A month old cake and a discussion of how the sale isn't working out as planned sum up the Fair Board meeting on February 25, 2010. Supporters of stopping the sale brought a cake saying "Let 'Em Eat Cake" to the meeting. The cake was bought on for the February 2 meeting which was cancelled after the cake was bought. The inscription of "Let 'Em Eat Cake" was chosen after a comment made by Board Chair Kristina Dodge that the public whim can't dictate what the Board does reminded people of the comment attributed to Marie Antoinette.
During the public comment time at the beginning of the meeting, Lisa Sabo asked the Fair Board to explain their perspective about why they won't ask the Governor to stop the sale. In January, Costa Mesa City Councilmember Katrina Foley asked the Board to pass a resolution asking Governor Schwarzenegger to stop the sale. Two meetings were scheduled to consider the item and were cancelled due to a lack of a quorum. The resolution did not appear on the agenda for this month's Board meeting and has not been announced as scheduled for a future Board meeting.
Theresa Sears then followed by reading a list of the cities and elected officials who support stopping the sale of the Fairgrounds. Sandy Genis, President of the Orange County Fairgrounds Preservation Society, read a proclamation that summarized the recent actions of the Fair Board. Both documents will be made available online. During a subsequent public comment time, Greg Ridge added, "You people have a complete disconnect from reality from what I have seen this morning."
CEO Steve Beazley announced that the law firm of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips has been chosen to represent the Fair Board. Board member David Padilla asked how a new law firm could be under contract when the selection had not been discussed by the Board or a contract signed by the Board. CEO Beazley explained that he was able to enter into the contract because the amount, $200,000, was under his signature authority limit of $300,000. Beazley also pointed out that in December 2009, the Attorney General gave the Fair Board permission to seek their own counsel and not have to use the Attorney General. In December 2009, the Fair Board was dropped as a client by the Attorney General because of conflicts arising from a majority of the Fair Board members also being members of the non-profit Fair Foundation formed to buy the property.
Fair Board Tries to Find a Way Out
The Fair Board seems to now realize that there is the distinct possibility that the property will be redeveloped and not remain a fairground. CEO Beazley talked at length about the need to try to balance the needs of balancing the California budget by selling the Fairgrounds and keeping the property as a fairground. The Board discussed how they need to meet the expectations sent down to them from the Governor but still try to support the community. Beazley pointed out that every fair in the State will eventually face this challenge. Joyce Tucker added that "This (the sale) backfired on us. We need to do something."
The Board wants to increase the utilization of the property by having more attractions and events. The California Performance Report and DGS characterize the Fairgrounds as an under utilized property. The problem the Fair Board faces is that there are two definitions of under utilized property used by real estate people. Managers of malls and entertainment attractions think of utilization in terms of how many dollars the property generates, how many people are on the property at a given time, and how to get more people and dollars on the property while maintaing the shopping or entertainment aspects. Real estate developers use under utilized to mean the property can be built out, meaning what is there will be torn down and replaced by a higher density use that will bring in more sales tax and other revenues. Developers often see single family homes on large lots as underdeveloped property that should be torn down and replaced with condos. The definition of under utilized used by the Governor is the real estate developer one, meaning the Fair Board has their work cut out for them in trying to meet the dollar value expectations of the Governor and DGS. That is also why a ridiculous dollar figure in the hundreds of millions of dollars was attache to the property - the ultimate goal was high density, urban infill housing like that in the Platinum Triangle.
New activities proposed include Winterfest (a holiday themed event during November and December), a tower ride, improving the equestrian center, increasing use of the Pacific Amphitheatre, and creating Maloof Skate Park. A letter from Maloof was given to Board members to show the serious support for the endeavor. The ideas for Winterfest, Maloof Skate Park, and equestrian center improvements were well received. One member of the public, Reggie Mundekis (the author of this article) was asked to join a committee looking into ways to improve the equestrian center. Dave Ellis pressed the Board and staff to quickly put out a request for information to the concert promoter and event management community to get input on how to make more money from the Pacific Amphitheatre. Ellis emphasized that this is only a request for information at this time and must be done very quickly.
Why Wasn't "It's Bizarre" Allowed to Be Shown?
Members of the Orange County Fairgrounds Preservation Society wanted to show "It's Bizarre", a summary of an Assembly hearing on AB 1590 to stop the sale of the Fairgrounds but were not allowed to. They were told that the Board had to agree to agendize the item before the video could be shown. Joy Williams, wearing a striking red vest embroidered with carnival rides and with a stuffed rat on her shoulder, asked the Fair Board to agendize the video for the March 2010 meeting.
Is the New Governance Process Working?
In December 2008, the Board adopted a new governance structure which allowed two member subcommittees to tackle issues that had been previously worked on by three member committees. The idea was to streamline the process because a three member committee needs to meet in public, properly notice the meeting and prepare minutes. A two member subcommittee simply meets when the members are able to and reports back to the Board.
David Padilla asked if this process was serving the needs of the Board and public well because there has been a loss of public transparency and time for Board members to study and discuss items. He started his discussion with the decision to sell the Fairgrounds made during July 2009. At this time, Larry Dodge, the husband of Chair Kristina Dodge, who had been sitting in the audience left the meeting.
Padilla pointed out that the full committee process may have prevented the vendor pricing problems of the 2009 OC Fair where vendors committed to one pricing structure but later faced rate increases. Vendors who paid the increased prices were refunded the difference between the increased and originally contracted amounts.
Dave Ellis said that he would not support revisiting the governance process because the Board had spent enough time on the issue during 2008. Chair Kristin Dodge offered the services of the governance consultant hired by the Board to review his concerns.
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