Huntington Park Jaycees Told Fair Must Meet City Standards

Despite rising concerns about the group’s stability, the City Council has decided not to rescind a contract that allows the Jaycees to run the annual Community Fair here.

The council, however, made it clear that it will refuse to allow the Jaycees to operate future fairs if this year’s program does not meet city standards.

The fair, scheduled Oct. 9 to 14, is the only major fund-raiser for the local Jaycees, which is a nonprofit organization. An organization spokesman said the fair earned the group $25,000 last year.

Councilman Herbert A. Hennes Jr. said a turnover in membership and management--including two presidents and one acting president in recent months--raised questions about whether the Jaycees remain a “bona fide organization.”

Jaycees member Jesse Duran, who will direct this year’s fair, acknowledged that the organization has had high turnover. But he said the group’s leadership is trying to reorganize the Jaycees and upgrade the organization’s image.

In the past, a Jaycees spokesman said, the organization has used money from the fair to finance the city’s annual Christmas parade. But last year, the Jaycees withdrew their sponsorship from the parade, saying they wanted to invest their money in other projects.

The spokesman said the Jaycees plan to use the money made this year for a children’s Christmas party, to finance muscular dystrophy drives in stores, for a Huck Finn day for young people and other projects.