People who work together occasionally encounter conflict. Working through conflict is a vital skill that helps us stay aligned with our values. The process can deepen relationships. The Fair has developed a straightforward process to assist Fair Community participants who experience conflicts and are seeking support to resolve those. The Fair Community Support policy will provide information and support to help you present your experience of the conflict, while maintaining appropriate confidentiality. The issue may be resolved at different steps of the process with appropriate action taken. We encourage all members of the community to become familiar with this policy. It is available to you at any time, although the timeline will vary depending on the proximity to the event. It is important to OCF to be able to offer these resources to the Fair Community, so we can be here for you when you need.
Every year the Fair Community Support Process is on hiatus from June 1st through July 31st unless both parties and the Support Administrator agree to forgo the hiatus period. The yearly support process hiatus does not preclude filing paperwork, working with Fair leaders to try to resolve it, using CeDaR’s services for either mediation or conflict coaching, or for holding a Restorative Justice meeting as long as the parties are in agreement about using that time in that way.
All parties have a responsibility to cooperate and must follow this process and comply with all rules and rulings made in accordance with this process. Failure of the grievant to cooperate could result in finding for the respondent. Failure of the respondent to cooperate could result in a finding for the grievant.
Retaliation is strictly prohibited. (See definition) Any individual gathered for OCF sponsored activities is able to pursue a request for support in good faith without expectation of punishment, consequences or adverse impact. In addition, all participants (for example witnesses, and others, etc.) in a request for support may participate free and clear from any fear of punishment, consequences, or adverse impact from any person or organization at the Fair as a result of their participation. A good faith request for support is a complaint filed that an individual believed was true. In other words, a grievant may not file a complaint that the grievant knew or should reasonably have known was false. Any incidents of retaliation or suspected retaliation should be reported to the Support Administrator immediately.
This request for support process and the form can be found at www.oregoncountryfair.net under General Info/Documents/Request for Support. Any questions can be emailed to the OCF’s Support Administrator at faircommunitysupport@oregoncountryfair.org.