California must enhance investment in local fairs
County and district fairgrounds serve a number of functions for local communi- ties, including as emergency evacuation centers for farm animals. Livestock pens donated last year by the California Bountiful Foundation, left, have been deployed for wildfire evacuations this summer.
ByKevinCann The current spate of wildfires high- lights the utility of one of California’smost under-appreciated assets: our system of county fairs. Now, you may be thinking, what does the state have to do with county
fairs? More than 1 4 0 y e a r s a g o , California began organizing what i s known today as the Network of California Fairs, consist ing of 79 fairs that operate under a variety of governance struc- tures, including
Kevin Cann
52 active state institutions known as District Agricultural Associations. The day-to-day operations of the facilities fall under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Fairground facilities provide more than cotton candy, corn dogs and Ferris wheel rides: They are emergency oper- ations centers; temporary housing for people who have been evacuated and/ or lost their homes; secure housing for horses, livestock and other animals during emergencies; and, most impor- tantly, a staging facility for firefighting crews and equipment. Like somuchwe take for granted in the Golden State, fairground facilities have not had sustaining investment for years, sometimes decades. Sadly, there are no plans to do so. Infact, thestateisseekingtoshutdownor otherwise disinvest fromthem, evenwhile utilizing these spaces to protect the health andwelfare of firefighting crews doing bat-
Photo/Kevin Hecteman
tle in the current, disastrous fire season. The governormust domore topreserve these critical state facilities, but insteadhe is askingCDFAtobegin theprocessof “off- loading” these critical community assets. In some respects, this is the natural cul- mination of years of state disinterest in maintaining the facilities and the people who depend on them. In fact, state fund- inghas been largely eliminatedandCDFA staff involvement in providing oversight has also been significantly reduced. Fairs responded to these reductions by defer- ring neededmaintenance and with a de- bilitating atrophying of critical, commu- nity-based facilities. I t i s impor tant to note that the Legislature in2017 recognized thedistress fairs were experiencing and provided an opportunity for them to receive a portion
of the proceeds from sales taxes collect- ed at fair events. Though this funding has been collected for a couple of years, it is unforgivable that these funds have not been released to the fairs. Insteadof push- ing out these sales tax dollars as quickly as possible, CDFAhasput inplaceacumber- some process by which a fair must jump over hurdles to obtain thesemonies. Similar to so many enterprises, with the onslaught of COVID-19, fairs have had to cancel events. Collectively, fairs lost approximately $98 million through June, even while still having to perform as COVID surge and evacuation cen- ters, as has been the case in my own Mariposa County. The state, meanwhile, is pushing the burdenof identifyingnewfair governance structures back onto counties, rather than
undertakingareinvestmentplan. This lack of state leadership is disheartening, short- sighted and fundamentally irresponsible, whenyouconsider the importanceof fair- ground facilities in combatingwildfires. Fortunately, those threatened by the wildfires have been able to utilize the net- work of fairs during past years and espe- ciallyduring the recent devastatingweeks. I am afraid if the state does not provide a viable investmentplan, these facilitiesmay not beavailable tomeet the “call toaction” next year, when we see another round of ferocious fires. What then? (Kev in Cann i s a member of the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors and former chair of the Rural County Representatives of California. He may be contactedat kcann@mariposacounty.org.)
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VOL. 47, NO. 33
September 9, 2020
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