Tents Worth $7,400 Either Given Away Or Stolen

In 1992, Spokane County spent $7,400 buying 15 tents to keep vendors dry during the Interstate Fair.

One remains.

What happened to the rest?

“There are various theories,” said Fran Boxer, assistant county administrator and the woman in charge of the fairgrounds.

Jim Cotter, former operations manager at the fairgrounds, said that at the end of the 1993 or 1994 fair, his boss gave the tents to the promoters who used them.

If true, that’s an illegal gift of county property by former parks and recreation Director Sam Angove.

But in 1992, Cotter submitted a report saying someone had broken into a storage area and stolen $18,300 worth of equipment. Among the missing items: five of the tents.

Asked about the tents during his interview with private investigator Ronald Graves, Cotter said, “I never told anyone they were stolen.”

It should be no surprise if they were. Theft of equipment and supplies is a long-standing problem at the fairgrounds.

Cotter told Graves light fixtures were taken out of the ceiling in one fairgrounds building. And someone stole about $200 worth of county tools from his own truck, Cotter said.

Power saws, stereo equipment and an outboard motor are some of the items that recently have turned up missing, said Boxer.

Cotter blamed inmates from Geiger Corrections Center for many thefts, but offered no proof.

“If I … put something on a pallet out here, I guarantee it will be gone because the grounds are not secure,” Cotter told Graves.

, DataTimes