Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Millionaire CEO Quits L.A. County Fair Organization After Probe Into Bloated Salary
View of the Los Angeles County Fair at the Pomona Fairplex. Image courtesy of migcontreras/Instagram
()
Though parking will be expensive, the food will be expensive, and the beer will be more expensive than that, this fall your kettle corn might taste a little sweeter and your fried butter a little more buttery knowing that your hard-earned dollars won't be going to pay a millionaire's salary to the guy running a struggling nonprofit.
The head of the organization in charge of putting together the annual L.A. County Fair has stepped down amid criticism that he continued to be extremely well compensated as the event has kept losing money over the last few years, the L.A. Times reports.
Los Angeles County Fair Association President and CEO James Henwood, Jr. has left the post he's held since 1995, following an L.A. Times probe into bloated executive pay at the agency that showed Henwood received more that $1 million in salary and bonuses in 2014. That same year, the LACFA netted nearly $3.5 million in losses, a downward trend for the group since 2010.
COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT: Michael Ortiz Chair of the Board will serve as our Interim CEO as current CEO Jim Henwood has...
Posted by Fairplex on Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Support for LAist comes from
According to a statementreleased on the Fairplex website, Henwood notified the LACFA board of his departure back in June, 2015, before the L.A. Times report.
Henwood said he was very proud to have served the LACFA, but that he was now a "distraction" to the group's work. "I love this organization too much to let that happen."
The LACFA is not a government-run agency, as are most in charge of county fairs. It operates on its own and leases the county's fairgrounds in Pomona for the fall fair, in addition to culinary events, car shows and music festivals throughout the year. The ill-fated HARD raves, during which two young women died of drug overdoses, were also LACFA bookings.
LACFA Board Chair and former Cal Poly Pomona president Michael Ortiz will take over as interim CEO.
Both county and state audits of the organization are pending.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist