Reggie and the Pot Stirrer have both been doing excellent work on this, and I’ve been feeling uninspired and busy with my concert, but I suppose since this is the #1 OC blog I owe you all a quick update on the Tainted Sale of our Fairgrounds.
We’ve been discussing whether to ridicule Craig Realty’s $56.5 million offer (the highest bid at Thursday’s live auction) as too low or too high. The fact is, it is both. You get ironies like that when dealing with a transaction this nonsensical – selling off priceless public property against the public’s wishes at the bottom of the market.
Too Low
First of all it is not even one-third of the $180 million our big tough Governor was hoping to get for the property. And compared to the $20 BILLION budget shortfall it’s supposedly designed to address, that is THREE ONE-THOUSANDTHS. A third of one percent. That’s literally what a “drop in the bucket” looks like. And at the price of so much of our local culture and heritage. The lowness of the bid could be incentive enough for Arnold and his DGS (Dept. of General Services) to decide to do the right thing and stop the sale after all, so do continue to harass the Governor at 916-558-3160. [By the way all your calls and faxes to our legislators were very effective, as AB 1590 is progressing with near unanimous support – so feel your power!]
Too High
But then – $56.5 million is pretty damn high as well, for a property that will supposedly be kept a Fairgrounds. Why would Craig Realty, a developer specializing in “huge, luxury outlet malls,” choose to spend that 
kind of money on a property which Costa Mesa council and citizens are determined to zone in perpetuity – as a Fairgrounds that has been coasting along comfortably bringing in only $2 million a year in profits? Even Arnold promised (vaguely) to “Keep the Fair a Fair,” and Mr. Craig himself has been going around telling anyone who will listen (including the Pot Stirrer in a 40-minute phone conversation) that his “intention” is to “keep the Fair,” albeit with some unspecified “improvements.”
With all respect, that’s exactly what any developer would be saying right now, as they attempt to defuse the minefield of popular and legislative opposition to the sale. To get a more likely idea of what would happen if Craig Realty acquires the property, we need to look at what the company actually does, and question whether it makes any financial sense for them to keep the Fairgrounds anything like what we know and love after dropping $56.5 million on it (plus untold transitional costs.)
And they’re sure putting no promises in writing. When pressed by the Register’s Ellyn Pak, the partners, not being total shameless fibbers, hemmed and hawed:
OCR: How about the fair and the valuable assets there?
MANLEY: The hard part for a business person is to give an absolute and say keep it there forever. The goal is to have the fair be there forever and be better. … It’s not that there’s some ulterior motive. It’s just trying to be honest from the beginning and saying we want to make it the best that it can be from where it is now. From a business standpoint, it wouldn’t be smart to change the biggest uses of it now, which could be the equestrian, fair and Market Place.
CRAIG: I’m not capable of guaranteeing anything just as no one else is. Would we be willing to work hard with a lot of other people to keep it there? Absolutely. We think it’s a great use, but we think there are some other things that can be done with it.
And as mightily as the Costa Mesa council and voters strive to protect the Fair with zoning and specific plans, those are still like a levee you throw up and then cross your fingers. Former Mayor Sandy Genis has reminded us how easy it is for a clever, patient developer with deep pockets like Craig Realty to eventually get around any restrictions, as we saw last year in Redlands.
So there you have it, a bid that is both absurdly low and suspiciously high – a reason for the DGS to cancel the sale, AND a reason for all us citizens to still be up in arms. A couple more things…
Even if we lose this battle – WHICH WE HAVEN’T YET – we’ve still struck a decisive blow in the larger war against the planned Piratization of California’s prized public properties. Jose Solorio made this point in an article last week that I can’t for the life of me find: When the Governor’s men think of moving on to sell other Fairgrounds, parks and beaches, they will remembe
r the furious and unexpected opposition of Orange County’s citizens and politicians, and think again.
And this battle is still far from over. The DGS has till March 8 to decide whether to accept or reject this bid, and to stop this sale altogether, while meanwhile Jose’s AB 1590 is speeding through the legislature. Urge Arnold and his men to reject all bids, stop the sale, and sign AB 1590 – contact him by e-mail, phone calls (916-558-3160) and fax (916-558-3160, free at https://faxzero.com)
Or maybe, as Brad the Derailer suggests, Maria will listen: http://www.firstlady.ca.gov/contact/
I’ve been wonderin’ when you’d speak up……I keep finding myself thinking that maybe Craig would be better than the Fair Board, hell, anyone would be. I feel like a moth drawn to the pretty purple light hanging off the porch……ZZZZZZTTT!!!! It’s all good until he decides he doesn’t want a Fair anymore and then …poof! Gone.
I’m still waiting to hear a Fair Board response…..crickets…murmurs they are about to get on board with AB 1590.
Great concert last night………..You are an amazing pianist…….
Many developers have a credibility problem because they will make promises they know they won’t ever have to keep. A developers bottom line is returning a profit for themselves and investors. Regardless of what these guys say, the math speaks for itself. It is financially impossible to keep everything in the black with it as is AND keep the million a year in profits it currently makes. The enormous property tax bill alone will kill most of the profit. The amount of interest on their loans will kill the rest. The fairgrounds as we know it will be gone forever.
It’s a shame Schwarzenegger’s administration would sell us out like this. What a truly horrible legacy for him to leave in of all places, Orange County!
The only way we can save our fairgrounds is to reject all bids and support AB1590.
I noticed that the County of Orange and City of Costa Mesa offered only 6 million for the property. I guest the local government people are not serious about preserving the status quo.
The best way to save the FAIR, is to put it into private, tax paying hands, and get the current crooks out of the cash room.
Cook, $6 million is all our local governments could afford. Actually Arnold and the DGS could still pick that bid if Arnold really wants to save the Fair – and why not, 6 million is just as far from 20 BILLION as 56 million is!
What’s “tax-paying hands” got to do with it? The Fairgrounds sends 5% of its profits to the state as it is. Not to mention the taxes all the vendors at the Fair and Marketplace pay.
As usual, the only thing you’re right about is that the current Fair Board are crooks that have to go.
Actually, the county and Costa Mesa would have been able to bid much more but the early 55 million bid made it such that only the JPA’s 6 million bid was recorded. It was a flawed bidding process. The whole thing is corrupt. Only an ideologue would think it’s a good idea. Private property ownership is great. It really is for many, if not most things. However, history has proven time and time again that public ownership of our most important assets is the only way to go. Look at what happened to Yosemite. Just watch the Ken Burns National Parks special.
Does it matter who owns the land where the fair is held (and other activities) if the administration and board that screwed to pooch stays in place.
The county should put forth their (our) own county fair org to handle the county fair and let the state org die.
cook, that’s a very interesting suggestion. Maybe we could get the Emperor Agran to rent us a couple hundred acres at the Great Pork, er, Park and build us some infrastructure, too.