 - The Fremont County Commission conducted three interviews for two open positions on the Fremont County Fair Board this week.){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – The Fremont County Commission conducted three interviews for two open positions on the Fremont County Fair Board this week.
More interviews are scheduled for Feb. 3, after which the Commission plans to select their chosen appointees, according to Commissioner Larry Allen.
This week’s candidates were:
- Chase Taylor, a lifelong resident of Fremont County who owns a farm near Pavillion with her father and raises show goats to sell to youth exhibitors across the country
- Luke Fidler, a local rancher who grew up participating in Future Farmers of America and whose daughter now participates in fair through 4H
- Kortney Hanger, who has served on the Fair Board for the past two years and is now seeking a full five-year term
Leadership
Each of the applicants answered a similar series of questions this week, including one from Commissioner Ron Fabrizius, who asked about the Fair Board’s recent decision to terminate Fair Director Pat Hart.
“I read that, (moving forward), board members will appoint themselves to a handful of new committees charged with handling fair business,” Fabrizius said as he introduced the question.
“If you were put on the fair board, would you vote for a group of committees to run the fair, or will you vote for a director? (And) why is one better than the other?”
All three candidates said they would like to see a new fair director in place.
Both Taylor and Hanger said board subcommittees could be useful as well, however.
“I actually attended the last Fair Board meeting where they talked about some subcommittees that they were already putting together,” Taylor said. “I see value in including members of the public in those discussions as well, (with) a liaison from the Fremont County Fair Board for all of those subcommittees.”
Hanger said the subcommittees “are great to get things in order” and “to get (an) organizational structure going” – but “ultimately … we have to (have) an executive director.”
“I don’t think (committees are) long-term sustainable,” she said. “I think it’s just (for) long enough to get things in order and organized and ready to go.”
As part of that organizational process, the Fair Board – and the Commission – should establish a clear method for communicating with the new director, Fidler said, explaining that, in his experience, it’s hard to work for governing boards because “all of a sudden you have a lot of bosses” and “it’s very hard to keep them all happy.”
“The commissioners and the Fair Board need to get together and see how that is going to be streamlined for whoever the fair director is (so they) understand who is ultimately making the calls,” Fidler said.
Budget cuts
During this week’s interviews, Commissioner Larry Allen asked all three candidates about their ideas for improving fair attendance and increasing income, especially given “the proposed changes in our revenue streams” that the Wyoming Legislature is considering this year.
“We anticipate severe budget cuts (that) could reduce our contributions that we put into the fair annually,” Allen said. “How could we make up the difference?”
In response, Taylor suggested providing more fair activities for members of the public who aren’t involved in agriculture and bringing in a more “diverse” lineup of night events in order to increase attendance and bring in more revenue.
The Fair Board could also do more to market the annex facility that is available to rent, she said.
Fidler talked about the revenue-generating potential of night events, too, but he also pointed to fair entry fees as a way to make more money.
“People won’t like it, (but) a lot of the revenue that covers the fair from taxes is going to go away, so I really think we’re going to have to lean towards charging per entry,” he said. “That would be your quickest way to get money back into the fair.”
Hanger mentioned the annex and night events in her answer as well, but she also talked about “taking a deeper look into our spending” – something she had referenced during her introductory statement.
“We are at a turning point,” Hanger said. “My focus for the next five years is to implement the budget modifications and organizational structures we need to be fully profitable and to continue to grow the fair.”
When Commissioner Jennifer Wilson asked the other candidates to describe their “five-year vision for the fair,” Taylor said she would focus on enhanced marketing efforts in order to bring more participants to the annual event.
“I’d like to see us grow to include more participation, and I think that a way that we do that is through marketing,” she said. “We have the platforms. We need to use them”
Fidler shared similar comments when he answered the question, but he focused more on participation by younger children.
“Without the children we don’t have a fair,” he said, suggesting a greater emphasis on opportunities for “pee-wee” competitors or aspiring photographers, for example – anything to “get the youth out of their house … and participating in learning.”
When Commissioner Mike Jones asked Fidler what his priorities would be during his potential first year on the Fair Board, however, Fidler said he would focus on “rebuilding the relationship with the commissioners.”
“You need to have respect both ways,” he said. “I want people to just really try to work together instead of butting heads (so) nothing gets done. It’s not in the best interests of the children that are at fair.”
All three interviews can be viewed in full here.
The Fair Board interviews begin about 15 minutes into the meeting recording.