Laib Disputes Claim That He Was Let Go

DAYTON - Former Columbia County fair manager Shane Laib disputes claims he was let go after his contract with the county expired last November, insisting instead that he chose not to continue with the organization because of personal differences with board members.

But county commissioners are sticking by their version of events, saying Laib never expressed his desire to resign or to let his contract run out.

Meanwhile, a revived fair board is trying to pick up the pieces and is working hard to pull together vendors and entertainment for this year's fair, themed A Treasure Chest of Columbia County's Best.

In a Jan. 26 story on the issue in the Times, County Commissioner Dwight Robanske said after the resignation of four fair board members last fall (for reasons varying from moving to simply retiring from the board), the remaining board members were uncomfortable moving forward on many fronts and agreed to put off a number of decisions. One of these decisions included renewing Laib's contract as fair manager. Because there was no action, the contract simply ran out at the end of November.

"We did not renew it," Robanske said. "We were going to let the new board decide."

In an interview with the Times on Feb. 1, Laib said that was not how his relationship with the county and the fair ended.

"I never asked anyone to have my contract renewed," Laib said. "I had no intention of asking for renewal."

Those who resigned were Christine Broughton, Bob McCauley, Glenn Hagfeldt, Miranda Bowen, and later, Barbara Fullerton.

Reacting to reports about the end of his two-year tenure with the fair, Laib painted a favorable picture of his time as fair manager.

Laib said his experience was positive overall. He said he focused on making the fair a showcase for kids' projects and brought back traditional entertainment and activities.

"I'm very excited about the things we did," Laib said.

Laib lives in Walla Walla and he grew up in Dayton. He is currently the owner of a company called SL Consulting, a Walla Walla city councilman, vice president of the Milton-Freewater Mounted Posse, a former volunteer with the Walla Walla County Fair and he works for Rep. Terry Nealey's campaign.

Laib said he did not want to continue his service to Columbia County because of "personal differences" with new fair board members who were appointed by the county commissioners.

"(The issue) would have been the group of people I would have been working with down the road," Laib said. "It's not a battle I want to have. People have agendas. One of the fair board members has an agenda. We just don't get along."

Laib would not elaborate on what kind of agenda the fair board member may have or who that person is.

The new fair board members are Michelle Shoun, Dave Molesh, Charlie Barron and Jeremy Cox. They join members Merle Myrick, Debbie Bailey, Charles Amerein and Neil Stephens.

However, despite Laib's insistence that he did not want his contract renewed, the county commissioners stick to their side of the story.

"We have no letter of resignation," said Chuck Reeves, Columbia County Commissioner. "I was never told that he was quitting."

After the commissioners allowed Laib's contract to expire in November, Reeves said Laib did express interest in participating in the 2012 fair through his application for one of the vacant fair board seats.

However, because Laib lives in Walla Walla and not within the boundaries of the Columbia County Health System, Laib was denied a position, Reeves said.

Reeves said he is ready for things to settle down and there is no reason to "fight over" whether Laib was fired or if he quit.

"It serves us no purpose moving forward to argue over who quit first or whatever," Reeves said.

Laib said amid all of the controversy this has stirred up in the community, he is "taking the high road" and trying to stay out of the issue.

"The people who are trying to make it sensational don't have a clue," he said. "One of those people is on the fair board.

Laib signed his contract to be the county's fair manager on May 7, 2010, and his contract was renewed by the commissioners and the fair board through November 2011.

A fair manager works for the fair board. The board would have recommended the county commissioners hire him, and the county commissioners would have had final say.

Laib said in the fair's history, the president of the fair board often acted as the fair manager. However, he was the first to take a commission from corporate sponsorships.

Laib's contract with the county details he was to receive 15 percent of all corporate sponsorships brought in for the fair. In 2010, he made $2,710.11 in commission, and in 2011, he made 2,313.75, a total of $5,023.86 over two years. Laib said the fair board decided at that time to pay him this commission to "offset transportation costs."

During a meeting of the Columbia County Commissioners on Oct. 19, 2011, there was tension between the commissioners and Laib because of the way the fair board resignations were completed.

Laib said he knew members of the fair board were planning to resign and a form was created and handed out to each of the nine fair board members at the previous meeting in October. Those who did not agree to resign that day did not fill out the form and they were destroyed, Laib said.

The commissioners said the way the letter of resignation was placed before each fair board member was "unusual" and they said it may have appeared as who somebody was pressuring the members to resign.

During that same meeting on Oct. 19, Laib presented the commissioners with suggestions on how to appoint the new fair board members, with a list of qualifications and criteria they should ask for from the members.

Laib also suggested reducing the number of fair board members from nine to seven.

This suggestion was met with many questions by the commissioners, mostly because producing a fair is a lot of work and they were concerned less fair board members would mean more work for everyone.

Finally, the commissioners said they were uneasy with the fact that Laib had been handling fundraising over his two years as fair manager. Commissioner Richard Jones said he had an "inherent problem with it" because Laib's payment was based on fundraising.

Jones had added during that meeting Laib has appeared "heavy-handed" and tried to "ramrod" the resignations of the fair board members and that he was concerned about the influence he had on the board members in general.

"We need to solve it before we talk about 2012," Jones said.

Meanwhile, the revitalized fair board is getting underway with plans for the next fair. At a Jan. 31 meeting, the theme for the Columbia County Fair was chosen as A Treasure Chest of Columbia County's Best. They will be working on a logo for this theme at the next meeting.

Also, applications for hosts and hostesses are now being accepted. Students currently in eighth to tenth grades are eligible to apply. Applications are at the schools.

Those who are interested in helping at the fair should plan on attending the next meeting,

Feb. 20, 7 p.m. at the Youth Building at the fair