Golden Wheel, fair at odds

PALMER -- Each year, children flock to Palmer's Alaska State Fair carnival midway to frequent the rides that have been erected and operated by the same local carnival company for decades. But Golden Wheel Amusements, an Alaska-based carnival company, may choose not to return to the largest fair in the state next year due to negotiation problems.

"It's really a bad deal," said Golden wheel owner Jacqueline Leavitt. "After 37 years in the business, this is the dark day we've come to."

Leavitt and her husband Joe started managing the company in 1998 and took over the business from her mother Claire Morton, who started the business in 1967, in 2000. The company has 32 rides, the Leavitts have added at least one new ride each year since 2001, and in 2000 they added four new rides, Leavitt said. With a five-year contract coming to an end this year, negotiations for a new contract with the state fair have brought forth some problems for the company, and Leavitt says that unless some big changes in the new contract are made Golden Wheel will be forced to end negotiation talks with the fair. Golden Wheel had initially indicated the prospects for a return to the fair were hopeless, but have now said they may return if the fair changes some of the elements of the contract.

"In a sense, [negotiations] are over," Leavitt said. "We've come to a standstill … yes we want to come back, but I don't see how."

Joe Lawton, the general manager of the Alaska State Fair, said he was unaware that negotiations with Golden Wheel had reached a dead-end. He said he first heard of the rumor from curious media representatives.

"Negotiation discussions were interrupted by the fair, but afterward we plan on getting back together [to discuss the contract]," Lawton said. "This has all been a surprise to me."

Although Lawton has sent out requests for proposals to around 15 out-of-state carnivals in case the negotiations with Golden Wheel do not produce a contract, he said the state fair's wish is to have Golden Wheel continue working at the fair on a long-term contract.

"We sent out letters to people generally on the West coast with the units large enough to cater to us," Lawton said. "But we have never wanted to close [with Golden Wheel]; discussions are still on the table."

Lawton would not release the names of the carnival companies that have been contacted by the fair, because dragging them into the limelight while negotiations with Golden Wheel are still in motion would be imprudent and unnecessary, he said. He did give details on the type of carnival, however, and said the fair is looking for a carnival that has 30 or more rides. Again, he stressed, Golden Wheel is the fair's first pick to come back next year.

In a phone conversation last week, Leavitt shared some of the concerns she and her husband had with the upcoming contract:

The fair would require her to purchase a new spectacular ride every other year, something not economically possible for the company, she said.

Leavitt said the fair wants to raise the percentage paid from Golden Wheel to the fair from 27 percent to 30 percent. She said they are only comfortable with the raise if some of that money goes into improving the midway.

The fair wants Golden Wheel to pay for all improvements to the midway, Leavitt said, and she feels this should be the responsibility of the fair. Leavitt said most fairs do not require the carnival to pay for improvements.

Leavitt said if they had come to a compromise before this year's fair, the contract would have taken effect this year, cutting the old contract a year short and raising the percentage paid to the fair a year early.

She questioned the fair's goals and said that while the fair says it wants to negotiate a long-term contract with a carnival, it is only offering a five-year contract to Golden Wheel.

Leavitt also said the fair waiting until this summer to conduct negotiations was inappropriate.

"We shouldn't be in negotiations right before the fair," Leavitt said. "If they had been done in winter, we would have already been able to get a new ride."

Lawton would not discuss the particulars about the contract while still in negotiations with Golden Wheel. He said he felt that opening the information to the public before the contract was signed or rejected would be unethical. He did, however, disagree with one claim that Leavitt has made about the fair.

Leavitt said that in written correspondence from Lawton, the fair told Golden Wheel it was willing to take less money from an outside company. Lawton said he had no knowledge of that being conveyed to Golden Wheel.

"I guess all I can say is, produce the letter," Lawton said. Golden Wheel is not willing to produce the correspondence at this time, according to Leavitt.

"My lawyer told me not to," said Leavitt. "Joe Lawton wrote it, maybe he could show you (the Frontiersman)."

Lawton said he cannot produce the letter himself, because such a letter does not exist.

"I openly deny that I ever said that," Lawton said. "What more can I do?"