The “Weird Al’s Brain” concept at the 2009 fair was an unmitigated disaster. It cost the fair $3 million and Weird Al retains all rights to it… the Orange County Fair simply bought the right to use it for three years (yes, we have two more years of this boondoggle whether we like it or not).
Beazley said the Orange County Fair would MAKE money on this ridiculous scheme because they’d be able to sell the rights to other fairs. Not surprisingly, not one other fair paid for the right to show this “infotainment experience.”
Yet this $3 million waste of tax dollars is chicken feed compared to the plans going on behind the scenes now. Ellis and Beazley are scheming to sell off the fairgrounds at the bargain basement price of $30 million to… (wait for it)… THEMSELVES!
That’s right… On July 21, 2009, the fair board formed a SEPARATE 501(c)(3)non-profit organization called the “OC Fair and Event Center Foundation” to buy the fairgrounds from themselves. The fairgrounds are estimated to be worth about $300 million, but since they’re selling state land to themselves, they’ve given themselves a 90% discount and plan to snap up this valuable real estate for the bargain basement price of $30 million. The buildings and infrastructure on the property alone are worth between $75 – $150 million.
As this new reconsituted non-profit entity, the board plans to buy the fairgrounds from themselves as fair board members and because they would no longer be associated with a public agency, they could give themselves big salaries, free front-row tickets and other perks behind the comfort of closed door meetings that would never again be open to the public.
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