Orange County Fairgrounds Up for Sale?

Just as many are enjoying the last few days of the Orange County Fair, news has surfaced of a potential sale of the OC Fairgrounds due to the California Budget crisis.   A group has started a Save the OC Fair petition to try and stop the sale of the fairgrounds to an OC investor group.  The petition website states the following:

Due to the current budget crisis in the state of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed the idea of selling off a number of “under-utilized” fairgrounds, arenas, and parks owned by the state to generate immediate revenue.

While this plan has been under consideration for quite some time, a resolution signed by the Fair Board, during a secretive and impromptu meeting with inadequate notice to the public on July 15th , actually put the plan in motion by offering their support in selling the fairgrounds to a non-profit entity.

Ironically however, less than one week after the resolution was signed, a non-profit organization, “The Orange County Fair and Events Center Foundation”, was announced – Formed by members of the Fair Board themselves! These being the same members who fell under scrutiny last year for taking advantage of their positions by using up hundreds of concert tickets, partaking in extravagent lobster dinners behind the scenes of the fair, and so on.

The shady and left-handed tactics used in signing the resolution to sell the Fairgrounds, as well as establishing the non-profit company to subsequently purchase the land has, by design, kept the neighboring home owners, citizens of Orange County and the Business Owners who utilize the O.C. Fairgrounds in the dark regarding the plan – Until JUST NOW!!

Other sites considered for sale, where adequate notice was given, were able to stop the proceedings by gaining a large amount of local support and providing a substantial amount of proof that the site is not “under-utilized”.

The closed-door plan to sell the O.C. Fairgrounds has caught many un-suspecting residents of Orange County by surprise. Working with extremely limited time, we wish to stop the sale of the fairgrounds based on the heritage it brings to Orange County, the programs it houses to benefit our children, and the many small businesses that count on it for their survival. Following such a deceptive start, if the venue is sold there is no guarantee of what may take its place and/or how it will be run.

To sign the online petition click here.