The Fairgrounds Beat Goes On...

FAIRGROUNDS "HURRICANE" GROWS
The hurricane that is the controversy swirling around the potential sale of the Orange County Fair and Events Center continues to grow in strength.



FOUR DOWN, TWO TO GO
According to Joseph Serna in the Daily Pilot, HERE, Wednesday another member of the Fair Board, Vice Chair Dave Ellis, announced that he, too, had resigned from the board of the non-profit formed by six members of the Fair Board last summer to purchase the Fairgrounds. Besides Orange County Republican kingmaker Ellis, board members Gary Hayakawa, Dale Dykema and Joyce Tucker have bailed out, leaving only Chair philanthropist Kristina Dodge and Mary Young remaining on the non-profit's board. I fully expect them to also resign within a few days and the non-profit to be dissolved.

CITY AND COUNTY INITIATIVES
Both the City of Costa Mesa and the County of Orange have made serious moves about purchasing the Fairgrounds, and Costa Mesa also sent an entourage to Sacramento last Monday to plead their case for stopping the sale.

COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT IN THE MIX?
Just as I went to press on this entry I was advised that at the Coast Community College District Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday night outgoing chairman Jim Moreno announced that Supervisor John Moorlach asked if the CCCD was interested in partnering with the County and possibly the City of Costa Mesa in some kind of Joint Powers Agreement that would make a bid on the Fair. According to my sources, the CCCD board unanimously authorized the staff to proceed with discussions with the county and city and, if need be, call a special meeting prior to the January 8, 2010 bid date. One more iron in the fire...

RELENTLESS
In the meantime, in the eye of the storm, the State's process continues to march on. Yesterday the third and fourth addenda to the original Request for Proposals (RFP) were issued to clarify several items missing or unclear in the original RFP.


CLARIFICATION PROVIDED
Addendum #3 provided links to four separate issues that were being clarified.
1- Purchase & Sales Agreement/Profit Participation
2- Bid Submittal, Opening, and Auction
3- Offer Form
4- Key Dates

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Addendum #4 provided nine pages of Questions and Answers that were generated from the original RFP and provided guidance for subsequent questions. Those questions will be accepted until December 15, 2009. You can find links to the original RFP and all accumulated addenda HERE.

REVISED KEY DATES
Among the important issues discussed in the new addenda are the Key Dates for this process. The following is the current list as revised on December 8, 2009*:

Issuance of Proposal: October 7, 2009
Deadline for Written Questions: November 13, 2009
Responses to Questions Posted No Later Than: December 8, 2009
Deadline for Addendum 3 Written Questions December 15, 2009
Responses to Addendum 3 Questions Posted: December 22, 2009
Final Bid Submission Date: January 8, 2010
Opening of Bids and Auction: January 14, 2010
Highest Bid Recorded**: January 14, 2010
Buyer’s Execution of Purchase Contract: January 21, 2010
State Review & Recommendation: January – March, 2010
State Execution of Purchase Contract: April 2010
(subject to legislative notice)
Escrow Opened, Buyer’s Deposit Increased April 2010
Estimated Close of Escrow June – November 2010
Buyer Control of Property*** November 1, 2010

* The State reserves the right to modify the above projected dates at its sole discretion prior to and after the Final Bid Submission Date.
** Same relative dates will apply from this point forward on subsequently ranked bid proposals
should a transaction fail to consummate with the initially selected bidder.
*** The sale of the Property is conditioned upon the Property’s continued operation as the Orange
County Fair and Event Center through the 2010 County Fair (slated to end mid-August).

MOOT IF AB1590 PASSES
All of this becomes moot, however, if Jose Solorio is successful in getting the bill he introduced, AB1590, passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by the governor OR the governor decides unilaterally to quash the sale of the Fairgrounds.


OCPROGRESSIVE BLOG STEPS UP
Although there have been many voices speaking out on this issue for the past several months, I have been remiss in not pointing out the very significant contributions made by one local blog, OCProgressive, which you can find HERE. Gus Ayer, who writes as "ocprogressive" on that site, has led the charge and posted many important items through it all. Please visit his site and simply scroll down through many of the most recent entries. Kudos to Gus for posting and for stepping to the speaker's podium and addressing Assemblymen Solorio and Tran at their recent public hearing.

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON...
Finally, to wrap up this entry, here's my latest contribution to your pre-Christmas enjoyment. This one is one of my all-time favorite "Christmas" tunes, created and performed by the the one and only Stan Freberg. It seems more than a little appropriate today. Enjoy...

STAN FREBERG - A GREEN CHRISTMAS