| Venezia: Fairgrounds disaster heads toward messy legal fight By BARBARA VENEZIA FOOD FOR THOUGHT CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST Like any good dysfunctional relationship, there comes a time when things get out of hand. A combination of personal agendas, deceit and money come together creating the perfect storm for disaster. Ultimately, lawyers get involved. If you thought things were messy before, buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy and expensive ride. Barbara Venezia: Food for Thought It's no surprise the OC Fairgrounds sale mess will ultimately land in court. Love story gone bad? After all the other strange sale scenarios blew up, did anyone really believe the unholy partnership between Facilities Management West and the city of Costa Mesa would end in a happy marriage? They couldn't even come to terms on their prenuptial agreement! FMW hired match-maker/lobbyist Gary Hunt (managing partner of Ca Strategies and state finance chairman for Gov. Schwarzenegger) way back when. Was he instrumental in solidifying a new end-run romance with the state cutting out CM? Not if CM or the OC Market Place have their say. Seems everyone's gearing up for a nasty custody battle. The OC Marketplace has been treated like the redheaded stepchild in this scenario. Stuck in the middle, like adult children who still live at home, their attempt to buy the property was thwarted. Now they're threatening to sue. Right move or wrong move? Is it time for this stepchild to nest elsewhere? Build a new vision? How about the Great Park? It's only Irvine, we'd still come visit. The reality is a lawsuit could cost millions, not to mention the time and emotional toll these things take. It's no secret the OC Fair Board and CEO Steve Beazley would like to see OC Marketplace owners (the Tellers) go but see their market place vendors stay. Like under-age children without a say in the divorce or the sale of the family home, residents of CM have tried to make the governor hear their wishes. He hasn't listened. Many feel the process hasn't been transparent, either. The CM City Council tried to intervene with the elders in Sacramento, but their strategy backfired. Not sticking around for the lawsuits, City Manger Allan Roeder is retiring in March. Geez, talk about a guy who deserves a rest. Will Katrina Foley be able to continue to fight the sale with her City Council cohorts and balance the duties of school board should she be elected? She thinks so. Let's hope so. Everyone's lawyering up. I'm sure we'll see the OC Fair Board, the jokers who started this whole mess, release their legal eagles into the ring, too. State Assemblyman Jose Solorio issued a statement regarding the governor's attempt to sell the OC Fairgrounds to FMW, saying that on Dec. 6 he'll "introduce new legislation to stop the sale. Come January we will have a new governor that will be open to hearing our county's interests." Really? Solorio's betting on a new "mom" or "dad" of the state to resolve this issue? As any kid from multiple divorces will tell you, new mommies and daddies are a crapshoot. You could wind up with a parent worse than the one being replaced. If it wasn't for bad leadership during this fairgrounds sale, we'd had no leadership at all. Freelance writer Barbara Venezia's opinion column appears online each Thursday and in The Current every Friday. Email BV at bvontv@earthlink.net |
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