Bond For Fairgrounds Fix Splits Candidates In Latah County

A $4.2 million bond proposal to upgrade and remodel the Latah County Fairgrounds has residents debating the future of their fair and political candidates taking stands on the issue.

Tuesday’s bond election has triggered a countywide debate over whether the fairgrounds in Moscow should be upgraded or moved to a larger venue outside of town.

Critics contend the bond is an expensive investment in a site that is too small. But a diverse coalition of fairground users is backing the bond - from the old-time fiddlers to day-care parents and 4-H families. Hockey and ice skating enthusiasts have also rallied behind the proposal to renovate the fairgrounds, which could become the home for a new ice rink if the bond passes.

“It’s one of those win-win deals,” said fair board member Tom Trail.

The fairgrounds facility is used 300 days a year and 60,000 people turn out for the annual fair, one of the few in the state with free admission. But even as fair attendance has risen, the fairgrounds have been in decline, said Trail. The last fair bond passed in 1955.

“The buildings are 45 years old, the roofs are leaking, but demand continues to grow every year,” Trail said.

The bond would increase county residents’ tax bills approximately $37 for every $100,000 of assessed value.

It would pay for construction of a new multi-use exhibit building, expanded barns and an office annex, along with improved parking, sidewalks, landscaping and restrooms.

Trail said several public agencies and the National Guard are discussing a location for a new Guard armory in town, possibly on university property. If the armory is moved from its current site at the fairgrounds, there could be more space for fair activities in the future, Trail said.

But critics question the wisdom of investing in a site so pressed for space. One of them is Harry DeWitt, who is running for county commisioner.

“That’s too much money to spend on that small acreage in town, with not enough parking,” DeWitt said.

DeWitt, a former Republican county commissioner, exchanged his party loyalties in the primary to take on incumbent Democrat Sam Duncan for District 3 commissioner. DeWitt served as commissioner from 1994 to 1998, when he was beaten by Duncan.

DeWitt believes commissioners are overspending on unnecessary “folly,” like the Phillips Farm and the Latah Trail, which DeWitt supports, but doesn’t want to fund with taxpayer money. Duncan supports both ventures.

The primary race will be the third time the two have squared off. The victor faces the winner of the Republican District 3 runoff between Deary rancher and hay farmer Lee Horning and retired Troy farmer John “Jack” Nelson.

Candidates in the District 1 Democratic primary, Potlatch logger John Arno faces University of Idaho scientific aide Chris Storhok of Viola, are also split on the fairgrounds issue.

While Arno has suggested the fairgrounds be moved, Storhok supports the fairgrounds bond. He’s a member of the Palouse Ice Rink Association, which has offered to pay for a fairgrounds ice rink that could be leased for other events during the summer months.

“It’s going to be a revenue-generator for the fairgrounds,” Storhok said of the rink.

The winner will face GOP incumbent Paul Kimmell for a two-year term.

In the Democratic primary for sheriff, incumbent Jeff Crouch faces Chip Whiteley, an investigator in the Latah prosecutor’s office.

Whitely has 26 years of law enforcement experience in Latah County. He worked in the Moscow and Potlatch police departments, and spent 20 years with the Latah County Sheriff’s Department.

Crouch has worked in law enforcement since the mid-‘80s and holds a master’s degree in public administration.

Whiteley, who challenged Ken Buxton unsuccessfully for sheriff in 1984, said he’s running to bring more stability to the department, which he says is suffering from high turnover and a drain of experienced officers.

“In the last seven years I’ve seen a general downturn in quality of work from the sheriff’s office,” Whiteley said.

Crouch has maintained the department has significantly improved in the last three years, with better dispatch, improved jail conditions and better procedures for hiring and promotion.