Grant County Fair manager resigns

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Commissioners will take over interim oversight of the Grant County Fairgrounds after the resignation of manager Mickey Webb.

“His (Webb’s) last day was Saturday,” June 23, said commissioner Richard Stevens. The commissioners thought they had an interim manager, but that plan fell through, he said. “Right now we have no one coming in as interim.”

There is the possibility of an interim manager for fair week, Stevens said, and the possibility of an interim manager through the end of the summer season. Currently the commissioners don’t plan to advertise for a manager until the fair season ends in late September.

In the meantime, “most of the fair staff is in place,” office staff, maintenance staff and events coordinator, and employees will keep working the scheduled events. Any business that would’ve required authorization or approval of the fair manager will go to the commissioners. The fairgrounds maintenance crew will come under the supervision of the county’s maintenance crew, a change that Stevens said could become permanent.

“Tough time for Mickey to quit,” Stevens said. The commissioners tried to persuade him to stay until after the fair, Stevens said, but Webb had other commitments and declined.

The fair manager does have a demanding job. “Mickey was a pretty dedicated individual,” at the fairgrounds for many events in the evenings and on weekends, Stevens said.

“This is a tough time to go out and advertise for a fair manager,” Stevens said. Summer is peak season of fairground facility use, with the fair itself following in August or September in most counties. Qualified candidates – the kind of people the commissioners would want to hire – are busy through the end of summer and not looking for a job, he said.

There has been a lot of turnover in the fair manager’s job, Stevens said, three managers in quick succession. Commissioners will be looking into the reasons for that, he said, and will have to address what they find. In the meantime the search for a successor probably will have to wait until fall, Stevens said.