To the editor:
I was a vendor at the Yachats Farmers Market for over two years. I never had any issues with the market. I took a year off during Covid and reapplied last year only to have my application rejected.
When I spoke to the market manager about the reason for the rejection he told me there was nothing he could do and that I could apply the next year. Many returning vendors were rejected that year.
So, I waited a year and reapplied only to be rejected again. No reason for the rejection other than it is final and I am welcome to apply again next year. Other returning vendors have been rejected this year without any reason as to why.
In the past I have donated my work to Just Local to be sold with all the profit going to the local food bank. I have donated pieces to Yachats Community Presbyterian Church to be auctioned to benefit the food bank. And yet I am not worthy to be a vendor at the Yachats Farmers Market. All of this is ironic because this market continually fails to have a full complement of vendors.
A few years ago there was a movement among vendors that would establish the market as a nonprofit that would return profits back to the community. This proposal was to have the market controlled by a board of directors. This proposal was deemed the best proposal by the Parks and Commons Commission. But when the proposals went to the City Council it became a perfect example of small town politics. The council gave control of the market to a local business owner. Vendor costs have gone up and the market has continued to struggle filling vendor spaces.
The Yachats Farmers Market needs to be a nonprofit that benefits the whole community instead of a few.
So my questions: Who is in control of the market? Is the market a licensed business? If this is a for-profit business, is any money returned to the community? Does the city maintain any oversight of the market? How are vendors selected and why have so many vendors that have been participating in the past years continuously rejected? And, why isn’t the Yachats Farmers Market in the Oregon Farmers Market registry?
— Gary Meier, Waldport