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[Cross-posted from the Fans of the OC Fairgrounds blog]
On April 23, 2018, at a meeting starting at 9 AM on a Thursday morning, the OC Fair Board will present their concepts to change the OC Fairgrounds into a convention center. The effort is led by CEO Kathy Kramer who worked on the $600 million remodel of the Phoenix Convention Center which placed the property in the top 25 convention centers in North America and caused dramatic changes in the neighborhood with the addition of hotels and restaurants. CEO Kathy Kramer is assisted by VP of Operations Ken Karns who worked to transform Western Fair in London, Ontario, Canada, into the 364 days a year, 24 hour a day Western Fair District. Neither CEO Kramer or VP Karns worked in the public sector in California prior to being hired by the current OC Fair Board Directors (Ashleigh Aitken, Barbara Bagneris, Nick Berardino, Sandra Cervantes, Doug La Belle, Gerardo Mouet, Robert Ruiz, Stan Tkaczyk)
State law known as the California Environmental Quality Act or CEQA requires processes and procedures to be followed when development projects are proposed to mitigate potential environmental impacts and to protect the rights of the public. Agencies such as the OC Fairgrounds (known to the State as the 32nd District Agricultural Association or 32nd DAA) are required to have procedures in place for making decisions under CEQA (see Section 15022. Public Agency Implementing Procedures in Title 14 Natural Resources):
(a) Each public agency shall adopt objectives, criteria, and specific procedures consistent with CEQA and these Guidelines for administering its responsibilities under CEQA, including the orderly evaluation of projects and preparation of environmental documents. The implementing procedures should contain at least provisions for:
(1) Identifying the activities that are exempt from CEQA. These procedures should contain:
(A) Provisions for evaluating a proposed activity to determine if there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment.
(B) A list of projects or permits over which the public agency has only ministerial authority.
(C) A list of specific activities which the public agency has found to be within the categorical exemptions established by these guidelines.
(2) Conducting initial studies.
(3) Preparing negative declarations.
(4) Preparing draft and final EIRs.
(5) Consulting with and obtaining comments from other public agencies and members of the public with regard to the environmental effects of projects.
(6) Assuring adequate opportunity and time for public review and comment on the Draft EIR or Negative Declaration.
(7) Evaluating and responding to comments received on environmental documents.
(8) Assigning responsibility for determining the adequacy of an EIR or negative declaration.
(9) Reviewing and considering environmental documents by the person or decision making body who will approve or disapprove a project.
(10) Filing documents required or authorized by CEQA and these Guidelines.
(11) Providing adequate comments on environmental documents which are submitted to the public agency for review.
(12) Assigning responsibility for specific functions to particular units of the public agency.
(13) Providing time periods for performing functions under CEQA.
In August 2017 (over 180 days ago), a request was made to the OC Fairgrounds for copies of these procedures and no procedures were produced. Several more attempts to receive copies of the procedures have been made and have been ignored by the OC Fairgrounds. CEO Kathy Kramer and VP Ken Karns (right) with the apparent support of the OC Fair Board Directors (Ashleigh 
Aitken (left, running for Anaheim mayor), Barbara Bagneris, Nick Berardino, Sandra Cervantes, Doug La Belle, Gerardo Mouet, Newton Pham, Robert Ruiz, Stan Tkaczyk) have refused to produce copies of these procedures which are required under California law. The OC Fair Board Directors and Executive Management act as if they are above the law. The public has rights which the OC Fair Board and Executive Management are trampling on those rights.
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Ask the OC Fairgrounds for Copies of CEQA Procedures Required Under Statute:
Contact CEO Kathy Kramer at kkramer@ocfair.com
Contact VP of Operations Ken Karns who is in charge of the Master Site Plan. kkarns@ocfair.com
Fair Board Directors choose to not have email addresses to be used by the public; to contact them and have Summer Angus sangus@ocfair.com forward messages from the public to them.
You can follow up on your messages by doing a public records request at cpra@ocfair.com
Look Up the CEQA Statutes:
CEQA is a statute (Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.) enacted by the California Code of Regulation (Title 14 Natural Resources, Chapter 6 Resources Agency, Chapter 3 Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act).
I have friends in that neighborhood, and this sounds pretty alarming. How long ago were the two top execs hired in? Were they hired as the best to run things and happened to notice they could build the empire? Or was the idea to expand the focus of the fairgrounds approved and they were brought in to do so?
And most of all….how does one host the OC FAIR with a Convention Center on the grounds? Are they leaving enough open-air space for that event? I don’t imagine one can host a fair inside a convention center?
Looks like more of the same BS from the Fair Board – arrogance bred of opacity.
This agency is wide open to a lawsuit, and perhaps Ms. Aitken & Co. know it and don’t care – hoping that nobody has the will or resources to proceed.
And under normal circumstances that may be true; in this case the City of Costa Mesa will have a clear and present interest in the goings on. I would talk to Sandy Genis and Theresa Sears about it.
Why?
Anaheim has the biggest convention center on the West Coast.
Speaking of which, who is paying for this new fairgrounds convention center?
If Anaheim has anything to say about it, Anaheim.
They LOVE to pay for other people’s stuff.
The OC Fairgrounds has about $40 million in cash and cash equivalent reserves as of 2017 year end. Annual revenues are around $45 million with about 20% profitability.
Quoting from the winning Master Site Plan proposal submitted by Chicago-based C. H. Johnson Consulting, Inc.:
“Task 7 – Financial Plan & Projections
This Task commenced in Task 5 and will be finalized in this Task (Task 7). It will consider the initial work done by all parties and will result in finalized financial projections, considering revenue, expenses and profit from each business element as well capital improvement assumptions prepared by HPI. (note: HPI is the architecture firm engaged) [. . . ]
“We will also offer a specific discussion regarding revenue sources that are available to public assembly facilities, including benefactor naming rights and other specialized revenue streams, such as advertising, and based on market conditions.
“The Team will outline potential funding sources that could be considered for the proposed OCFEC business initiative, as well as for ongoing operating support, that will consist of a detailed analysis for each option. These approaches may include private investments, incentives, sales, meals and room taxes, Tax Increment FinanceDistricts, revenue bonds, empowerment/enterprise zones, tax-exempt bonds, and taxable bond revenue streams, among other tools. (pgs. 23-24 of winning proposal dated August 19, 2016)”
The public has been asking “why” since September 2017 when the proposals were unveiled and has been met with silence from the Fair Board and Executive Management. I will write a post or posts about attempts to obtain documents and information from the Fairgrounds regarding the Master Site Plan which have been met with silence and obstructionism.
Why are the board members denying copies of the procedures?
I don’t know why the Board is denying the public access to copies of procedures which are required under statute. Board Directors and Executive Management act as if laws which others must operate under don’t apply to them. More people need to ask for copies of the CEQA procedures required under statute to put the pressure on the Board Directors and Executive Management to comply with the law.
“More people need to ask for copies of the CEQA procedures…”
No, what is needed is a nice, clear editorial in the Voice of OC, the creation of NIck Berardino – who just happens to sit on the Fair Board, courtesy of Jerry Brown.
… created along with Ashley’s dad, no?
He’s on the Board of the Voice of OC, I always presumed because he chipped in a bunch of dough. But he may very well have been part of the brainstorm.
https://voiceofoc.org/about/board-of-directors/
So how about it, Nick? Are you guys any better than your predecessors, or is it just the same old melody with a new title.
Joe Dunn and Nick B along with several others created VOC and voice of San Diego