it went forward or not. At that meeting, it was decided by the committee to go forward. Therefore I allowed fundraising to go on for the event. If the committee had said it was done it would have been, but they did not, so Mr. Backman accusing me of doing things is not correct.

As for the county picking up the cost of the event, that would not be correct. The fair sets a budget every year that is approved by the fair board and the commissioners. The budget was approved by both. The county has done repairs to the cow barn (fair board members did the work), painted the T-Building and stage, and this year are putting a new electrical panel in the Grange booth, the PUD put in the new transformers, and last this year, they are making up the difference in the bathroom grant. Other than these listed items they have not put any money in to the fair.

The fair itself has been self sufficient since I have taken over. In the last five years we in fact have had between $18,000 and $20,000 in our account at the end of the year. Therefore the fair had its own money to pay for the bull riders. Once again Mr. Backman did not have all the facts.

I am really disappointed that I had no idea this was going on at the commissioners meeting, because I certainly would have been there so some facts could have been brought to the table.

Patty Dursteler

Skamokawa