American Fairs and Festivals Appeal Rejected

COSTA MESA REJECTS AFF APPEAL REQUEST
Late this afternoon Costa Mesa City Attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow replied to the letter sent last week from the law firm Adorno Yoss Alvarado & Smith on behalf of it's client, American Fairs and Festivals requesting an appeal of the City Council's decision to reject AFF as a partner in the purchase of the Orange County Fair and Event Center and selecting Facilities Management West instead.

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Here is the text of Barlow's letter to Raul A. Salinas, Esq. at that law firm:

August 9, 2010

Raul A. Salinas, Esq.
Adorno Yoss Alvarado & Smith
633 W. Fifth Street, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90071

Re: American Fairs and Festivals, Inc. "Appeal"

Dear Mr. Salinas:

I write in response to your letter dated August 4, 2010 addressed to Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder. As I am sure you realize, the City's decision to contract with Facilities Management West for a ground lease of the Orange County Fairgrounds is a legislative act. The Council was and is free to consider whatever factors it chooses in determining who should be the ground lessor of the Fairgrounds. The competitive bidding requirement you refer to in your letter does not apply to the lease of the Property.

While you may feel that the City's objectives have not been met by the MOU entered into between the Joint Powers Authority and Facilities Management West, the Council/JPA Board obviously disagree with your assessment. There is no administrative appeal process currently available to your client with respect to the Council's decision. The MOU was entered into on June `8th. Any request for rehearing or reconsideration would have been required to be filed within seven days of the date the MOU was approved. See Costa Mesa Municipal Code Section 2-305. This, even if there was a basis for your client's "appeal" of the decision, your request was not timely. Thus, no rehearing request will be agendized for discussion.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should have any questions.

Very truly yours,



Kimberly Hall Barlow
Costa Mesa City Attorney

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SO THERE!
So there you have it. It appears to this layman that the city has responded in the spirit of the original letter with a short and sweet response. We have effectively said, "Too Late, Sucker!"



WHAT'S NEXT? A LAWSUIT?
Now we wait to see what happens next. Will there be a lawsuit on this issue? Will this nuisance create a problem in Sacramento with the legislators that will be required to pass a bill to permit the sale go forward? Will they get it done before August 27th, when they all bail out and head home to campaign for their seats?

WILL ARNOLD DECIDE ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?
Further, will our lame duck Governor decide he's had enough of this hassle and tell the Fair Board to proceed with their revenue sharing scheme and pull the Fairgrounds off the table? So many issues, so little time.



MORE NEWS AT TOMORROW'S MEETING?
Perhaps we'll receive some enlightenment tomorrow, Tuesday, at the meeting of the Orange County Fairgrounds Authority/City Council at 4:30 in City Council Chambers. The meeting will be televised live on Costa Mesa TV (Channel 24 on Time Warner Cable and 99 on ATT UVerse). It will also be live on streaming video on the City web site.