Only two members of the Santa Cruz County Fair board voted against the October termination of CEO Dave Kegebein. Two weeks later, each received terse phone calls from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, telling them their terms — 34 years and 16 years, respectively — were over. At this point, the state won’t respond to the charges of retaliation.
Santa Cruz County Fair
After firing CEO, new Santa Cruz County Fair terminations add to disarray
After the surprising ouster of 11-year CEO Dave Kegebein earlier this month, the two board members who opposed the termination were told they themselves were being fired, via a brusque call from California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. The well-established and well-loved Santa Cruz County Fair now finds itself in disorder, the man who is given credit for its good run gone. How did the state compliance audit of Kegebein lead to the chaos?
Rides, pigs, monster trucks and a ‘zucchini in a bikini’: It’s time for the Santa Cruz County Fair
Our county fair isn’t exactly a cheap outing, Wallace Baine writes, but it delivers an annual opportunity for a community to celebrate itself. Indeed, it’s one enormous talent show, for talents and passions that don’t always get their due respect. Come Wednesday, the funnel cakes and corn dogs will be calling you to the fairgrounds.
With the return of the county fair comes a return to some normalcy in this world of ours gone mad
It’s too easy to dismiss the fair as corny or cheesy, Wallace Baine writes in welcoming it back from its pandemic layoff. Sure enough, there’s plenty of corn and cheese, literal and figurative, to be found here. But that’s not a bug. That’s a feature.

