More Fairgrounds Questions

ACOSTA OVER, FAIRGROUNDS CONTINUES TO PERCOLATE
Well, even though the Acosta trial is now history, we still have our favorite subject, the sale of the Orange County Fair and Events Center, to occupy whatever spare time we have during this busy holiday season.

PLANNING COMMISSION CONSIDERS ISSUE TONIGHT
Tonight, Monday, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission will consider two issues essential to the modification of the General Plan as it affects the Fairgrounds. Interestingly, though, both items are part of the Consent Calendar, which means that unless one of the commissioners or a member of the public calls them out for special handling, the public will not know the views of the commissioners on this issue.

ANOTHER SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING TOMORROW
Tomorrow, Tuesday, the Costa Mesa City Council has scheduled another special meeting to discuss the possibility of forming some kind of a joint venture with the County. The Board of Supervisors will, apparently, also consider this issue earlier in the day.

HOW DO WE PAY FOR IT?
I've mentioned the OCProgressive blog a couple times recently. Today Gus Ayer posted yet another prescient entry, which can be found HERE. The thrust is particularly relevant considering that the two government entities mentioned above will be addressing this issue. His question is, basically, how do we pay for the darn thing?

WHO RUNS IT?
Further, I find myself wonder, if The County and The City do manage to find a way to bid on the Fairgrounds successfully, who's going to run it? And, since the current Fair Board is appointed by the governor to operate the Fair, will the board look elsewhere for a venue? What's to stop them? The General Services Department has said many times that bidders will be bidding on the land, not the existing businesses. Is it possible (probable?) that we just might be shooting ourselves in the foot by bidding on the Fairgrounds to keep as such?

All this swirling around and so many other things occupying our skulls - Christmas, budget, etc.

MORE CHRISTMAS CHEER
So, as you contemplate the events of the next day or so, here's yet another little Christmas ditty to mellow you out. I know you'll love this one.

3 & 1 YEAR-OLDS SING "RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER"

Ellis Quotes And A History Lesson

READ THE ARTICLE AND COMMENTS
Last time I referred you to an article written by Joseph Serna in the Daily Pilot in which he told us Orange County Fair and Events Center Board Vice Chairman, Dave Ellis, resigned from the non-profit organization he and five other board members formed to buy the Fairgrounds. You can read that entire article and the growing comment thread HERE.

ELLIS SHOWS HIS CARDS
Perhaps the most telling line in Serna's piece is a segment from a quote by Ellis. It reads as follows, "I believed in deeply in the concept of local control. Not anymore,” Ellis wrote. “I hope the state retains ownership of the fairgrounds and we give everyone on the grounds enough government to choke a horse.” Well, now, if that doesn't send chills down the spine of Jeff Teller of the Orange County Marketplace and all those folks trying to retain the Equestrian Center at the Fairgrounds, nothing will! I thought that "choke a horse" reference was particularly tactless.

IS RETRIBUTION IN THEIR FUTURE?
Which gets me back to wondering just what will happen at the Fairgrounds when (he says, thinking positively) the Fairgrounds sale is quashed. What will the attitude of the Fair Board be toward their tenants, most of whom have risen up as a group to oppose the sale and who have spoken in loud, clear voices about their concerns with the Board and it's bogus non-profit group? Will they all hold a group hug and go back to business as usual? Based on Ellis' quote, above, I suspect not.

MAYBE THE ENTIRE FAIR BOARD SHOULD GO
Perhaps it's time, as Register columnist Barbara Venezia suggested HERE, for the governor to ask all those folks to step aside and appoint an entirely new board. Perhaps we should be addressing that issue with him in addition to lobbying him to stop the sale.

OC PROGRESSIVE HISTORY LESSON
In my last entry I referred you to the OC Progressive blog. Today they posted an excellent entry capsulizing some of the history of the Fair Board and all the turmoil that has been going on for years. You can read that piece HERE. Please take the time...

A PALATE-CLEANSING
I think it's time for some palate-cleaning, so I present for your viewing and listening pleasure another of my roster of Christmas clips. You're gonna love this one.

CONNIE TALBOT - DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?

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