State fair official in Skyglider dispute retires

Four days after it became public that Ohio State Fair officials didn't immediately react to a 2017 manufacturer's recommendation to replace potentially corroded chairs on the aging Skyglider chairlift ride, the official who had received the warning letter submitted his retirement notice.

"Thank you for the the many opportunities you have afforded me in my time here," Luis Perez, assistant general manager of the Ohio Expo Center & State Fair since June 1977, wrote to his boss, fair manager Virgil Strickler, in a letter dated March 12.

On March 8, The Dispatch reported that less than five months after hidden internal corrosion caused the deadly failure of the Fire Ball ride at the state fair in July 2017, the manufacturer of the Skyglider warned that the chairlift ride — which carries visitors over a section of the fairgrounds — potentially faced a similar internal corrosion problem and should be repaired immediately.

"The canopies (over the chairs) are literally starting to fall apart," Jerry Pendleton, president of Skyfair Inc., said in a letter to Perez dated Dec. 8, 2017. "The seats, particularly the embedded steel inside the seats, are also of considerable concern . ... Both the canopy and embedded steel are safety issues, and we would like to see these repaired and repainted before the 2018 fair."

No upgrades were made, however, and the ride, built in 1969, was in operation during the 2018 fair. Fair officials now appear to be rushing to get the repairs completed before scheduled events this summer, according to emails provided to The Dispatch under the Ohio Public Records Act.

Perez is taking vacation time until his employment ceases at the end of the month and he begins retirement, fair spokeswoman Alicia Shoults said. Perez, 60, was paid more than $106,800 as assistant general manager in 2017, the most-recent figure available, according to the website of the state treasurer's office.

"I am contacting you on behalf of ... Luis Perez, who is no longer with the Expo Center, retiring after 40 years!! I will currently be your contact here," Doug Smalley, fair finance director, said in an email to Skyfair affiliate Skytrans that was dated the same day as Perez's retirement letter.

"We need a timeline on the production and installation of the (new chairs)," Smalley wrote.

Two days later, Smalley again emailed the company, seeking a timeline. "I can't downplay the urgency with which we've been asked to provide this information," he wrote.

On March 19, Skytrans general manager

Rich Combs wrote to Strickler, saying the New Hampshire-based company would "make every effort possible" to have the new chairs installed by July 10, two days before the Goodguys car show opens and two weeks before opening of the 2019 state fair. All 95 chairs will be replaced, and five spares will be provided. The job will cost $116,600.

Shoults has said that no action was immediately taken after the 2017 warning letter because Pendleton, the manufacturing company's owner, died weeks later, and the "company underwent a massive transition, and the timing was such that the car repair was unable to occur prior to the 2018 Ohio State Fair."

Combs disputed that, telling The Dispatch that the company isn't a "oneman show" and Skytrans could have completed the work in early 2018, but that Perez had sent a return letter saying "it was a matter of getting funding approval, so on and so forth."

The fair has no record of such a letter, Shoults said. Combs didn't return repeated telephone calls seeking a copy.

Fairgoers paid $220,730 to ride the Skyglider at the 2018 State Fair, Shoults said.