Supporters fight firing of fair manager

With a groundswell of support for ousted Fair Manager Jay Scott, a group of about 150 Flathead Valley residents has vowed to do whatever it takes to get justice for a man they say was one of the best fair managers ever.

The game plan includes asking the entire Fair Board to resign.

If board members refuse to step down, Scott supporters will pressure the Flathead County commissioners to dismiss the three remaining board members — Susan Munsinger, Butch Woolard and newly appointed Joy Struble.

There are currently two vacancies on the board, one left by longtime board member Paul Atkinson, who resigned when Scott was fired. The other vacancy came when board member Ted Dykstra Jr. temporarily stepped down to fill in as interim fair manager.

Supporters of Scott gathered at Gardner’s Auction Service on Thursday night to voice their displeasure with the board’s recent vote not to renew Scott’s contract.

“We all know why we’re here,” retired businessman Gerry Banzet told the crowd. “My suggestion is a new Fair Board.”

Banzet, who facilitated much of the grassroots meeting, said he consulted with an attorney about what action the group could take, and was advised to put pressure on the commissioners through public comments and letters. While the Fair Board operates somewhat autonomously, board members are appointed by the commissioners.

“He said make it so uncomfortable that they have no choice but to do something different,” Banzet said.

Former county Commissioner Dale Williams agreed with that approach.

“You’ve got to make it so hot in that office they’ll have to intercede,” Williams said.

He urged the audience to implore the commissioners to remove longtime Fair Board Chairman Butch Woolard from the board and remove Dykstra as interim fair manager.

“I don’t know of a more humble public servant than Jay Scott,” Williams said. “What we have now is not the people we need.”

CONCERNS about the quality of this year’s Northwest Montana Fair reverberated through the audience as reports surfaced that many fair participants — from the rodeo announcer and numerous rodeo sponsors to quilters who routinely display their handiwork at the fair — have pulled out.

“The ladies who put the quilts in the fair said they won’t hang any quilts” if Jay Scott isn’t managing the event, Banzet said. “Where is the fair headed with this kind of direction?”

Former Fair Board member Terry Fosbery, who lost his reappointment recently to Struble, said he, too, is worried about the backlash over Scott’s ouster.

“With this group on the Fair Board, every day they wake up there is less fair than the day before,” Fosbery said, noting the exodus of fair participants and sponsors. “This [board] is not competent. It’s OK to ask for them to be removed.”

Other audience members pointed out the potential domino effect of a diminished fair, in everything from lost business due to fewer fair-goers to less 4-H market beef and pork for local food banks.

There also was consternation over the way Scott was let go, in a public meeting instead of a closed session, and the lack of explanation from the board about why it didn’t renew his contract.

Christina Williams, a former temporary employee in the fair office, said what she witnessed during her time there was “a witch hunt.” She said she was called into confidential meetings with the auditor, human-resource director and other officials and was asked “about what was going on in that office ... they were looking for something.”

At the Feb. 11 meeting after the board voted not to renew Scott’s contract, Dykstra said the commissioners had tasked the board to be fiscally responsible and correct deficiencies outlined in an internal audit of the fairgrounds.

Fosbery said Scott was given a list of 20 to 30 things to improve upon and insisted he worked hard to make the improvements. Shortly before he was let go, Scott presented a new fairgrounds performance improvement plan to the commissioners and said he was excited about the potential for increased revenue from events at the Expo Building and Trade Center.

“From October to December he did nothing but take care of those things” he was told to do, “and the surprising thing was they let him go anyway,” Fosbery said.

A petition drive to reinstate Scott is under way, and organizers signed up dozens of supporters at the meeting.

Supporters have set up a “Support for Jay Scott” account at West One Bank, 222 West Idaho St. or 2604 U.S. 2 East in Kalispell, to collect donations for advertising and legal fees. Donations also may be mailed to Leslie Knuth, treasurer of Supporters of Jay Scott, at P.O. Box 7758, Kalispell, MT 59904.

Another public meeting is planned at 6 p.m. March 25 at Gardner’s Auction Service.

 Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com