So, thought you should hear it from me first: Jose Solorio’s &Van Tran’s bill AB 1590 to stop the sale of the Fairgrounds got amended while going through the Appropriations Committee to the point where it became a useless bill, and its authors “let it die on the floor” and just watched, as dramatized for posterity here:
It’s all good, though: Jose is rewriting the bill in a way that will make it more effective, as detailed in this article. We can rebuild it! We can make it stronger! We have the technology!
But aside from this bill, we are fighting this Tainted Sale on several other fronts. The important thing is that Arnold and his DGS (Department of General Services) still haven’t decided whether to accept the $56.5 million bid from Craig Realty. So please continue to ask Arnold THIS: Do not sell the Orange County Fairgrounds to a private developer! (note the new emphasis)
To contact Arnold, click here: http://gov.ca.gov/interact
Phone him here: 916-445-2841
and Fax here: 916-558-3160
The question now is, “Who is going to vote for it?” The Appropriations Committee disemboweled it, Arnold has ignored ALL attempts to sway him and, in fact, has included the proceeds of the sale in his plan for the 2011 budget! It looks like the only hope is that the leadership in the DGS will realize that $56.5 million isn’t even close to being enough and reject all bids. Theoretically, they are apolitical… I guess we’ll see. We can only hope that Craig Realty Group fails to put together a proper sale proposal… Thanks for your enthusiasm and persistence – and the song, too. I’m not encouraged by the current state of affairs with the Sale…