Planning for the 2022 New York State Fair is underway–at least it should be. It’s hard to say what’s really happening  as there has been no recent press release and none of Kathy Hochul’s underlings are saying anything.

The first performer booked to play a major stage show, the Art of Rap, was announced on Dec. 6. A steady stream of scheduled acts followed, a total of 15 shows, the most recent being City Girls, announced April 1. Since then there has not been an act announced or anything else coming from the Fair, unless you count vague responses to questions about the baffling situation that led to the departure of  a successful, dedicated and popular Fair Director, Troy Waffner.

At this point, we should have been given most of the itinerary for the Chevrolet Concert Series. We should also be hearing about all of the food, fun and entertainment to which we can look forward with less than 11 weeks to go. State Fair Hound contacted the Fair a few days ago to ask what’s going on and to request an honest, reasonable explanation for Waffner leaving while a newcomer with no apparent fair experience comes in to run the Fair this year. There has been no reply.

NewsChannel 9 reporter Andrew Donovan reported that a Fair spokesperson–it’s likely that it was Dave Bullard, but he wasn’t named–said that Troy is “fine.” We hope that’s true. Since Troy has taken another job with Agriculture and Markets, it seems reasonable to assume that it is. So what happened and will anyone tell the people of New York to whom the State Fair belongs?

Longtime Fair fans can’t help but be reminded of 1995, George Pataki’s first Fair as Governor, when he made the moronic and completely political decision to replace Director Wayne Gallagher, a consummate professional and one of the best directors ever. The first potential director considered to replace Gallagher–a political appointee with little to qualify him (sound familiar?) was ultimately withdrawn and local businessman Peter Cappuccilli, Jr. served a one-year apprenticeship as Gallagher’s assistant director before becoming an excellent director in his own right.

Now, Gov. Hochul lives down to Pataki’s standards in belatedly naming a questionable, though temporary, replacement to a first-rate director while she offers no reasonable explanation. Meanwhile, it’s been 10 weeks since the Fair announced a concert or anything else about the 2022 edition.

This is unacceptable and completely avoidable. All the Gov had to do is concentrate on other pressing issues, stay the hell out of the way and allow Waffner to run the Fair. A recent editorial in the Post-Standard and syracuse.com said “Take politics out of the State Fair: Hire a professional to run it.” In fact Waffner, though he may have benefited from political connections in first being hired, had become as good a pro as we could find anywhere.

But he’s gone and the silence from the State Fair administration is deafening.