by Steve Johnson
When the Monarchs fluttered away from the deal with the Utah State Fair to build a soccer stadium, many Fairpark Community residents felt that the Utah Fairpark was, again, at risk. While a soccer stadium was not everyon
e’s ideal, people recognized that the Fairpark had to increase its financial stabilityty. The soccer stadium seemed to offer this.
Nor did the Utah State Fair get a long-term lease with the State – a fundamental component of any sublease that the Fairpark would make with the Monarchs or another group.
Why did the REAL Salt Lake drop out of the deal? According to Micheal Steele, Executive Director of the Utah State Fair, Dell Loy Hansen, owner of the REAL Salt Lake soccer team simply, did not want to deal with politics surrounding the Utah Fairpark at the Utah State Legislature.
The nature of these politics was revealed by introduction of bill late in the legislative session that would have rewritten the law defining the relationship between the Utah Legislature and the Utah State Fair, Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation created in 1995 by the Legislature.
In the existing law, the Utah Fair organization is mandated to enter into sponsorships and other agreements that will help the Utah State Fair be self-supporting.
When the Utah Fair’s Board of Directors entered into an agreement with the Monarchs, it was following this dictate.
But, it seems that some members of the Legislature disliked this show of independence by the Utah State Fair. Late in the legislative session, HB340 was introduced by Rep. Froer. At it’s core, the proposed legislation would have required that any sublease for property on the Utah State Fairpark (like the property for a soccer stadium) to be approved by two separate Legislative committees. This legislative language was going to make it nearly impossible for the Utah State Fairpark to negotiate sublease agreements with other groups – too many fingers in the pie. Anything negotiated by the Utah Fair could be changed or vetoed by either of the two Legislative committees.
The bill passed the House. It was not acted upon in the Senate.
And there another bit of good news. The Utah State Fair received its annual $675,000 appropriation to help cover expenses beyond the receipts of the annual Fair and other events.