By Tom Johnson
There’s a stink in town that’s bringing me some discomfort, and it’s not that skunk I was trying to catch a couple of years back.
It’s worse.
The fact is, the stench is coming from right in the center of town; to be exact, it’s the Orange County Fair & Events Center Board of Directors and its management team.
Something tells me that we’re all about to uncover a number of real issues facing a group of people that over the years have been a part of a fairly sleepy little board.
Lawsuits are one part. Four former employees who recently departed have all retained the same counsel and lawsuits are a comin’. Rumor has it that the case is so solid that the attorneys involved have taken the case on a 100% contingency. Time will tell.
Part two, it’s become evident that fair management does not seem to care about their current partners and vendors. Some examples: several meetings ago, regular fair vendors, many of whom have been with the fair for years, lined up in rage to complain about unfair, last-minute raises in rent that were shoved on them by management. As the complaints mounted, even the fair board members seemed outraged and overturned the unfair price hikes (some as high as 62% increases) by requesting immediate refunds.
The next meeting brought more complaints and pleas from vendors. The management team and board again didn’t seem to listen. Instead, casting aside the Orange County Marketplace and its vendors, it allowed the Barrett-Jackson car auction (a worthy event, by the way) to take place the last week on June—a week, incidentally, that just happens to be the biggest week of Marketplace’s year.
I’m excited about the Barrett-Jackson event. But for the OC Fair to cast aside its partner that continually, year-after-year, accounts for its biggest revenue stream seems, well, wrong.
Now, the board will argue that Barrett-Jackson could account for some $275,000 in revenue. What they stop short of saying is, first, there’s no guarantee. Second, the fair is required to make improvements in its facilities that could run $150,000. And lastly, by canceling the Marketplace that week, the fair foregoes its normal revenue of $50,000.
So at the end, other than strained relations, what really is the upside?
The real answer would be to have Barrett-Jackson and the Marketplace share the grounds that weekend and have them both put their best foot forward. The end result would be what’s in the fairgrounds best interest. This would seem like the classic win-win. At this month’s fair board meeting, Barrett-Jackson seemed to indicate this compromise could work. But it hasn’t happened.
And it doesn’t end there.
The Orange County Fair and Events Foundation, which includes six of the eight current board members, plans to try and buy the fairgrounds. Talk about conflicts of interest.
I’ve talked to some legal experts who say what those six board members are doing could be illegal. (Really, how could politically appointed board members turn around and form a nonprofit, whose very goal is to purchase the property they were appointed to safeguard?) Even the Orange County Board of Supervisors thinks the arrangement is hinky and is looking to buy the property to keep it public.
This whole deal appears to be steeped in political favoritism. Former state Sen. Dick Ackerman’s name is often associated with the group, which plans on meeting behind closed doors. The OC fairgrounds is the only one in the state that has been put up for sale. Why? Who’s behind the big push to sell off the property?
In journalism school, one of the first rules of reporting is to follow the money. Who benefits from the sale of the fairgrounds? Here’s one thought: if fully developed, the 150 acres in the heart of Orange County, adjacent to three freeways, would be a goldmine for its owners.
But, you say, the city of Costa Mesa is going to restrict the zoning so it stays a fairgrounds. Well, in the long-term, council members get changed out (and one fair board member, David Ellis, specializes in getting locals elected), financial pressures come to bear, and zoning restrictions disappear.
We go to the fair for the rides. And now, it looks like one of the wildest rides in the fair’s history is just around the corner. It’s probably safer standing off to the side and watching.
But we’re getting on. The public deserves someone on this ride.
Tom Johnson is co-publisher of the Newport-Mesa Daily Voice.
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