Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : State Cites Rule Violations at Fair : Antelope Valley: No criminal wrongdoing is alleged in the audit of fiscal and operational procedures.

A state audit of the Antelope Valley Fair scheduled to be released today found dozens of violations of state rules and regulations and makes nearly 200 recommendations “that require immediate attention,” according to a spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

“The audit does not refer to any criminal wrongdoing, any criminal activity,” said agriculture department spokesman Carl DeWing.

Yet neither DeWing or officials with the Antelope Valley Fair would discuss details of the audit, which covers a two-year period beginning Jan. 1, 1991.

Six of eight fair board members did not return telephone calls. Charla Abbott, president of the Antelope Valley Fair board of directors, refused to comment on the audit, saying she would discuss it at a news conference scheduled for today. Fair director Ralph Bozigian also would not comment.

The audit was scheduled to be released Tuesday, but it never arrived in the Antelope Valley. The Sacramento-based agriculture department said it sent 25 copies of the 45-page audit on Monday to the fair offices via overnight courier. A second try was being made for a Wednesday delivery via a different overnight delivery service. “It’s a screw-up,” DeWing said of the bungled delivery.

Fair manager Bruce Latta, who was hired in March, has a draft copy of the audit but refused Tuesday to release it.

The final version of the audit, according to DeWing, makes 196 recommendations based on violations of state rules and regulations as well as general procedures that should be followed.

“It’s a higher than normal number of recommendations,” he said. “It’s way above average.” The agriculture departments audits 80 state fairs.

DeWing said the agriculture department’s division of fairs and expositions asked the department’s audit branch to evaluate the fiscal and operational activities of the Antelope Valley Fair. The audit request was made because of concerns that the fair was not operating in compliance with state rules and regulations.

“Apparently there had not been changes (implemented) from previous audits done on the fair,” he said.

A 1990 audit by the state auditor general, which reviewed records for the three-year period beginning Jan. 1, 1986, found that a former Antelope Valley fair manager operated the fair “in a loose administrative fashion.” C. W. Adams, who served as fair manager from 1984 until 1989, was convicted of misdemeanor grand theft for using fair materials to build a fence at his house and fair money to buy tires for his cars.

A 1991 agriculture department audit of the 1990 calendar year also concluded that the fair failed to establish operational and administrative controls, failed to comply with state rules and regulations and failed to promote sound management.

This time around the fair will have 30 days to submit a plan for following the 196 recommendations made in the audit. The agriculture department will check in six months to ensure that the measures are in place, DeWing said.

“Based on conversations we’ve had with the fair manager and board (president), we feel confident they intend to take these recommendations seriously,” DeWing said. “With the new manager and the leadership of the board chair, we expect them to make the necessary changes.”