The secret can now be revealed – the City of Costa Mesa is in exclusive negotiations with Sacramento to buy the Orange County Fairgrounds. Once it was clear that there was no way this property wasn’t being sold, this emerged as the best possible scenario. With the property under democratic local control, we’ll no longer have to worry about distant bureaucrats periodically trying to sell it to developers to patch up their budgetary shortfalls. But it wasn’t proper – or even legal – for local governments to make this move until the developers who bid at the auction had first been officially turned down.
I’ll want to know, how much will the city pay, where will the money come from, and will Orange County be involved, as in the “Joint Powers Agreement” previously discussed. But what I really FIRST want to know, is how soon can we replace the crooked Fair Board that got us in this pickle to begin with, and who even now is certainly plotting revenge on the equestrians and marketplace folks who stymied their secret plans?
I’ll update this as I hear more, but I’m eager to beat the local press to this story – perks of being pals with CM councilwoman Katrina Foley! To read my previous stories on this issue, just click here!
SCOOOOPED!!!
loose lips sink ships, or at least sink you in the eyes of fellow councilmembers. How rude to run out in front like Foley did, trying to get the credit for everyone’s work. nice….i guess closed session agendas are allowed to leak out
DWM: Ooo yucky, Katrina Foley! Nope, it’s all good, I just heard first! Thanks for reading the Orange Juice, known for its exclusive SCOOPS!
Sell the Orange County Fairgrounds to Costa Mesa and get the deal done. The people of Orange County have spoken loud and clear – we want our Fairgrounds to stay a Fairgrounds. We don’t want another shopping mall or housing tract or something worse.
Get the deal done with Costa Mesa. Orange County residents want the property to stay the way it is. 50,000 people signed postcards and petitions telling the Governor to stop the sale, 23 Orange County cities have passed resolutions, and groups as diverse as the California League of Cities – Orange County division, Sierra Club, Orange Chamber of Commerce, California Labor Federation, Orange County League of Conservation Voters, and the California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers have said they support keeping the Fairgrounds.
Work with Costa Mesa to prevent another auction of the property. Orange County has spoken – keep our Fairgrounds for the public, not real estate developers.
Call the Governor 916-445-2841, Fax the Governor 916-558-3160
Call Ron Diedrich, Head of DGS 916-376-5012, Fax 916-376-5018
Call Ted Park, Director DGS Real Estate Services, 916-376-1900, Fax 916-376-1895