Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Latest Info On The Bid Opening/Auction

HERE'S THE LATEST SCOOP...
OK, here's the latest on the Fairgrounds bid opening/auction, scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, January 14th at the Fairgrounds...




"ONLY ELIGIBLE BIDDERS"... BUT
The RF
P clearly states that "only eligible bidders will be permitted at the bid opening...". However, today the City of Costa Mesa sent out a press release announcing that the meeting will be open to the public.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH
To clear up the potential confusion I contacted several people at the Department of General Services in Sacramento and was eventually told that:

1 - The meeting WILL be open to the public, but the venue is VERY limited.

2 - Eligibl
e bidders will have first priority, with authorized members of the media second and members of the public permitted if there is any space available. Because of the small size of the room and the anticipated media frenzy, I doubt if there will be any room for members of the public.

3 - The meeting will be web cast at this link: http://www.dgs.ca.gov/webcast. This site will be live 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting.


4 - The web cast will be archived immediately following the meeting and should be viewable within an hour at this link: http://www.dgs.ca.gov/Webcasts.htm.

5 - There will be an
adjacent room available for overflow attendees with the web cast being broadcast in it.

6 - There will be speakers placed outside the meeting room for those interested in hearing the proceedings.

7 - At 9:45 a.m. The City of Costa Mesa is opening the City Council Chambers across the street to the public and will play the web cast on the large screens in that room.

8 - The city will have a camera crew at the meeting and will prepare a feature for Costa Mesa TV to be played in the normal rotation. When that schedule is available I'll publish it.

9 - Officials at
Orange Coast College offered a couple of their larger venues for this meeting but the State officials respectfully declined, indicating it was too late in the game to make a venue change. I certainly understand that rationale. If I was conducting this meeting I wouldn't want to have a bunch of activists and sign carriers sitting in on - and potentially disrupting - what amounts to a purely business meeting.

STATE TRYING TO PROVIDE TRANSPARENCY

It seems to me that The State is trying to provide transparency in this highly-charged situation. You can sit at home, sipping tea and munching donuts and still watch the proceedings as they occur. Since outsiders have no role to play in the process in this meeting, I'm comfortable with these arrangements.

STILL UNANSWERED QUESTIONS...

So, there you have it - so far. The curiosity about the remaining 5 bidders is growing and I suspect that there will be enough media coverage that you'll get all the information you need - and then some.

MORE WHEN IT BREAKS
More news as it breaks. In the meantime, I guarantee you that Thursday will be a very interesting day here in the land of Newport-Mesa.

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