James Henwood, who collected more than $1 million in compensation in 2014, resigned as chief executive of the Los Angeles County Fair Association, which gave hefty pay and benefit packages to executives while losing millions of dollars since 2009, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The chairman of the board, J. Michael Ortiz, will take over the chief executive role temporarily. Henwood and the salary levels at the fair were the subject of a Times investigation last year. The fair association lost $4.4 million at the same time Henwood was paid $1 million, said the newspaper.
The fair association conducts the annual county fair and operates a number of year-round enterprises on the taxpayer-owned fair grounds in Pomona. The association leases the “Fairplex” from the county. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors ordered an audit of the association last fall following publication of the newspaper investigation. A state audit also is pending.