The Richmond Police Department said today that it hasn’t made a decision to deny a permit for a 10-day fair that’s scheduled to start Friday at The Diamond.
"Right now, the issue is a work in progress and a final decision hasn’t been made," police spokeswoman Dionne Waugh said.
The Richmond Fair has been scheduled to run Friday through July 26 in the parking lots around the baseball stadium on North Boulevard. However, Assistant Police Chief David M. McCoy said in an e-mail over the weekend that the police department had advised the fair operator "that a permit for the carnival is not going to be issued."
Waugh was unable to explain the department’s concerns, but the city’s special-events coordinator has said the police would not have adequate staffing to meet the needs of the fair.
Fair operator Philip Downing said Saturday that he wasn’t aware of issues that would cause a permit to be denied and said he believed he could find non-police security personnel if necessary.
Downing said he drove from Memphis, Tenn., to Richmond to meet with city officials to determine the problem. So far, he's been able to only leave messages for Mayor Dwight C. Jones and police officials.
"I don't have a clue [what the concerns are]," he said. "I've called the chief of police. I've called the deputy chief of police. ... I've called everybody I've been dealing with. I don't have a clue what their issues are. If I knew, I'm sure I could address them quickly and easily."
Downing would not say when he would need clarity in order to have the fair set up for Friday's opening, but he acknowledged that he had mobilized workers "only to a degree."
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