While the future of the King County Fair might be in doubt, citizens and some of their County Council members made their feelings perfectly clear during a forum on the issue: Keep the fair going.
The meeting Oct. 22 in Enumclaw – the fair’s home town – took an ominous tone in the wake of County Executive Ron Sims’ proposed county budget for 2009. It calls for immediate cancellation of the fair, which has lasted 145 years.
A crowd in excess of 200 people were at the Expo Center for the session – sponsored by County Council members Reagan Dunn and Pete von Reichbauer – to talk about ways to improve the fair, which has shriveled in recent years to near extinction.
“It’s obvious that the county and local residents haven’t been on the same page for some time,” Dunn said, adding he was “shocked” when he heard Sims’ proposal to eliminate the fair.
“This fair should never be canceled,” he said, earning applause from the crowd.
Another councilman, Larry Phillips, who’s chairman of the council’s budget committee, also expressed support for the fair. He called it “part of the legacy we leave to our children and grandchildren,” and he vowed to “find the funds to keep this wonderful fair going.”
Sims’ preliminary budget of $4.9 billion, which he said requires $93 million in cuts, proposes ending the fair as a cost-cutting measure. That move would save $315,000.
According to Sims, the public has lost interest in the fair, and the county can’t justify supporting it at a time when the Sheriff Department and other county services also are facing budget cuts.
In the 1970 and 1980s, attendance – often in the 100,000 range during five-day runs – was plentiful for the fair’s attractions, including big-name entertainers. Since then, the county has tried different approaches with limited success. This year’s fair was reduced to three days and drew a total attendance of about 16,000. It was primarily an agricultural gathering for 4-H and FFA kids and their families. There were limited vendors and no carnival.
Among the long line of speakers at last month’s forum, some liked the scaled-down version of the fair, but few argued that it provided a traditional “fair experience.” Most extolled the virtues of an event that engages children in healthy activities and promotes a positive lifestyle.
Some spoke of the financial benefit a vital fair provides to the Enumclaw area. And some simply took the county to task for what they considered its lack of commitment to making the fair an integral part of the countywide landscape.
Enumclaw resident Steve Hammond, a former County Councilman who now works on Dunn’s council staff, said Sims “has a hard time remembering that King County extends south past the city of Seattle.” If the county truly cares about the fair, Hammond said, the money could be found to stage a revival.
Dunn, whose council district includes Black Diamond, Covington and Maple Valley in addition to Enumclaw, noted it will take at least five members of the nine-person council to block Sims’ proposal. County officials will work on details of the 2009 budget during the next month.
Von Reichbauer said the fair “is too important to lose and it’s too important not to fight for.”
Snip, snip
About a week before the forum on the King County Fair, County Council members convened a public hearing in Kent on proposed cuts of $93 million in the county budget. Some highlights:
• Step-Up, a treatment program for teenagers who have been violent with parents or other family members, could be eliminated next June. Sage Baldwin, a teen, testified that before his recent 13 weeks in the program, “I was out of control. I would push my brother around. It’s done a world of good. Please fund the program.” The program, which receives $136,000 in funding per year out of ju dicial administration, serves about 75 families annually.
• Mark Hillman, a Superior Court commissioner, said proposed cuts in family court would harm custody cases that involve parents who are victims of domestic violence. “We will lose services (that) victims of domestic violence can’t afford to be without,” Hillman said.
• A $450,000 cut by next June in county contributions is proposed for the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center. That would be about 20 percent of its annual budget. On that and other issues, several citizens said the county should save people before projects.
The Enumclaw Courier-Herald, part of the Reporter Newspapers group, contributed to this report.
