It's Almost Party Time!

FAIRGROUNDS OPEN HOUSE
The staff of the Orange County Fair and Event Center (Fairgrounds), headed by new CEO Kathy Kramer, held an Open House in the Administration Building on the Fairgrounds Tuesday night to tell the community about their plans for the upcoming 125th Orange County Fair this summer - operating for a month beginning July 17, 2015 - and to introduce the theme of this year's fair - One Big Party!

SORRY...
I apologize for the poor quality of the images this time.  I took my backup camera with a slow lens.  That, coupled with the light glaring across the screen, have made for some shoddy images.

A GOOD CROWD
The crowd of more than five dozen people paid close attention as Kramer spoke of their plans and the relationship the Fairgrounds has with the Costa Mesa Police Department, since noise, rowdiness and neighborhood parking issues are major concerns of nearby residents.  I noticed many community activists in the crowd, but most were residents of College Park and Mesa del Mar - the two residential areas closest to the Fairgrounds.  With the exception of the members of the CMPD present, I saw no elected or appointed city official, nor did I see any member of the city staff.

CMPD INTERACTION

Captain Mark Manley spoke from the CMPD standpoint and introduced Lieutenant Vic Bakkila and Sergeant Bryan Wadkins, who will be the command staff in charge the CMPD interface with the Fair staff.

ENTERTAINMENT

Dan Gaines, who heads up the Entertainment element of the Fair, spoke briefly about that subject.  We learned that they usually have about 80% of returning acts, but this year in the Hanger there will be 40% new acts.

EVENTS

Joan Hamel spoke about the events planned, as listed on this image.  As you can see, they include a new ice skating attraction, Fairenheit 32 and the ever popular Cattle Drive on August 8th.

SECURITY
Nick Buffa, who manages Safety and Security, ( I apologize for having no good photo of Nick, son of former Costa Mesa Mayor Peter Buffa) then spoke about the new Neighborhood Ambassador Program, which is designed to have eyes and ears in the two main communities around the Fairgrounds to help head off problems.  The folks will patrol in 2-person teams in GEM electric cars and be dressed in bright Orange uniform shirts.  They will have dedicated VOIP telephones with which they can report problems as they roam through the neighborhoods.  They will NOT be sworn officers - all police-related matters will be directed to the CMPD.

SOUND CONTROL
Sound guru Gary Hardesty spoke briefly about the efforts that will be made to contain and control the sound from the musical acts this year.  He told us that there will be two self-contained sound monitoring units placed in the community - one in College Park and one in Mesa del Mar - to provide valuable real-time information to help with this year's Fair and into the future.

COMMUNICATIONS
Robin Wachner told us of the communication tools that will be used, as listed on this image.  She also gave us a link, HERE, which will take you to the page shown below for more information.

BEHAVIOR
Then Kramer took questions from the audience and had her team available to answer them.  The concerns expressed covered the gamut - drunkenness, rowdiness, trash and unwelcome parking in the neighborhoods.  To those kinds of questions Manley and Wadkins advised us that the CMPD will be properly staffed to handle those issues.  Resident Jeff Wilcox advised folks concerned about parking to go to the City and request resident-only parking stickers.

AND THE NOISE...
Noise - from the musical groups and the car, motorcycles and truck events that happen during the fair - were concerns of many residents.  I smiled as Hardesty tried to console them with vague assurances that they will try to control the musical groups.  The automotive noise will be addressed.  For example, if the contract requires mufflers on vehicles and they show up without them, the event will be cancelled.

VANGUARD CONCERNS
Residents along Vanguard expressed concern about parking and rowdy folks, indicating they feel neglected because they are a little farther away from the Fairgrounds.  They were encouraged to immediately call the police if there are problems.

CMPD ON THE JOB
Wadkins assured the neighbors that the CMPD would be there to manage the traffic during the Fair, and to route it to alternate parking sites when the Fairgrounds parking filled up.

OTHER STUFF
Other issues, like being able to buy tickets with a smart phone and not have to print it out, entering the Fair from Gate 5, were discussed.  Kramer, who has only been on the job about 4 months, has a nice, easy style and did her best to make the members of the community feel welcome and appreciated.

IT SHOULD BE ANOTHER GREAT FAIR
This meeting was video taped and will be made available somewhere on the OC Fair web site in the near future.  It sounds like we have yet another terrific Fair ahead of us.  For the past decade more than 1,000,000 people attended the Fair - the ninth largest county fair in the country.  Last year over 1.3 million folks attended.  To learn more about the Orange County Fair and Event Center and the Fair click HERE.

OCC Information Meeting Not So Informative

 DR. HARKINS TOOK THE LEAD
Thursday evening Orange Coast College President Dr. Dennis Harkins and his staff held an informational meeting on campus to attempt to bring interested parties up to speed on the progress of the planned more than $600 million expansion as presented in their original plan, Vision 2020, HERE, and now being fleshed out in preparation of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

FAIR REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT
There were around 50 people in the room, including OCC staffers and members of the Orange County Fair and Event Center Board.  New OCFEC CEO Kathy Kramer, former interim CEO Doug Lofstrom and board member Stan Tkaczyk sat off to the side, observing and participating when asked.  Costa Mesa Councilwoman Sandra Genis attended and lent her expertise as a land planner and EIR expert.  Coast Community College District Trustee Mary Hornbuckle and former Costa Mesa Councilman Jay Humphrey were among us in the small crowd.

  MEDIA, TOO
The real media was represented by Nicole Shine of the Daily Pilot and Jordan Graham of the Orange County Register.

PROCESS DELAYED BY COMPLICATIONS
Harkins kicked off this third community meeting - the previous two were held last summer - by telling the assembled group that he had expected to be finished with this process by now and had hoped to have the completed EIR and his staff recommendations to the Coast Community College District Trustees by now, but there were complications, including the identification of certain historical buildings that may occupy up to 40 acres of the 160 acre campus site.  That may cause a change in plans.  He explained that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires significant study of projects such as the one proposed.

SOME OF THE ISSUES
Rich Pagel then took over for a short time and outlined some of the issues brought up at previous meetings and by correspondence from the community which are now being studied in depth:

• Traffic Problems - A consultant has been hired and a report is due in mid-March
• Parking Structure - There is an issue with an $8 million pedestrian bridge proposed by the City of Costa Mesa, which includes complications with Edison power lines.
• State Funding - No statewide funding measures were on the November ballot - a rarity, and one that complicates the fulfillment of this project.
• Historic Buildings - Certain buildings on campus - those designed by Master Architect Richard Neutra -  have been identified as having historical significance.  They may take up a quarter of the campus footprint, which will cause some serious re-thinking of the plan.
• The OCC Village - A consultant has been retained to assist with this segment of the plan.

LOOKING FOR AN APRIL DATE
Pagel told us that the studies are on-going and it is hoped to get the CEQA document to the Board of Trustees by April.  That will be preceded by yet another community meeting at which time many questions will have been answered and more community input will be gathered.

TWO "SHOVEL READY" PROJECTS
Harkins then took back the microphone and expanded on some of the issues.  He told us that there are two projects virtually "shovel ready".  Those are the expansion of the Recycling Center - the last remaining such facility in the City - and a new Planetarium.

LOTS OF QUESTIONS, NOT ENOUGH ANSWERS
He then fielded questions, but many of those were unfulfilled.  We were told this was not a CEQA meeting, and that that process is ongoing so many of the questions could not yet be answered.  A good deal of frustration was expressed by many attendees, as they attempted to pin down Harkins and the staff on issues important to them.

HORNBUCKLE CALMS THE CROWD
At one point Hornbuckle made her way to the front of the room, took the microphone and calmed things down.  In her own special way she explained the process and that this is a very long range plan so it's taking time to get it right.  She emphasized that what we see in the plan now may not be the final version.  As the CEQA document is completed and the staff assesses the information it's likely that some elements currently in the plan will be either modified significantly or dropped altogether.

STUDENT INPUT, TOO
There was a point where the issue of student input was brought up, at which time Lisa Meyer - who identified herself as a student and a "regional delegate" - stepped up to explain her views on things like the proposed 145 room hotel on the plan.  She explained that it would be used as a training ground as part of the renowned Hospitality program, with students learning by doing.  Although Harkins, Hornbuckle and the staff seemed uneasy with her stepping up to speak - citing that she had not been "prepped" - Meyer did a fine job and received a round of applause from the crowd.

PROCESS CONTINUES
So, the upshot of this meeting was that not too much new was learned about this enormous project, particularly by those who had attended the previous meetings.  Several studies are currently underway which will, hopefully, provide some answers.  We learned that we get another shot at this issue in April, before the CEQA document is presented to the Board of Trustees.  In the meantime, Harkins and his staff encouraged members of the public to be in touch with them with their concerns/input.  At one point someone mentioned that 28 letters had been received by concerned individuals.  We now mark time until the April meeting.