ISLAND COUNTY: Sound Off: Port should prioritize fair over private business (HELEN PRICE JOHNSON/WNT)

Former Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson wrote a Sound Off column for the Whidbey News-Times criticizing the Port of South Whidbey’s management of the Whidbey Island Fairgrounds and Events Center. Price Johnson’s column appeared in the paper’s Aug. 30, 2023 edition.

They Said It

The Fairgrounds and Event Center was created for the fair. Private businesses that lease space there should be required to make room for the fair, not force the fair to make space for private businesses on this public property.

For more than 100 summers, Whidbey residents and visitors have come together to celebrate this island community on the fairgrounds in Langley. The Island County Fair became the Whidbey Area Fair, yet this showcase of family fun, local talent, 4-H kids and animals, homemade arts and crafts, local businesses and civic organizations has been the foundation of this event.

…The annual fair event cannot continue without the solid support of its landlord.

If you agree, let the port commissioners know they need to be good stewards of not just the fairgrounds, but also the reason it exists — the fair.