VENTURA : Ex-Manager of Fair Takes Interim Post

A veteran fair manager from Ventura has been named interim head of the Antelope Valley Fair, replacing a manager who abruptly resigned after a subordinate was charged with embezzlement.

Mel Simas, 50, former manager of the Ventura County and San Fernando Valley fairs, is expected to become interim manager Dec. 2 of the state-run fair in Lancaster after Friday’s sudden resignation by Jim Pacini, who had managed the Antelope Valley Fair since mid-1989.

Pacini, 46, quit Friday, fair officials said Monday.

Charla Abbott, vice president of the nine-member Antelope Valley fair board--a state agency, said there was “absolutely no connection between” Pacini’s departure and the embezzlement case. He left voluntarily to pursue other career interests, she said.

However, two sources close to the fair said board members were unhappy with Pacini and that he appeared to have been ousted.

Simas is expected to serve several months while the board searches for a new manager, Abbott said, adding that Simas will not be a candidate for the permanent job. She said Simas will serve under a consultant’s contract, but she declined to discuss his salary.

Pacini had been earning $67,968 a year.

Simas currently serves as entertainment coordinator for the Del Mar Fair in San Diego County and runs his own Ventura-based fair industry consulting firm, Simas & Associates. He had managed the Ventura County Fair from 1976 to 1983 and also ran the San Fernando Valley fair in the mid- to late-1980s.