- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Persons hired as Santa Maria Fairpark's new CEO; Strickler to head up Lake County Fair
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – After 18 years at the helm of the Lake County Fair, Richard Persons is heading south to a new assignment.
This week the Santa Maria Fairpark, 37th District Agricultural Association Board of Directors announced that it has hired Persons as its new chief executive officer.
“The board is looking forward to working with Mr. Persons, he has been highly involved in the fair industry for many years and we believe he will bring a fresh outlook to the many activities and projects we have going on at the Santa Maria Fairpark,” said Board President Kevin Merrill. “It’s a pleasure to welcome Richard and his wife Terri to our community.”
Persons told Lake County News that he'll remain with the Lake County Fair until Sept. 30, well past this year's summer fair, which takes place from Thursday, Aug. 28, through Sunday, Aug. 31.
Persons will be succeeded as the Lake County Fair chief executive officer by Kelseyville resident Debbie Strickler, a lifelong Lake County resident who for the last decade has worked as the fair's business assistant, a state-designated position that incorporates responsibilities for office management, accounting, contracting, payroll and human resources.
“The board is extremely happy to be able to promote Debbie to chief executive officer,” said Fair Board president Marcia Chauvin. “Lake County Fair is very lucky to had her services for the past 10 years. We will miss Rich, but Debbie has proven herself more than capable and we’re excited for the fair’s future under her leadership.”
Strickler's new job is effective Oct. 1, the same day Persons takes over in Santa Maria.
“I’m very excited and thrilled by this promotion,” Strickler said. “I love being at the fair, and working for Richard has been a rewarding experience. He is a wealth of knowledge and well respected in the fair industry, which has allowed me to learn from one of the best. I’m looking forward to applying that knowledge to my home town fair.”
Strickler – who is married to retired Kelseyville Fire District Chief Howard Strickler – exhibited lambs, steers, and hogs at the Lake County Fair beginning at the age of 9 until she graduated from high school.
She previously managed a staff of 250 as the human resources manager for Cheap Tickets, which maintained a telephone call center in Lakeport.
Prior to working at Cheap Tickets, Strickler worked at a number of large and small business positions in Lake County.
Persons, who has held the Lake County Fair CEO job since 1996, has nearly 30 years' experience working in the California fair industry.
Before coming to Lakeport, Persons – who has a degree in agricultural management – was the deputy manager of the Solano County Fair in Vallejo and owner of a small business that provided managerial services to county fairs and other events.
He also has served on a number of state fair industry boards and committees, including the California Fairs Alliance Board of Directors and chairs its Governmental Relations Task Force.
He's a past member of the Board of Directors of the Western Fairs Association and was president of the Board of Directors of the California Fairs Services Authority, a joint powers authority that provides insurance and risk management services to fairgrounds throughout California.
Persons said he and his wife, Terri – who works for the Lake County/City Area Planning Council – have for some time wanted to move to the Central Coast, where both attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
They began looking for property in that area three years ago as part of a plan to retire there. Then the opportunity to run the Santa Maria Fairpark arose.
Persons said he was contacted by a headhunting firm that asked him to apply. Altogether, 18 individuals put in for the job.
Interestingly, when comparing Santa Maria and Lake County, Persons noted, “The fairgrounds are almost identical in size.”
Persons said the Santa Maria Fairpark is 33 acres – compared to Lake County's 34 acres – and hosts several events each year besides producing the Santa Barbara County Fair and the Santa Maria Valley Strawberry Festival. Unlike Lake County, Santa Maria's fair doesn't have a racetrack.
Santa Maria has a full-time staff of eight, hosts more people at its annual events and has a $2.5 million annual budget. Lake County's fair has two full-timers – Persons and Strickler – plus six year round part-time staff. It employs nearly 100 people during the annual fair and has a $650,000 annual budget, Persons said.
During his time as Lake County Fair CEO, Persons has overseen the establishment of the new Spring Fair, paid off a solar array, and made numerous capital improvements to the grounds, including replacing old buildings such as the horse barns and restrooms, improving Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility to virtually every area of the grounds, major upgrades to water and paving, placing a roadway all around the outside of the racetrack and completing a project that placed 12,000 volts of electricity underground.
In addition, in 2005 the Lake County Fair became the first fair to go to an all electronic entry system for its annual contests.
Many fairs have done it since, but Persons added, “It was crazy when we did it.”
However, the community has adapted “surprisingly well,” Persons said. For those individuals who don't have the needed Internet resources, the fair offers computers with high speed Internet or directs people to places like libraries where such resources are available.
Persons said the Lake County Fair still gets calls from other fairs asking how they made the transition.
He said Strickler must now begin the process of recruiting for her business assistant job.
Persons said the civil service position will go through a state hiring process.
The position requires two years of experience performing and coordinating a variety of business service and support functions, with work experience that includes public contact responsibilities.
The required experience must have included work as a full-charge bookkeeper with experience in performing bank reconciliations, maintaining trial balances and keeping a general ledger.
The completion of the equivalent of nine semester units in Accounting 1A and 1B and in Business Law also is required.
Anyone interested in the job is encouraged to call the Lake County Fair office at 707-263-6181.
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