Battle To Quash Fairgrounds Sale Dead?

IS THERE A PULSE?
Is it over now? That seems like a pretty good question considering some recent events.



DAILY PILOT REPORTS AB1590 DEAD
First, the Daily Pilot reported a little after noon today that Assemblymen Jose Solorio and Van Tran have decided to pull AB1590 from the Assembly floor because it ended up too watered-down to accomplish the goal - the killing of the sale of the Fairgrounds. They are quoted as saying they might start over again with a new, stronger bill that contained the original language of AB1590.

DEVORE SAYS NO TO AB1590
Then I saw a copy of Assemblyman Chuck Devore's letter to Mayor Mansoor in which he states that he cannot support AB1590 because he and some of his fellow assemblymen have decided that the State should not be in the real estate business! You just lost my vote, Chuck.


GOVERNOR "SCORES" THE FAIRGROUNDS
Then, I was informed that Governor Schwarzenegger has "scored" the Fairgrounds for the 2011 budget. That means that he has counted the $50 million plus that was offered for the Fairgrounds as money in the budget. If the sale gets quashed that will put the budget $50 million in the hole! No way that's going to happen in this budget climate.

I NEED A PEP TALK
So, I need someone to give me a pep talk! Tell me why these events don't mark the death of the plans to quash the sale. Tell me something encouraging... because this information is just plain disappointing.

Righeimer's Choice

THE RIGHT DECISION...
As reported here yesterday afternoon, Costa Mesa Planning Commission Chairman Jim Righeimer has been bounced from his Daily Pilot columnist responsibilities. I think the correct decision was made, if we can believe the scenario presented by the writer of the original story in the Newport Mesa Daily Voice. Riggy was give the choice of his column or his seat on the Planning Commission. He made the right choice.

MISSING HIS COLUMN?
Certainly, the world has not come to an end for Righeimer. Many folks have commented in public and private that they will miss his columns. I, too, will miss his views on some important issues in our city. His life experience and work background is very different than mine, so his perspective on development issues is valuable to our city. And, of course, his partisan perspective on political issues will be missed, too - by some.

PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIM, THOUGH
There is nothing at all to keep Riggy, as a private citizen, from submitting a commentary to the Daily Pilot when the urge moves him. I'm sure the editors will view his submissions as they do any other and publish them if they have merit. And, there is no longer the pressure to create a column on a regular basis. Of course, Riggy will miss those "big bucks" the Pilot pays their columnists...

NOT GOING SOFT ON RIGGY
Am I going soft on Riggy? Nah - I still think he's a carpetbagger and I still think he misused his position as a columnist for political purposes. I still think he's going to make another run for City Council in the fall, which would have forced him to abandon his column in any event. This just levels the playing field a little for those who might choose to challenge him for that council seat.


***

EASTSIDE CM NEIGHBORS GROUP MEETING
A reminder... tonight, Thursday, the Eastside CM Neighbor's Group will host a meeting at Kaiser Elementary School on Santa Ana Avenue at which several items of community interest will be discussed. Righeimer will give his perspective on the Fairgrounds Sale. Former councilwoman Heather Somers will discuss the future expansion of John Wayne Airport. The Banning Ranch and the Broadway Safe Route To School Project will also be discussed. Call 949-646-9773 if you have questions.

The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. and is scheduled for 2 hours.

Righeimer and Wylder Out At Daily Pilot

THE DAILY VOICE REPORTS...
Wow! Big news reported by the Newport Mesa Daily Voice this morning. In a column, HERE, they report that both Jim Righeimer and Greer Wylder are out as Daily Pilot columnists! Huge news!

CONFIRMS EARLIER RUMORS
I had heard rumors earlier that Riggy was on shaky ground with his column, but declined to print that information because it wasn't a done deal. The source at the Daily Voice seems to think it is now.

RIGGY'S CHOICE
I called the Daily Pilot, spoke with two editors, who confirmed the facts as presented in the Daily Voice column - that Riggy was given the choice of retaining his column or resigning from the Planning Commission. It doesn't surprise me that he chose to leave the newspaper. I also called Riggy, who acknowledged the circumstances of this story.

UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
From my personal point of view, permitting a sitting city official to have a regular column in the Daily Pilot has always been a little curious. In my view, it was made worse because Riggy obviously had aspirations for higher office and the column gave him a platform to express his views not available to other potential opponents.

LAST COLUMN?
No word yet when the Daily Pilot will publish his final column... it may already have done so with his presentation last week.

WYLDER DEPARTURE LEAVES HUGE HOLE...
The departure of Greer Wylder is also a shocker. Her column in the Daily Pilot has a HUGE following but, according to sources at the Daily Pilot, they were unable to reach agreement on a contract. This will leave another big hole in the Daily Pilot's presentation of important information to its readers. I have no idea whether or not the fact that Wylder is married to former Daily Pilot editor, Los Angeles Times reporter and co-publisher of the Newport Mesa Daily Voice had anything to do with her departure from the Daily Pilot.

DRAMA CONTINUES
Lately it seems that there is no lack of drama over on Sunflower Street... this is just the most recent event. Ever since Sam Zell bought the Los Angeles Times parent company, The Tribune Companies, and systematically dismantled that once-proud news organization speculation has existed about the future of the Times Community News family of local news outlets, including the Daily Pilot. I've written many times that I do not want the Daily Pilot to go away... our communities need this newspaper of record for more than a century. I hope the folks managing that group find ways to adapt to the changing world of journalism and remain an important, essential part of our communities.

Riggy: Mansoor Among The Unemployed

RIGGY'S GAFFE...
I was all ready to begin this post by slamming Jim Righeimer for a major gaffe in his Daily Pilot column today, HERE, but, since I've been accused in the recent past of picking on him, I decided to call him before writing this one.

...NOT HIS FAULT
It seems the first paragraph, in which Riggy says Costa Mesa mayor Allan Mansoor is running for the 68th Assembly District seat against Van Tran, was modified by the editors. In fact, Mansoor is running for the seat being vacated by Tran, who is termed out and is running for Loretta Sanchez' seat in the House of Representatives. Riggy sent me his original submission that verifies the mistake.

MANSOOR AMONG THE UNEMPLOYED!
That's not the big news, though. The big news from his column is that his pal, Mansoor, has resigned from the Orange County Sheriff's Department after 16 years of service! And, considering the magnitude of this announcement, it's curious that Riggy chose to bury this little tidbit of information way down in the ninth paragraph of his column!

STRANGE MOVE, INDEED
If Mansoor has, in fact, resigned from the Sheriff's Department as of December 31, 2009 as Riggy claims, this is yet another strange move by the man formerly known here as our "young jailer/mayor". I'm going to have to find a new term of endearment for him, since he's no longer a jailer and is getting older by the minute.

NOT ELIGIBLE FOR PENSION
By resigning with only 16 years of service he is not yet eligible for a pension under the very generous pension program enjoyed by members of the Sheriff's Department.

CAN HE MAKE IT ON COUNCILMAN'S PAY?
He's got a year before he will be seated in the Assembly if he's successful in his campaign and only earns $952 per month as a Costa Mesa City Councilman - minus the 5% pay cut he took last year to help with the budget.

FINANCES
This move by Mansoor raises lots of interesting questions. For example, how the heck is he going to survive for a year without a full time job? According to Riggy he's got $135,000 in his campaign war chest, but he can't use that for living expenses. Based on a recent report I saw, most of that - $99,000 - is from a loan he took out from a West Virginia bank, not from contributions. And, just before he resigned the end of last year he went back that same trough and borrowed another $100,000.

WHAT'S NEXT, HOMELESSNESS?
I think it's important for the voters of our city to know that our mayor is unemployed, don't you? Will this change make him more vulnerable to financial enticements by those who may wish to lobby him in the future? Will someone offer him a free apartment, for example, or does he have a roommate helping with the rent? Will every meal he eats somehow become a "campaign expense"? Will he be forced to look for more affordable housing - like in Santa Ana, for example? At least he doesn't have to worry about going to work every day now.

LOOKING FORWARD TO HIS CAMPAIGN
I must confess that I'm actually looking forward to Mansoor's campaign. I only hope a challenger emerges to give him a run for his money. I'd like to see him in a debate with someone who doesn't have to rely on crib sheets before uttering a word. No, I don't mean I want a liberal to beat him - I'd like to see a strong, smart Republican whip his fanny in the primary. Not much chance of that, though, since he is the anointed one by the Orange County GOP and has the support of Dana Rohrabacher and Scott Baugh.

Roeder on KOCI-FM Saturday Morning

ROEDER ON THE AIR
Here's a heads-up for you. Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder will be a guest on host Troy Davis' "Money Matters" program tomorrow, Saturday, January 23rd.

KOCI-FM
The program is broadcast on KOCI-FM, 101.5, from 10:00 - 10:30 AM.

FAIRGROUNDS SALE AND OTHER ISSUES
Davis and Roeder will discuss the Orange County Fair and Events Center Sale specifically and the local economy in general terms.

THE BEST GUEST
Davis could not have selected a better guest for this issue. Roeder has been in the eye of the storm on the Fairgrounds Sale issue since the beginning and has, as always, provided his steady hand on the tiller as the city attempts to navigate through this particular storm - hurricane is more like it.

ALSO LIVE ON STREAMING AUDIO
KOCI-FM is a low power FM station broadcasting near the intersection of 17th Street and Irvine Avenue. If you have difficulty pulling in the signal, you can still hear their presentation live via streaming audio by going to their web site, www.kociradio.com, and clicking on the "Listen Live Audio" button.

So, set your clock for 10 AM tomorrow and get the latest scoop on important local issues.

AB 1590 Passes Appropriations Committee

UNANIMOUS PASSAGE
The Daily Pilot reports this afternoon, HERE, that Assemblyman Jose Solorio's AB1590, a bill to quash the sale of the Orange County Fair and Events Center, unanimously passed the Appropriations Committee and will now move on to the floor of the Assembly for consideration and a vote. No date has yet been set.


WATCH THIS VIDEO!
Click HERE *to see a clever bit of video editing on a piece snatched from Katrina Foley's Facebook page. Trust me, your going to love it!
*Note: I changed the link to a YouTube site so now you don't have to be on Facebook to view it.

Fair Board Has Ears Bent By Critics

MELODRAMA ON THE FARM
In the ongoing drama that is the Orange County Fair and Events Center, today the Board met and were greeted by a packed house of angry visitors.

"GOVERNOR, KILL THE SALE!"
According to my sources in the audience, many people stood to suggest the Board now "get on board" with the idea of quashing the sale and asked them to communicate with their boss, the governor, to ask him to kill the sale.

THE CROONER'S REPORT
Our pal, Vern Nelson, provides us with his account of the meeting over at the Orange Juice Blog, HERE.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY...
The board busied itself with planning to attend the Barrett-Jackson Auction and giving CEO Steve Beazley a nice raise for all his good work, I guess.

ASK THE GOVERNOR...
I think it's time for the Fair Board to do as was suggested. Since this whole mess was their doing, I think it's time for them to step up and request the governor to recognize the mistake they made and kill the sale. I doubt we'll see that happen, though.

FOLEY BACK IN SACTO AGAIN
Councilwoman Katrina Foley was in Sacramento again today to speak before the Appropriations Committee of the Assembly on behalf of Jose Solorio's AB 1590. As noble a cause as this bill is, unless the governor signs it there is no chance that it will pass.

AND ON, AND ON, AND ON...
So, the beat continues.

Another New Link, With More To Come

NEW NEWS SOURCES COMING
An editorial that appeared online on January 16th and in print on Sunday, the 17th, the editors of the Daily Pilot advised us all about a couple new news sources soon to be available online, O.C. NOW and the Orange County Local News Network (OCLNN). You can read that editorial HERE.

O.C. NOW, NOW
Presently the O. C. NOW blog is up and running and I've included a link to it over on the right side of this page. The OCLNN site is not up yet, but I'll provide a link to it when it goes live early in February.

LOOKING GOOD
I like the O.C. NOW blog. It's an amalgamation of news items from the Times Community News family of local newspapers and includes blog entries by editors and writers. It also has a lengthy blog roll of local bloggers - this one included. That certainly demonstrates the editor's good taste. :-)


CHECK IT OUT
In any event, slide on over there to the link and check it out, and scroll down the list of other local bloggers who might provide you with valuable, timely information and opinion.

Riggy Rebuts, Kinda

THE BEAT CONTINUES
Well, the beat goes on with this Fairgrounds Sale issue. Every day seems to bring a new point of interest.

TIP 'O THE HAT
First, a couple tips of the old hat to fellow bloggers for their on-going participation in the enlightenment of the community. Over at the Pacific Progressive Blog, Reggie has provided the best time line I've seen on this process. You can read it HERE.

And, our old pal, Vern (The Singer) Nelson at the Orange Juice Blog has signed in again with another excellent recent post on this subject. You will recall Vern's rendition of "Tainted Sale" he crooned to the Costa Mesa City Council a few weeks back. You can read his piece HERE.

RIGGY'S REBUTTAL
If you read the comments on my last post you read Jim Righeimer's surrogate, CM Costa Mesa North, as he whined about my abuse of his pal. I won't re-hash those - you can read them if you choose.

HE MADE THE WRONG CHOICE
However, this morning I did get a call from Righeimer, who also complained about my observation of his column in the Daily Pilot last Saturday. He simply is unable to understand that his pursuit of this "story" as a Daily Pilot columnist and his job as a city official - Planning Commission Chairman - are conflicts of interest. He told me that when he received the information he referred to in his column that "someone at DGS" had leaked names of bidders in the Fairgrounds Sale, "he just had to do something with it". I told him that he made the wrong choice - that he should have reported it to the authorities FIRST. After a prolonged conversation in which we each tried to make the other understand our points of view we finally agreed to disagree on this subject.

"MORE TO THE STORY", HE SAYS...
Riggy told me that "there's more to this story" - his allegation of collusion in the Fair Sale bidding - but refused to provide me with information to substantiate his claim. He told that he has now passed the information along to "authorities" for their action. We'll see..

DGS NEEDS CREDIBLE INFO TO PURSUE
Later today I spoke with Jeffrey Young, spokesman for the Department of General Services. He was aware of Righeimer's allegations and the column he wrote. When approached by Riggy last week they told him they need credible information, which they will follow-up. He told me they are ready and willing to get to the bottom of this issue, but must have details to follow - not just innuendo. As of this afternoon they have had no information from Riggy or anyone else down here on the issue.

DOESN'T LIKE "CARPETBAGGER" HANDLE
He also took the opportunity to criticize me for continuing to refer to him as a "carpetbagger" even though he has lived in Costa Mesa for more than 4 years. Well, the fact is that he will not have lived in our city for four years until this summer. Three years ago - almost to the date - he was appointed to the Planning Commission, after having lived in Mesa Verde since July of 2006.

POLITICAL PAYBACK REDUX
You will recall that he was appointed to the Planning Commission by Allan Mansoor who had just won re-election with the help of Riggy's good buddy, Representative Dana Rohrabacher. Riggy was Rohrabacher's campaign manager in HIS recent re-election. Riggy had submitted his application for the Planning Commission after the deadline, yet was appointed ahead of loyal "improver" foot soldier Paul Bunney, who looked stunned at the council meeting where he was in attendance with a new suit and haircut for the occasion. Riggy denies that was political payback - Puhleeze! It couldn't have been more obvious unless Mansoor had announced it from the dais, for goodness sake.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER...
Riggy continues to proclaim that he has no broader political aspirations, even though he was a candidate, unsuccessfully, for Van Tran's Assembly seat while a Fountain Valley resident. Back when he was appointed to the Planning Commission I predicted, HERE, that he would run for City Council in two years - which he did, unsuccessfully. What's that old saw, "Actions speak louder than words"? Riggy just seems unable to comprehend how his actions are interpreted by some of us who actually pay attention.

GOOD GUY/POLITICAL OPPORTUNIST
Let me be clear, I don't think Jim Righeimer is a bad guy. He's an amiable guy with a lovely family. I do think he's a well-connected political opportunist and insider who will try to leverage his current position for higher office - no matter how loud he denies it. I think his life experience as a developer of retail and residential properties can be valuable to our community in his role on the Planning Commission. However, his heavy-handedness - I've written about it in the past - makes him less effective than he could be.

PERPS PROSECUTED AND SALE CANCELED
So, the drama of the Fairgrounds Sale continues. Riggy's allegations, if true, should be pursued by the legal authorities and perpetrators should be prosecuted. And, the Fairgrounds Sale should be canceled because of the stench surrounding it in so many ways.

Fairgrounds Sale Back At Full Boil

IT'S BAAACK...
I'd planned to let the Fairgrounds auction issue simmer in the background over the weekend, but events have occurred that cause me to, once again, address the subject with you.


PREVIOUS CONVERSATION WITH STEVE CRAIG
The evening of the 14th I wrote about my long conversation with Steve Craig, President of Craig Realty Group - the successful bidder for the Fairgrounds at $56.5 million. I won't attempt to rehash that conversation - you can go back and read what I wrote by scrolling down.

ANOTHER CHAT FRIDAY
Friday afternoon Craig called me again for another little chat. He told me that he thought my representation of our conversation was accurate and balanced. That was good to hear, since that's my goal with everything I write here.

RIGGY CONTACTED HIM ABOUT "COLLUSION"
He went on to tell me of a contact he'd had from "A Daily Pilot reporter", who turned out to be Jim Righeimer, who apparently called him with questions about possible collusion in the bidding process. He thought that was strange, as do I. However, the story gets stranger.

RIGGY'S COLUMN IS ACCUSATORY
Riggy, in his Daily Pilot column this morning entitled "Fair deal gets even stranger" comes right out and implies that someone at the Department of General Services leaked some bid information to other bidders, which affected the outcome of the auction!

CRAIG DENIES ANY WRONGDOING
Craig and I had a long conversation about this issue and he affirmed for me that neither he nor his partner in this venture, sports agent Dwight Manley, had any contacts with any of the other bidders prior to the opening of the bids. He vehemently denied any collusion in the sale process.

THIS HAS REEKED SINCE DAY ONE
Almost since the beginning of this whole "Fair Sale" imbroglio there has been the wiff of impropriety, at least. The creation of the Fair Board Foundation; the hiring of former State Senator Dick Ackerman to apparently lobby Sacramento to sell the Fairgrounds; the hasty abandonment of the Foundation by several members when the light of day was shined upon them; the decision of the State Attorney General to not represent the Fair Board in legal action that might occur with the Fair Sale and on and on, all just didn't pass the smell test. Many folks who have expressed themselves about the Fair Sale on this blog, in the Daily Pilot, in the Register and elsewhere could smell the pungent odor of malfeasance from a long way off. Now comes Riggy's accusations...

RIGGY SHOULD PUT UP...
In my opinion, if Riggy has evidence or testimony by one or more of the bidders that confidential information was leaked prior to the auction he is obligated to turn that information over to the State Attorney General's office for investigation. If this auction was rigged in any way, shape or form those involved should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And, the whole auction should be declared void and the sale canceled.

OR SHUT UP!
If Riggy doesn't have such information/evidence then he should shut-the-heck up. His innuendo potentially exposes him and the Daily Pilot to serious legal issues. This behavior certainly makes one curious about Riggy's role in this whole issue, doesn't it?

CONFLICT OF INTEREST?
If this sale goes through and Craig and his group take title to the Fairgrounds next November, there are going to be several times when they will present issues to the Costa Mesa Planning Commission for consideration. This, as I see it, is going to be a big problem from a conflict-of-interest standpoint. Although Craig has told me a couple times that he doesn't know Steve Mensinger and Jim Righeimer (until this situation yesterday), his company had business dealings with the bankrupt SunCal Companies - where both men work. That's going to have to be sorted out well in advance of ANY contact by Craig with the Planning Commission.

WHO IS PROVIDING DIRECTION, AND WHY?
As the Fairgrounds Sale issue moves along it's course it seems to have some curious, and maybe illegal, influences providing it with direction. Somebody needs to investigate...

STOP THE SALE, NOW!
In the meantime, we ALL need to contact the governor and our legislators and urge them to quash this sale. As each day passes it seems to have new, messy elements coming to light. It needs to be stopped right now.

New Bloggers Added

In the busy world of local politics we sometimes forget to look for fun things going on around us.

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE BLOG ROLL
For those who actually pay attention to my blog roll over there on the right side of the page it will come as no surprise to see a couple new links added. For those who are so fascinated by the content on my pages that you NEVER look over there, here's a little introduction to them, in no particular order...

CHUCK CASSITY STRIKES - UNEDITED!
My fellow geezer, curmudgeon and whatever other name you wish to apply to us, Chuck Cassity, has launched his new blog, "Chuckmeister Unleashed" this month. If you slide over to the link and click it you will find his first entry. Chuck has become an irregular regular contributor to the Forum page of the Daily Pilot and I suspect Chuck's blog will be the source of much entertainment in the months to come. I'm looking forward to his flights of fancy. I hope you will, too.

THE REAL TONY D.
My friend and former Daily Pilot Director of News and Online, Tony Dodero, writes a column, Go Ask Your Dad, in a publication called OC Family. A click on that title will take you to his January column. As a supplement to his column Tony recently launched a new blog. It's also called, cleverly, "Go Ask Your Dad". Slide over to the right and click on the link. For those of you who might have had the image of Tony when he was at the Pilot as a gruff editor-type who always said "NO!" to your questions, here's a chance to meet the real guy - a really good guy. Enjoy him.


COME ON BACK, BYRON!
I hope you'll remember these links are over there for your reading pleasure and visit them often. Now, if I could only get my old pal, Byron de Arakal, to drag himself out of his hollow log and come out of hibernation and begin writing on his Itchingpost blog again all would be well with my world!

Auction Post Mortem With Steve Craig

Well, this has been a long, interesting day, to say the very least.

THE BEST LAID PLANS...
All my great plans to post info on this blog simultaneously with the auction as it progressed got blown to smithereens because of my technological dyslexia! I had the darn webcast all set to go - even heard some extraneous jabber before 10 as they got set up - then my browser dozed off and before I could slap it awake again the first part, the opening of the bids, had been completed. Drat!

VIEW THE AUCTION - DON'T BLINK
I did, however, see the actual auction. I may be one of the few who did because if you blinked you'd have missed it. If you want to see both minutes of it you can go to the DGS archives, HERE, to view it.

OPENING BIDS
Tom Johnson over at the Daily Voice did a terrific job of timely reporting from the site. You can read his coverage HERE. As he first reported, the opening bids were as follows:

Bid No. 1: Costa Mesa and County of Orange: $6.5 million

Bid No. 2: Advanced Real Estate Services: $17 million

Bid No. 3: Tel-Phil Enterprises : $1,000

Bid No. 4: Facilities Management West: $55 million

Bid No. 5: Anaheim Sports Holding : $20 million

Bid No. 6: Craig Realty Group ($42.5 million)

Bid No. 7: Forde and Mollrich: $2 million

That bid by Jeff Teller of Tel-Phil Enterprises was obviously a protest bid, but it made me chuckle, nonetheless.

THE AUCTION
Following a short break the actual auction began. Using the high bid of $55 million as the starting point, the moderator invited bids in $500,000 increments. Craig Realty Group bid $55.5 million. Then Advanced Real Estate Services bumped it to $56 million. Finally, in what would be the winning bid, Craig kicked it to $56.5 million, even though the moderator desperately looked around the room for yet another bid.

CRAIG IS THE WINNER
So, the deed is done and Craig Realty Group - an organization located in Newport Beach and specializes in developing outlet malls - got the buy of the century. My sources tell me that it wouldn't be unusual to spend $2.5 million per acre for similar property - Craig will get the Fairgrounds for around $377,000 per acre. No wonder he bid on it! If you're interested in learning about Craig Realty Group, here's their web site: www.craigrealtygroup.com.

CALLING "THE MAN"
Eager to hear from Craig Realty Group President Steve Craig himself about his plans for the Fairgrounds, I placed a call to his office shortly after the auction was finished. He wasn't there, so I left a message, never really expecting to have him return my call. Later, on a second try, I was shunted off to his marketing person in San Diego, who couldn't or wouldn't tell me a thing about their plans. I figured that was the end of it. Nope!

HE ACTUALLY CALLED BACK!
Late this afternoon Steve Craig called me back. My message was on top of his stack of 200 other messages, so I lucked out. I simply wanted to confirm a quote he apparently gave Tony Barboza of the Los Angeles Times following the auction: “We see this as an interesting opportunity to enhance something that’s here,” said Steven Craig, president and chief executive of Craig Realty, a commercial real estate firm in Newport Beach. “I’m happy to keep the fair here. We like it that way. But we’d like to find a way to make it financially viable. Maybe a private enterprise approach will work.”

FIVE MINUTES TURNS INTO FORTY!
He acknowledged that sounded about right and I was satisfied, but our conversation continued - for 40 minutes!

SAN CLEMENTE OUTLET MALL IN THE WORKS
We spoke on a range of issues, mostly about the Fairgrounds and his other developments. For example, some already know that he has closed escrow on the former SunCal property in San Clemente and plans to build an outlet mall down there on what is known as the Marblehead location. As we discussed that project I asked him if he knew either Planning Commission Chairman Jim Righeimer or Planning Commissioner Steve Mensinger, both of whom headed up divisions of SunCal Companies. He said he didn't...

HIS BID THE WORST CASE SCENARIO FOR MANY
Steve Craig struck me as a pretty straightforward guy, proud of his developments and his professed concern for the communities in which they are located. I think many of us, when thinking about outlet malls, get a kind of bad taste in our mouths - visions of tacky venues, packed with people and overrun with traffic pop into my head. I told him that his successful bidding for The Fairgrounds is the worst possible scenario for many folks concerned about the future of The Fairgrounds and our community.

NO OUTLET MALL AT THE FAIRGROUNDS!
At that point we had a long discussion about his plans for the site. He told me that he does not want to put an outlet mall at the Fairgrounds location, period! He appreciates what it is, the historical significance to our communities it represents and the cultural hole it would leave if the Fair were to disappear from that site. He told me he wants to retain the uses that are there, but to make visiting the Fairgrounds an "enhanced" experience. He says he wants to make it better.

HE'S A HORSE GUY, TOO
Craig understands about the various constituencies that have banded together to fight the sale of the Fairgrounds. He understands the angst of the horse folks. He's a horse guy, too. He joked that, when he saw the horses at the demonstration this morning, he thought he should have ridden one to the auction himself.

NO PLANS TO EVICT THE MARKETPLACE
He understands about the apprehension the vendors at The Marketplace have about the future of their livelihoods, but doesn't have any plans to evict that venue from the Fairgrounds.

LOVES BARRETT-JACKSON
He's excited about the addition of the Barrett-Jackson Automobile Auction to the Fairgrounds events schedule and hopes to work with them to perpetuate it beyond next year. Seems he's a "car guy", too.

NOT WORRIED ABOUT GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT
Craig also understands the potential obstacle in front of him in the form of Costa Mesa's plans to pass a General Plan amendment to tighten up the potential uses of the Fairgrounds site, and the ballot measure being prepared for the June ballot to further lock those uses in. He professed to me that his plans for the site will all meet the use restrictions.

HIS PLANS SOUND GOOD... SO FAR
I came away from my conversation with Steve Craig comfortable with his plans, tentative as they are at this early date. He knows the rug might be pulled out from under him by the State Department of General Services, who may decide his bid is inadequate. Final acceptance of his bid might take as long as three months.

HE NEEDS TO PRESS THE FLESH - SOON
In the meantime, I hope he soon takes the opportunity to meet with community leaders and other members who have fought so hard to have the sale quashed. If he's serious with his plans as described to me, he needs to make some friends pretty soon.

DON'T LET UP - STOP THE SALE!
My friends at The City of Costa Mesa still have the goal to kill the sale and encouraged me - and all of you - to keep up the pressure on the governor to cancel it and, simultaneously, continue to push for the passage of Jose Solorio's AB1590. This fight isn't over yet...