Tony Petros is running for Newport Beach City Council.
Tony Petros is also a Principal in the Irvine office of LSA & Associates, the company that was the bag man for all of the concealed spending on lobbyists, lawyers, and an appraiser when Dave Ellis and his acolytes were conspiring to sell the Orange County Fair Grounds. Even in 2012, we’re still waiting to see some of the billing documents which were hidden by the staff and only unwittingly released by an obscure Sacramento agency.
During 2009, LSA had specific contracts to complete a Supplemental EIR on paving over the equestrian center and for master planning services, with work order 14 detailing the services to be provided in 2009. LSA never provided the services they contracted to do. Instead, without any revision of the contracts or public discussion, they billed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Dick Ackerman’s law firm, to Platinum Advisors, and to an appraiser who never produced a public report.
So it was interesting to see how Petros would respond to public questions and criticisms at the Fair Board meeting when LSA had another contract for planning services on the agenda.
Tony was waiting patiently at the beginning of the meeting, but he disappeared before the board reached the LSA agenda and angry public speakers insisted that LSA should be permanently disqualified from any future contracts because of their role as intermediary in the Fairgrounds scandal.
To be fair, LSA Managing Principal Frank Haselton was the real scoundrel, but it sure would have been interesting to hear Petros, as a local Principal at LSA, publicly discuss why their billing shouldn’t be subject to treble damages under the False Claims Act.
In a refreshing change of pace at the Fair Board, staff member Jerome Hoban’s protestations were ignored, and the Directors voted to ask for public bids instead of continuing to shuffle money off to LSA without competitive bids. They also voted to engage in discussion with the Newport Mesa School district to attempt to reach an agreement on shared parking before spending $80,000 on yet another parking study.
Similarly, the board voted to ask the Attorney General’s office to return as legal representative for the fair board, which is indeed a state agency, rather than rubber-stamping the staff’s proposal to continue with Manatt, Phelps. State law requires that state agencies receive legal services from the Attorney General’s office, but the AG chose to stop representing the Fair Board in 2009 because of the scandal surrounding the attempted sale to a corporation controlled by board members.
Judicious spending of taxpayer dollars, common sense proposals, following state law. Amazing the difference a few new appointments can make.
It was a fun and productive meeting, too bad Dave Ellis and Kristina Dodge missed it. (Pot Stirrer says it’s because their kids were at “ski week.”) This left only current chairman Joyce Tucker of the old guard who were involved in the attempted sale, and she did a fine job of keeping things moving smoothly and amicably.
Of the four priorities we suggested the other day, the new improved board was chomping at the bit to get two of ’em done at least. As Quimby says, a letter’s being sent off to AG Kamala to ask her to bring back her affordable representation. And if the Citizens’ Oversight Committee could have been voted on yesterday, it looked like it would have been unanimous! But it has to be agendized for next meeting instead. Wonder if Dave will have an excuse to miss that meeting too, or if he’ll find himself at the lonely end of a 8-1 or 7-2 vote.
GREAT new Board.
Dave Ellis has kids? Don’t you mean tadpoles?
A frightening thought.
They prefer to be known as “polliwogs,” you classist. (Taxonomically speaking, of course.)
*Greeks are good. They have a sense of fairness (ha ha) about them. City Council?
No, Dr. Petros has not checked in with us yet. Probably just another rabbit in a field
of near do wells….still to run, assess or list in. They tend to give everyone a “White Sportcoat and a Pink Carnation”…at this time of year. Tom Rush…is running for Assembly rather than City Council…another odd choice….hmmm.
We will remain calm…and hope that the new likely candidates for NB City Council give us a call.
Damn! Is this what the system looks like when it’s working? Can we do this elsewhere too?
Just added a Facebook like button to our stories. Thanks to the unlikely team of Prevatt who sent me the plug-in and Kiger who helped me install it. LIKE AWAY, my flying monkeys, my dears!
This is from a person who calls himself “Mayor Quimby,” a corrupt cartoon character.
Read this.
I excerpt for the audience:
Now, do you have any other ideas where “Quimby” might have come from? He was a pretty well-known guy here.
This is from a person who calls himself “Mayor Quimby,” a corrupt cartoon character.
Bingo, my good anonymous fellow! And what better ironic pseudonym for a blogger who writes about corruption in municipal governance, n’est-ce pas?
So, when Greg Ridge requests a parking study it is a good idea? When the fair tries to do one, it is a waste of money?
Well, Greg, I guess you won’t be getting your re-striping any time soon.
In-joke? Don’t get it. Promotion back to sergeant?
Oh, there’s plenty of room for improvements at the Fair Grounds.
There’s just no reason to reward LSA with another contract after they didn’t actually deliver any of the things they were contracted to do in 2009, many of which had to do with parking and circulation improvements.
And maybe, before doing another parking study, the Board should do exactly what Stan Tkacyzk recommended, which is to work with the Newport Mesa school district to come up with a better plan for shared parking.
And maybe, just maybe, a reinvigorated board might decide that the Fair does not need to continue increasing its duration and total attendance while becoming ever less attuned to its mission.