Derail the Sale | Orange County Fair Preservation Society

Orange County Fairgrounds Preservation Society

Derail the Sale Part 1 - How We Got Here - Orange County Fairgrounds Sale Timeline   
(Continued from Page One)

December 2009 - The Attorney General, who has been legal counsel for the Fair Board, drops them as a client due to conflict of interest problems created by the Fair Board also being the Fair Foundation.  Assemblyman Jose Solorio introduces a bill to stop the sale of the Fairgrounds, which has strong support from the public.  Principals of Facilities Management West make campaign donations to Allan Mansoor's Assembly campaign.  

January 2010 - The auction for the Fairgrounds is held. The high bid is Craig Realty ($56.5 million), a developer of outlet malls.  Members of the public travel to Sacramento and present the Governor with over 50,000 petitions and postcards asking him to stop the sale.  

February 2010 - Costa Mesa begins drafting Measure C to limit the uses of the Fairgrounds to the current uses.   

March 2010 - Bowing to public pressure, the Governor rejects the bid from Craig Realty stating the bid is too low.  The State enters into negotiations with Costa Mesa for the City to purchase the property for $96 million.  

May 2010 - Costa Mesa announces that they will negotiate with American Fairs and Festivals (AFF) to run the Fairgrounds then at the last minute decides to go with Facilities Management West (FMW).  AFF presented a detailed business plan with specifics on how the property will be operated and revenues generated.  FMW (Mansoors's campaign contributors) provides a short memo proposal with no detail on operations or revenues.   

July 2010 - Costa Mesa forms a powerless JPA to run the Fairgrounds and signs an MOU with FMW that gives most of the rights to FMW.  

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