Maybe I should say FOUR days to stop the sale, through legislation anyway. Our state lawmakers are having a short session next week to deal with a Federal education bill, and that will be their last chance to overturn AB 22, the bill that authorized the sale of our Fairgrounds. So we have really only the rest of this week to contact our legislators and have them pledge to stop the sale. Last Tuesday I asked you all to call Senator Lou Correa, who is important as one of our only two (or three) OC Democrats. Maybe most of you were preoccupied with the upcoming holidays, as his secretary told my colleague today that they “haven’t been getting all that many calls.” So once more, make this call today, unless you want our Fairgrounds to end up in the hands of greedy developers: (714) 558-4400.
And why DID Lou and almost all the rest of our OC lawmakers vote to sell our Fairgrounds in that rushed, secretive legislation AB 22 last July? Because LOU WAS LIED TO. I’ll have more details on this soon, but
sources tell us that our senators (and probably our assemblymen too) were told falsely that the Costa Mesa City Council was eager to have the fair sold so they could entrust it to a benevolent “nonprofit corporation.” This would have obviously been the Orange County Fair Foundation, formed (illegally) by the Fair Board itself, who (illegally) paid ex-Senator Dick Ackerman to (illegally) go up to Sacramento and tell these lies to our representatives. The truth of the matter is that the Costa Mesa City Council had and has voted repeatedly to oppose the sale of our county’s “crown jewel.”
Please be sure to call Mr. Correa’s office today and ask him to do whatever he can to stop the sale. Some of us will be seeing him tonight (at the Democratic Holiday Pot Luck Party) and also Thursday (at his own Holiday Open House) so WE NEED YOU TO SOFTEN HIM UP!
Lied too? Oh, Vern, please don’t trot out that old saw.
Nevertheless, I agree with your sentiment.
CALL LOU CORREA (AND CHUCK DEVORE) AND TELL THEM TO STOP THE CORRUPT SALE!
Misread? The Senators were “lied TO,” not “too.” No old saw, but the awful truth:
Our representatives in the state senate were told, by a special messenger whom they won’t name but whose name certainly rhymes with Prick Hackerman, that the Costa Mesa City Council wanted the state to sell the Fairgrounds and entrust it to a benevolent nonprofit. And this was totally false, CMCC wanted/wants no such thing. But hearing no other input, and overwhelmed by budget controversies in July, all our representatives except Silva and Duvall took this messenger at his word as he was somebody they had known and trusted so long, and voted to sell our Fairgrounds. No hyperbole here, no old saw.
And welcome Rogue Elephant to the Derailers. We can use someone wild, vicious and separated from the herd.
Vern. Why are you encouraging readers to only contact OC Democratic representatives?
Neglecting support from those of us who oppose the sale but are from the opposite side of the aisle is a mistake in “strategy and tactics.”
Concered citizens should contact every statewide representative who has a say in AB22 voting.
You got me wrong Juice Brother! I think you are just NOW catching up with my Derail writings. We have called Van Tran, Harman, DeVore, everybody. And you’re right, we have plenty of support from both parties – Jim Silva and Mike Duvall, Republicans both, were the only two to originally vote against the sale (poor Mikey’s gone now as you may know) – the Costa Mesa City Council (4/5 GOP) and the totally-Republican Board of Supes have all voted unanimously against the sale.
There is ONE reason we’re focusing especially on our Democrats Solorio, Correa and Mendoza – sources close to Karen Bass told us that legislation rescinding the sale will sail through easier if it is “carried” by a Democrat from OC – simply because Democrats have the overwhelming majority in Sacramento. That’s all!
I hope you make your calls too Brother Larry! We need every Man-Jack aboard here!
Brother Vern.
I do have a good rapport with Lou and will try to reach him tomorrow
Ur a mensch Gilbert. Hey, that makes this a unanimous Derail the Sale blog – at least those of us who are actually in the OC!