Seen a Rogue on the loose? Get in touch with our Roguemeister: JOHN SCHRAG jschrag@wweek.com (503) 243-2122 FAX: (503) 243-1115 Washington County might be home to Oregon's high-tech Silicon Forest, but based on the recent comments of this week's Rogues, the county's fair board is woefully behind the times. At the fair board's June meeting, board member Kathy Christy and chairman Lyle Spiesschaert offered views on Latino attendance at the county's 129-year-old Fourth of July celebration that would have made Archie Bunker blush. As chronicled by The Oregonian, Christy cited anecdotal evidence from two citizens--one whose name she couldn't remember and one who had moved out of state--to characterize the present climate at the "Hillsboro Happy Days" celebration at the fairgrounds as one of discrimination against non-Latinos. She said her sources were shocked that last year's festival was so heavily Latino and vowed never to attend another event at the Washington County Fairgrounds. "Basically, they didn't see other Anglos there," Christy was quoted as saying. Spiesschaert echoed Christy's concerns, telling fellow board members, "We don't want that facility to become a cultural center for one group." Spiesschaert expressed concern that the largely Latino turnout was particularly troubling on the Fourth. "It's such a traditional American holiday, and that's what I struggle with," he said. Spiesschaert may also be struggling with a basic understanding of two simple ideas: first, what constitutes an American (the majority of the Latinos in Washington County are legal residents); and second, the history of the Fourth of July (the holiday is, after all, a celebration of our independence from a government that enforced religious and social discrimination). On Friday, the Washington County Board of Commissioners released a statement critical of the two fair board commissioners' comments. WW was unable to reach Spiesschaert, but Christy says she now recognizes that her statements were ill-conceived. She says she was trying to start a discussion about how the fair board could promote the heavily Latino-oriented event without making other folks feel excluded. "I could have handled it differently," she told Willamette Week. "I plan on writing an apology letter, because I think there's been some misunderstanding."