Public Lands Endangered
State Parks, Museums & Beaches now at risk by Sale of Orange County Fairgrounds

On October 22, 2010, public property in California moved onto the endangered species list when Gov. Schwarzenegger inked the deal to sell the Orange County Fairgrounds to real estate developers Facilities Management West.  

And this was done over the loud objections of the public. Over 50,000 postcards and petition signatures were ignored. Over 26 cities asking to not sell the property were ignored. And Facilities Management West even hired Gary Hunt, Gov. Schwarzenegger's campaign State finance chair, to make sure the deal got done. 

The deal is bad for tax payers. 150 acres of prime Costa Mesa real estate went for a paltry $20 million down, with the rest of the $100 million to be paid out over 40 years. The broke State of California is financing the deal. Why does the State have money to burn for real estate deals when they are furloughing employees, cutting teachers, and eliminating medical care for senior citizens and the disabled? 

There are incentives to develop the property into uses that generate more revenue. The State will get 10% of the increases value if the property is developed within in 15 years. This gives the State an incentive to help Facilities Management West to change the Costa Mesa General Plan or find ways around Measure C. It only takes 3 votes on the Costa Mesa City Council to change the zoning, and there are millions of reasons to do that now. 

Every piece of public land - parks, beaches, museums - is endangered by the way this sale went down. We can look for more public lands to be sold off to real estate developers who will help engineer good deals on a prime property.  

What we need you to do:
*  Tell  your friends what happened and what it means to their favorite parks and beaches.
*  Write letters to the editor condemning this action and asking for Legislative support to end this deal.
*  Tell your legislators you will do everything you can to help them end this deal now and forever