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“Facilities Management West was formed by three multi-generational Orange County families with a love and passion for the Fair.”
–Guy Lemmon, FMW spokesman, May 10
“I want all the money beyond that! It’s simple! I’ve offered you all you’re gonna get!”
–Ken Fait, real FMW leader, June 22
“Who are you people?” the shaved-headed young man growled, glowering down at us.
“We’re just looking for Facilities Management West,” explained my research assistant, holding his ground. “Isn’t this their address?”
“All we do here is make sausage!” the goon shot back, gesturing toward an easel displaying varieties of sausage products.
“Well, you sure don’t want to see sausage or legislation getting made,” I lamely joked, but no laughter was forthcoming.
“I said, who ARE you?” he repeated, glancing nervously toward the corner where some older suited gentlemen sat eyeing us suspiciously.
“We’re just citizens,” my assistant answered. “Local citizens. We want to see the people who are going to be running our Fairgrounds for the next 55 years.”
“This is the third time I ask, who are you guys? I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re not good for our business.”
We glanced around at the complete lack of customers anywhere near this small back-lot office How were we bad for their business? We shrugged and shuffled off, feeling like we were in an episode of The Sopranos. “F & S Gourmet Foods,” the sign read. Suite B, right behind the big Arthur Murray Dance Studio you all see when you speed down Adams. This was definitely the official address for FMW, Costa Mesa’s new business partner.
And no, there was no mistake. A little more reconaissance and googling on that sunny Thursday afternoon revealed:
- F & S Gourmet Foods are the makers of Benetino’s cheese-filled sausages, which are actually tasty little suckers by the by. (They also own the trademark for Sabatino’s Chicago Sausage down on the Lido Peninsula.)
- The trademark for these Benetino’s sausages was filed by Richard P Whitney Esq of Sainick and Cote (now Sainick and Whitney) at 190 Newport Center Drive.
- Mr. Whitney also patented “Raffex Aromatic Petroleum” in 1990 for San Joaquin Refining Company, which is Ken Fait‘s main operation that funds all his other shadow & shell entities, up to and including the purchase of our Fairgrounds.
- Sainick and Whitney share their Fashion Island address with the following other known Ken Fait-owned entities: Richard Dick & Ass., Waterpointe Homes, Meadows Realty and Meadows Management.
- Sainick and Whitney [META alert!] are “Business Succession Planners” – the accepted euphemism for building “shell corporations.” I.E., Fait has an in-house law firm that specializes in covering his tracks using various holding companies and LLC’s.
It was just another typical day in our quest to figure out who and what the hell Facilities Management West is, this amorphous jellyfish to whom we’re entrusting our Fairgrounds, with no public oversight, for the next three generations.
Time and again, what appear to be independent companies and entities, some making real products, some merely “shell” outfits, all eventually lead back to tycoon Ken Fait and his San Joaquin Oil Company.
For a family like the Faits, which has been moving around hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars for generations, to be as invisible as they are on the web, is almost certainly a sign of internet scrubbing and obsessive privacy. But they couldn’t scrub the site of the State Board of Equalization, which documents patriarch Newell Fait’s unsuccessful 1990 attempt to use a system of shell corporations to limit his tax liability. This PDF includes a flow chart showing what the Board determined: old Newell Fait had created/acquired a network of holding companies completely owned by him through San Joaquin, some of which, like Meadows Realty, are still in operation – a common method of hiding corporate profits.
In the two decades since, Newell’s attorney son Ken has extensively built on and added to this network of shell companies, and Facilities Management West, created to run our Fairgrounds, will evidently be just another Fait holding company – far from the picture of “three multi-generational families with a love and passion for the Fair” that spokesman Guy Lemmon painted at the May 10 meeting.
(We saw another benefit to this setup in our last chapter on the contributions Allan Mansoor was forced to return, all ostensibly from different companies and individuals, but which all turned out to be owned or employed by Fait & San Joaquin.)
Ken Fait’s San Joaquin Refining Company, in Bakersfield, has been “processing local feedstocks into premium naphthenic oils for specialty applications” since the 1960’s.
As far as I know there’s nothing illegal about what we’re reporting here; I just don’t think OC citizens who value their Fairgrounds and its heritage as highly as they do would feel comfortable entrusting them to the mercies of an ill-tempered profiteer who spends so much time, money and energy covering up his interests. And sure enough, even without any of this knowledge, opposition to the deal is running nearly 4-to-1 among the public, in this new OC Business Journal Poll. [Vote yourself!]
Ken Fait shouting “I want ALL the profits!” Photo courtesy of The Pot Stirrer.
I had breakfast with some longtime Costa Mesa community activists, who recalled their puzzlement at hearing Council shills rave about Fait, and his lackeys Lemmon, Rich Dick, and Dave Pyle, as longtime pillars of the community. The names did NOT ring a bell to any of them. And NOBODY involved with the Fairgrounds can recall a single instance of these well-heeled folks demonstrating their “love and passion for the Fair.” (At least until Dick’s donation last week of a tractor to Centennial Farms, which at this point is sort of a donation to himself.)
Apparently it’s true that they’ve been living in Newport Beach and making boatloads of money for many decades; but they’re not the kind of rich people who give to the Boys’ Club, the Girls’ Club, the symphony, local hospitals, anything charitable – they have no “philanthropic footprint.” They’re more the hermit-like, miserly type of rich people obsessed with secrecy and control. Think Mr. Burns, with three Smitherses.
And on a deeper level, look into your heart and trust your instincts: Should we make such an important deal with people named Lemmon and Fait? Should we get into bed with guys called Dick and Pyle?
Contrast this with American Fairs and Festivals.
Could it be more stark? American Fairs was quickly put together by Jeff Teller, owner of the hugely successful OC Marketplace (a.k.a. swap meet) as soon as he knew Costa Mesa was looking for a partner to finance the sale and run the place. Jeff’s concern all along was to keep as many current employees and vendors working as possible, and to EXPAND public control and oversight of the property (far from terminating it as FMW would.) Some on the Council seemed taken aback at getting suc
h a well-put together and viable proposal from such an unexpected source.
The Teller family, as Tel-Phil Enterprises, have been running the Marketplace since 1969; even before that Jeff’s father Bob was a concessionaire at the Fair. In the decades since, the Marketplace has provided a livelihood for thousands and been an irreplaceable part of the local economy (and will be endangered if FMW prevails.) Tel-Phil’s charitable works around Orange County are too numerous to mention here; here’s just a touch.
Jeff assembled a most distinguished board for American Fairs: Orange Coast College, which has a great interest in retaining access to the property, is represented by Coast Community Trustee Mary Hornbuckle; other board members include Rush Hill, formerly Secretary of Education of California under Governor Reagan; Bill Habermill, OC’s Supervisor of Public Education; and many other well-known local figures in business and education.
For most of the millions in funding that would be needed, Jeff approached Rick Julian, who has a stellar reputation as a developer who holds on to and improves properties that he invests in. Alone out of all the bidders 
in January’s auction, Mr. Julian had avowed his intention not to develop the property, but to maintain all its current uses and operations as well as a majority of current staff. He responded enthusiastically, and American Fairs and Festivals presented the Council with a great proposal which was exactly what Councilmembers Foley and Leece – the two members who really wanted to “save the Fair” as we all know and love it – were looking for.
The American proposal, which I will post later in the week, was as far from the FMW deal as can be imagined. It would have preserved all current uses – the Centennial Farm, the equestrian center, the Marketplace, everything the people love. And it would have increased public control and oversight, getting us away from the capricious and dictatorial reigns of recent appointed Fair Boards.
But as things turned out – and we’ll examine more closely how it happened in future segments – the majority of the Council finally went with the guys who contribute to their campaigns; who list a small sausage office staffed with touchy hostiles as their official address; who insist on the freedom to do whatever they want to the property with no public input for 55 years; who offered a LITTLE BIT more cash to help with Costa Mesa’s deficit, but famously threw a fit when the Mayor timidly asked for a better percentage of profits without a cap. This was a rotten decision for anyone who cares about the Fairgrounds our grandparents paid for with their tax dollars for us and our own grandkids to enjoy, and many of us are now hard at work trying to “blow the deal up,” to steal Jim Righeimer’s phrase.
So, why was the sausage thug so nervous about us being “bad for business?”
In retrospect, maybe F&S Gourmet Foods regrets their association with Ken Fait and FMW, and whatever favors they owe him. Maybe they have a good idea how controversial and unpopular the Fairgrounds deal will be as the public learns more about it; and fear that THAT may imperil THEIR sales.
So let me just re-iterate: Benetino’s Sausage products are really quite tasty, and Sabatino’s Chicago Sausage on the Lido Peninsula is to die for! Meanwhile we will continue to examine the Fairgrounds Swindle from multiple different angles, as what it is: a many-splendored clusterfuck.
stay tuned for the next installment, part 3:
“Threats, Bribes, and Videotape.“
Great reporting Vern! What a mess. I am glad you left that place though or you may have ended up in the “tasty sausage,” if you know what I mean…
Yuk..apple ckicken and vern sausage…..
Okay who names their kid Richard Dick? So if Richard is a Dick, and David is a Pyle, and Guy is a Lemmon what could our “Fait” possibly be? Subliminal messaging at its best! The deal would smell no matter what their names were because it is just begging to be slapped in the face.
The fact they (the city and the state) are trying to shove this deal through quickly without giving the public the opportunity to vet this and ask questions is all the information you need to know something isn’t right. What’s the rush? The state never moves this quickly on anything, The budget problem will not be solved by selling off this fairgrounds, or any of them.
The state needs to figure out new ways to do business across the board, perhaps they could start by revising the way fairs do business and require them to send a portion of their revenues directly to the state coffers, and make them (fairs) more accountable for their spending. Projects like weird al’s brain that cost more than $4 million might be more scrutinized as they should be. And overspending on entertainment and concerts might be monitored better…
but after all a county fair should be more about showcasing agriculture and reminding people where our bread and butter come from. I don’t think people in the oil business are going to be overly concerned about that unless it is their own bread they are looking to butter.
Just a word of caution, my friends. If this deal fails – whether the Latino Caucus slams the door or the “details” can’t be worked out – the State will purportedly put it right back on the market, or so they say.
However, they might start thinking about that a little more and look at the deal Costa Mesa has cobbled together – hastily, but they got it put together – and realize they, the State, might be able to have their cake and eat it, too. They could choose to LEASE the 150 acres, as Costa Mesa proposes, but retain title to the land. If that happens the zoning restrictions Costa Mesa has in place to safeguard the uses AND Measure “C” become moot and any lessee could decide to build anything he wants to on that site! Be careful what you ask for!
Pot Stirrer says: “They could choose to LEASE the 150 acres, as Costa Mesa proposes, but retain title to the land. If that happens the zoning restrictions Costa Mesa has in place to safeguard the uses AND Measure “C” become moot and any lessee could decide to build anything he wants to on that site! Be careful what you ask for!”
Uh isn’t that what is happening now? (if the sale goes through) Any lessee now… (FMW) can building anything they want, sublease it, demolish it, rebuild it, and relocate it, and do as they wish. They can change the appearance and rename this kidnapped child and make it unrecognizable and there isn’t anything we can do about it including the”genius” city council who are the accessory to this horrific crime.
So you are telling us to be careful what we ask for? Who asked for any of this other than other self serving money and power grubbers? The public didn’t ask for any of this. The public has spoken over and over and over. And the public has asked to keep its current uses, kill the sale and not EVER sell off the fairgrounds to anyone. You want the public to shut up and go away? Not a chance.
Shame on you for telling us to be quiet and let these thieves carry out their act. Why should we settle for what you might think is the lesser of evils? We should not settle for any evil.
Who are you shilling for?
The excuse this is because the state needs money and the governor will sell anything to help hole up the budget gap. What they are getting or may think they will get will not make an inch of difference. Because after the day is over the problem with the state will exist and the governor will be looking for his next crack fix.
So leasing it, selling it, rolling or smoking it… the fairgrounds or any fairgrounds should not be sold at all. And the public should not be punished for the government’s bad management and oversight.
Save your caution messages for the crosswalk.
These threats, intentional or otherwise, are snake oil
Yes, the state could decide to lease the site and/or the Fair Board could decide to move the fair somewhere else at anytime as has happen often in the past 120 years – like to the Great Park where they have an actual 100 acre farm, a festival site, unlimited parking and a Farm & Food Lab oriented to the urban grower with fruits & vegetables instead of cows & pigs – even a refurbished hangar & buildings for exhibitions.
The State of CA. has emphatically stated that one of the reasons to sell the Fairgrounds was that the State ,”shouldn’t be in the Real estate business”.
Becoming a “99 yr.” Landlord hardly fulfills that goal.
The level of contempt that would cause with every state legislator with a state owned asset in their district would be tremendous.
Also , the city has had the state accept their deal accepted on the $ Financial terms. Why should the state care who is the operating partner? The city can now tell FMW this is what we need, openness and oversight,and profit percentages and If FMW says, No…go back to American Fairs and “do the deal”.
At least the gun isn’t against our head.
As for this going back out to auction……they aleady did that once…..how did that go?
You think they can do better by auctioning off again? The definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing and expecting different results. It was at 56.5 million before we had Measure C, now what’s it worth?
Maybe Arnold should ask Meg about e-bay?
The facts are that this deal is “rotten”, the city negotiators in the City Managers own words “in large degree lost control of the process…” and I think we can all agree on “How” that happened.
I refuse to let the “Fear” of what might happen override the “Realities” of what IS happening.
Or maybe I should just sit back and let me son carry on this fight for me……Oh yeah , he’ll be 68 years old before we can start having a voice on our “public” Fairgrounds again.
Wouldn’t the legislature have to sign off on any punishment of the OC as Potstirrer describes? I don’t think they will. Now that we’re all awake, they have mostly been siding with us OC citizens.
(I’ll look into that – WOULD the legislature have to approve a lease?)
And time is on our side. We’ve dragged this out into July so far… a new governor is not so far off!
Basically I think all these threats – putting it back on the auction block, leasing it out – are coming from Facilities Management West friends & puppets in Sacramento and here. Have a little faith, Potstirrer, and let’s not be so easily cowed!
It could be the Potstirrer has had a visit from FMW slick frontman, Mr. Lemmon. He’s the best Fait’s money can buy and by all accounts a pretty darn good pitchman, but their lies are being exposed. The people are willing to call the State’s bluff on the auction threat; we know now the only reason our City Council didn’t is because they were charmed by the aforementioned Mr. Lemmon or bought-off outright as in the case of Alan Mansoor.
The bottom line is we have absolutely NOTHING TO LOSE by stopping this travesty but everything to lose if we passively stand by and let it happen. I refuse to be motivated by fear – I despise that tactic (!) and find it the ultimate insult. The question is how politically radio-active can we make FMW?
(Oh, one more thing…I’m also not distracted by BS like the immigration issue being paraded out to dilute the issue so I wish people would stop going there.)
The state should do what’s fair and sell it to Costa Mesa for a reasonable amount that takes into consideration the original purchase price and that taxpayers already own it. There is something inherently wrong selling or leasing a public fairgrounds to corporate interests as well as having taxpayers buy something they already own.
VOTE FOR NGUYEN. MANSOUR SOLD US OUT! Riggheimer is talking out of both sides of his mouth, he sold us out too but puts on a good front (perhaps he should act for a living), and Monahan (you’ve been drinking out of the tap too long) the same. STOP the three ring circus! STOP THE SALE, and go back to “business” as usual! Wonder where this $$$ money trail leads to?, or to whom? You can’t blame FMW for taking a stab at it. I am sure there are a lot of other developers that are salivating. Why don’t you let the people of Costa Mesa decide what should happen…..we can’t be bought.
Very disappointed in all of you. When will one of you stand up and do the right thing for the people and not for just “you”? At least if the state puts this out to bid, the future is clear, and the state will get its $200,000,000 for the property, the true value.
OCFAME, no, it’s not what is happening now. If the current deal goes through Costa Mesa will own the Fairgrounds site and lease it to FMW. The terms of Costa Mesa’s zoning and the securing of those terms from capricious (and maybe purchased) future council members by Measure “C” are in effect. If the State leased the land for 100 years or whatever they still own it and the municipal zoning and Measure “C” are moot.
Currently, the city’s lessee can do none of those things you mentioned. If you were actually paying attention and not just spouting off emotionally you’d understand that! And, I resent your implication that I’m “shilling” for anyone on this issue. I, just like Gericault and 88% of the voters who passed Measure “C”, want to see the Fairgrounds preserved with the same services it provides today – more than 150 events year-round.
I’m not telling you to be quiet, but I will tell you to do your homework. This deal is the BEST deal we have right now. I don’t pretend to know what happened with American Fairs and Festivals, who were bounced from the process and replaced by FMW. I’m not privvy to what happened in closed session negotiations.
You’re correct, this whole bogus thing began when the current Fair Board saw an opportunity to make a stealth purchase of this property and used ex-legislators as their conduits to make it happen. However, some citizens were watching, saw what they were up to and mobilized. This $96 million is a drop in the bucket as far as the State budget is concerned.
Larry Morrissey, you’re correct – except under the current plan the Fair Board will be gone. I seriously doubt that a year from now the Fairgrounds will look as it does today – and it doesn’t have to under this current deal. The MarketPlace, for example, could move and be set up at the Great Park in a month using temporary power, water and sewer connections. The Emperor Agran is looking for something to validate the Park – maybe this would be it!
gericault, yes, some members in State government have said the State shouldn’t be in the real estate business, but they are. This is the ONLY Fairgrounds on the block. You’re correct, if the Governor went after EVERY state-owned fairgrounds the yowling from legislators would be deafening.
Vern Nelson, if the Latino Caucus convinces it’s members and other sympathetic legislators to simply table the measure required for this deal to be consummated that would kill it. They, the legislature, don’t have to approve the current lease. Any lease the State would engage in requires only the DGS approval – and only the head of that department, at that.
Look, gericault and others have bemoaned the poor treatment the equestrians have had at the hands of the current Fair Board and management. There is nothing to keep that group from completely changing the look and feel of the Fairgrounds – particularly if they had been successful in purchasing it. This deal protects the equestrians and other elements of the Fairgrounds for the term of the lease – 55 years.
Ninja, in fact I spent time with Mr. Lemmon and others from FMW shortly after they became part of this process. Prior to that I knew none of them. I don’t have any kind of a “relationship” with any of them and certainly am not “shilling” for them. I have not been a party to ANY of the negotiations, don’t have any leaked insider info that others seem to have from the American Fairs debacle and don’t have a dog in the hunt except wanting to retain the Fairgrounds as-is for all Orange County residents to enjoy. The facts, as I understand them, tell me that, while this is far from a perfect deal, it’s the best one we’re likely to get. If it is killed the state will go another direction and, maybe, generate more money from another potential buyer. No one knows. Vern and his crew will continue to sniff around and let us know what they find. If they uncover illegal activities they will certainly report that. If that kills the deal, so be it.
Geoff, you say the state can go ahead and lease out the Fairgrounds themselves for 99 years, WITHOUT the legislature passing a bill allowing that. I say no, it needs the legislature to go along, which totally wouldn’t happen.
My source is Assemblyman Solorio, whom I just double-checked with. What is your source?
While I have stayed away from this post let me join in with a few comments. Over a year ago the governor knew it was not the appropriate time to be selling our state landmarks. Nothing has changed in this recession. At that time he stated we could raise $3 billion from the sale of seven landmarks and 11 office buildings including San Quentin State Prison, the LA Memorial Coliseum and our state fairgrounds.
Regardless of the eventual sale of our state landmarks we would not realize receipt of the proceeds for several years while we continue to be on life support in Sacramento.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, OR, a legislature and governor willing to fix the problem without using another case of Band Aids.
Note: The Costa Mesa fairgrounds is one government facility that my wife patronizes more than myself.
Actually, potstirrer (and everyone one else who is not paying attention), the city of Del Mar is in exclusive negotiations to purchase the San Diego fairgrounds.
The governor intended to sell state properties and somehow someone decided it was the Orange County fair board that were pulling the strings.
I think the San Diego deal discredits those arguments.
Half-Full, what they’re doing in Del Mar absolutely doesn’t prove or disprove anything about how things transpired last year in the OC.
The Fair Board (Schwarzenegger appointees) and Dick Ackerman lobbied OC legislators and other Sacramento power brokers to approve selling the OC Fairgrounds. Del Mar didn’t do that, and nobody else did. Every other locale fought AGAINST having their landmarks sold off.
What’s happening right now in Del Mar may be interesting, but in no way “discredits” these facts.
STOP THE INSANITY!!! STOP THIS SALE!!! STOP IT ALL!!! A $20 million down payment doesn’t even begin to help this great state. Go back to the “drawing board” Arnold and find revenue somewhere else. Why don’t you start by bringing business back to California? Incentives for businesses always work! Its long term and employs people. Wake up Sacramento………this deal has had a bad “smell” since it’s inception. Stop it now!
So explain to me potstirrer if Guy Lemmon is spouting off that they are going to put on YEAR ROUND CONCERTS.. and I REPEAT YEAR ROUND CONCERTS in the Pacific Amphitheater (which he was recently quoted in the Orange County Business Journal) and build a convention center as well, how this translates into current uses? Year round concerts are not what the Measure C voters were understanding current uses to be.
This is just an example. I have done my homework and that is what causes so many of our emotions to rise, as they should. We should not be taking this snow job lightly. The sale agreement gives FMW the license to disfigure the fairgrounds beyond recognition. The city will have very little power if at all … I think they call it “suggestions.” Allan Roeder said it himself that there are likely to be things this company will do that they will not like. And that they will not be able to do anything about it.
To say this is the best deal possible and we should just go along with it is insane. It may be the lesser of some evil, but it is still evil. Read the 112 page sale agreement and see for yourself how this is all about the profiteering of FMW. The city loses, the state loses, and most important the people lose.
OCFAME, actually, year round concerts is OK with me as long as they abide by the local noise ordinances. That’s one advantage of city ownership of this chunk of property – city rules apply. I also don’t see a problem with a convention center – more business for our city, more sales tax dollars AND the city has a voice via the Planning Commission and City Council on the configuration of such a facility. You and others keep screeching about the City having NO CONTROL, which is hog wash. It would have no control if the state retains ownership. Just keep plugging away trying to “derail the sale” if you like. I’m just saying that the “cure” you get may be worse than the “illness” you fear now.
Actually, no deal right now could be the best deal. From what it sounds like, both Whitman and Brown are against selling taxpayer assets such as the state capital or our fairgrounds. Although a lease wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, this particular one is no different than selling it to a corporation for the next 55 years.
Just because a property is zoned for horses… doesn’t mean you have to have horses. Corporate attorneys will spend all kinds of time picking the lease apart to maximize the return on their investment. Corporations are good at running things like Disneyland. Unfortunately it’s the last kind of entity you would want in charge of a fairgrounds. For almost 200 years, America’s fairgrounds have been centered around agriculture and preserving our agricultural heritage. These are things that don’t make a lot of money and aren’t supposed to.
With FMW, I have a feeling in 10 years we will have an L.A. Live. Our kids will think our food comes from the super market and won’t be able to have the experience of riding a horse right here in Costa Mesa. Plus, we will lose one often overlooked blue collar entertainment amenity, and that’s speedway.
FMW’s sole purpose is to make as much money as possible. Amenities that don’t make a ton of cash are going to be sent packing.
Can somebody please explain to me how a ,bar tending leprechaun qualifies as a $96,000,000 real estate broker? For cryin’ out loud! The Costa Mesa City Council hires consultants to assist them in this extremely complex deal, only to have a deal “brokered” in a restaurant bar by a totally over matched, under experienced restaurateur! How much Costa Mesa tax payer money was wasted on these consultants?
What was Mr. Monahan’s motivation for geting this deal done so quickly? “Skosh Monahan’s” on the marquee at the new
“O.C. Fame” entertainment and clusterfuck center?? I for one will never set foot in his establishment again! And I urge others to do the same.
As for the Costa Mesa City Council. You were over matched from the get go. These guys from Facilities Management West saw you coming and were licking their chops at the easy pickings. Has any one on the city council ever been involved in deal as large and complex as this? Eric Bever? Allan Mansoor?Gary Monahan? Wendy Leece? All innocent sheep for the taking by FMW. And all voted for this deal!
A deal written on a napkin? The citizens of Costa Mesa and Orange County got “F” Leece “d.” It should have been written on toilet paper and flushed into the ‘soor system on the back of a Bever to be chocked on by a leprechaun.
Just my 2 cents worth
What I want to know is …………How come nobody saw the American fairs proposal.
I went to the meetings , listened to the presentations and thought we had a deal that represented the citizens,
Then at the last minute…the city council changed EVERYTHING and went with Facilities management West….and we still don’t know .why.
http://theocnow.com/2010/05/20/7560/
“It could’ve been that Facilities Management offered the city more money, Armendariz said.”
This was “F”‘d up by the few on the council and in the back rooms , that thought nobody was paying attention ……..in other words .city business as usual.
Help Wanted: Watch dogs need apply
Half-Full, I’ve tried to locate ANY information on the sale of the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The latest I find is from the Solano Beach Sun yesterday, indicating that MAYBE Del Mar MIGHT be interested. Do you have a reference I can review on this “exclusive negotiations”? No information is available from the San Diego papers, nor the Del Mar local newspaper nor is any mention made on the Del Mar city web site or the Fairgrounds site.
gericault, we don’t know if “nobody” saw the American fairs proposal – we just know that we didn’t see it. Those were confidential negotiations and the terms may still be. Yep, I’d love to know what happened to cause the negotiators to leap from American Fairs to FMW in mid-stride. It’s curious, at least.
2centsworth, I understand your angst… I’m not happy about how that “bar napkin” deal evolved, either. Having watched Ken Fait at the council meeting as he tore into Mansoor, I understand just why FMW has a team of PR types on board. They need them!
You and others keep screeching about the City having NO CONTROL, which is hog wash.
Potstirrer, do you call THIS control? From the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding between the city and FMW, approved June 22) :
“FMW agrees that it will meet on an annual basis with the JPA [that’s the Joint Powers Authority with the city] to discuss the business plan and allow the JPA to make suggestions or provide input. However, FMW shall not be obligated to make any revisions to its business plan based on any suggestions or input received by the JPA.” [III-1 (a) 5]
This is the language FMW insisted on – no wonder even FMW shills like Mansoor and Skosh were dragging their feet and kvetching.
Should have been no surprise though after this very honest passage from Guy Lemmon’s May 10 letter to the Council:
“We understand ‘public ownership,’ at first blush, sounds appealing and desirable. But, we believe the proposal we have advanced achieves the goals of public ownership without its risks and obligations.”
Vern, if I’m running a successful private business the VERY LAST thing I want is the government sticking it’s nose into to it, offering “suggestions” about how I run it! Those of us who have actually run successful businesses understand this.
The City and FMW will have a landlord/tenant relationship. The details of the lease arrangement are being hammered out right now. If the tenant (FMW) violates the terms of the lease there will be consequences. The zoning and Measure “C” very tightly define the nature of the activities that may be conducted at the site.
we don’t know if “nobody” saw the American fairs proposal – we just know that we didn’t see it. Those were confidential negotiations and the terms may still be.
Potstirrer, I have that proposal, and I’ll be putting it up in PDF form later today or tonight, it’s a great proposal that has everything we all wanted, and contrasts like night and day with the FWM deal. I don’t know why it wasn’t put up earlier – probably because American DID make a public presentation at City Hall, which FMW declined to do. But now we can see it all.
I too wonder why Katrina turned against AFF in the May 18 vote and will try to find out. But she also never approved the rotten FMW deal.
Wendy stuck with AFF on May 18, and only approved the FMW deal on June 22 because of threats from DGS – the same threats which seem to have spooked you and Mr. Roeder, but which seem to have been bluffs, bluffs at the behest of FMW.
The three men on the council I suspect of more cynical motives. Mansoor, a recipient of FMW cash and former wrestling coach of a Fait son, was always in the FMW camp. Bever apparently as well; he sat out the May 4 vote as you remember after an ill-tempered editorial in the Pilot. It is only really Skosh who really switched over from AFF to FMW. All three guys are close friends of RIGGY, who famously threatened to “blow up the whole deal” if it went to AFF.
Now it’s time to blow up Riggy’s deal. There’s nothing the state could or likely would do that would be worse than this FMW deal, and we keep buying time. (I’m still trying to get a 100% conclusive authoritative answer on that 99-year state lease deal, but it’s not looking like the people who told you about that were truthful or correct.)
Hope to have my next chapter up tonight or tomorrow………
FYI, Katrina Foley use to date Ken Fait Jr. (“the goon” head of F&S Gourmet) son of Ken Fait Sr. (head of FMW). They are close friends and frequently socialize. Small world!
Really? It is a small world if you’re not pulling my leg. If that was Ken’s son, they share a nasty temper and a tall stature. Seems too perfect to be true.
Vern, I’ll look forward to your AFF information. I have no reason to assume the folks who gave me the info regarding the lease intentionally mislead me. In each case, I was careful to layout the scenario carefully and double-checked it with each of them. We’ll see…
I think Half Full might be completly full of OC Fair Board propaganda.
Here’s info that proves the Del Mar Fairgrounds Board fought tooth and nail to protect the asset they were given the responsibility to protect. They even handed out post cards while the Summer Fair was in session and encouraged people to mail them to the governor to stop the sale. The OC Fair Board did the opposite and hired Dick Ackerman to make sure the OC Fairgrounds was sold, preferably to themselves. That’s why they were under investigation and probably still are.
http://www.sdfair.com/index.php?fuseaction=about.save_fairgrounds
The Del Mar Fair Board ran a petition drive and collected 90K postcards.
Those of us wanting to Stop the Sale! and Preserve the OC Fairgrounds collected over 50K postcards without the Fair Boards help or endorsement, and in much less time.
http://www.pacificprogressive.com/2010/01/to-sell-an-asset-like-this-fairground-is-criminal-assm-jim-silva.html
Have to wonder where all the bogeyman stuff to scare us into accepting this rotten deal is coming from.
To clarify: The bill that provided for the sale of the fairgrounds, AB x4 22, did not provide for a lease, so DGS could not just put it out for lease to the highest bidder, as suggested, but would have many, many hoops through which they first must jump.
Simply because a public agency owns land, in this case the State, they are not exempt from local planning and zoning. True, a public agency is exempt from certain local regulations when pursuing its mission as a public agency. Thus, Orange Coast College can build libraries and classrooms without any OK from Costa Mesa, but if they depart from that mission, local land use restrictions apply. They couldn’t just build a used car lot. In fact, land formerly part of the college (anyone remember the ag department’s cows grazing along Harbor Boulevard?) is now used for a variety of commercial uses, all under the planning and zoning authority of the City of Costa Mesa.
Similarly, anyone buying or leasing the fairgrounds from the State would be subject to local planning and zoning. Any change in this local land use authority would require action by the legislature, not likely this term.
Thank you, Wonkita. I was just waiting for you to provide that explanation which you can do better than I.
So this threat that came from anonymous DGS sources, which spooked City Manager Roeder and councilwoman Leece into supporting a deal they didn’t like, which still has The Potstirrer worried, is pure hot air for the benefit of the well-connected FMW.
In short, the State cannot lease out the property without the legislature okaying that, which is NOT going to happen. (Solorio’s office also confirmed that to me.) And if pigs flew and a lease WAS approved, the property would still be protected by the General Plan and Measure C, at least to the degree it is now.
So the worst that could CONCEIVABLY happen if we scuttle the FMW deal is to end up with a situation just as bad as we have now, and even that is nearly impossible given the leg’s sympathy to us. The best, we either go back to American Fairs, or drag our feet and have no sale at all and a better Fair Board when we get a new Governor. Not the scariest prospects after all. Screw FMW.
Another horrible aspect of this 55 year lease is that in 55 years from now, when FMW or whoever they assign the lease to is done having their way with the fairgrounds, no one will remember what it used to be like.
I thought the whole idea was to save our agricultural heritage which is what the 32nd DA’s mission was. I’d much prefer a traditional American fair or fairgrounds over seeing FMW make a ton of money at the expense of our history and culture. These guys want to commercialize it, plain and simple.
Since an MOU is not a binding contract, and the MOU was done in secret without letting the public know what was going on, and ABX22 was shady from the start, and the DGS’s threats were out of line, it’s time to back out of the deal. Sacramento’s political experiment with our fairgrounds has gone to far.
I understand that also according to ABX22 that the current Fair board has to okay the sale! Does anyone have confirmation of that? It’s crazy, but also an interesting thought.
Potstirrer & OCFAME,
Under ABX22 the current Fairboard doesn’t go away nor do they have to approve the sale – only their property – the fairgrounds goes away. The AD32 is split into a new AD32a to which all property is transferred and then after being sold District 32a would be abolished and all funds in the District 32a Disposition Fund would be transferred to the General Fund.
The Fair is just an idea which can be re-created anywhere, like the Great Park, and the name and right to run a fair isn’t being sold – just the real property.
Larry Morrissey, you’re correct. However, under the terms of the sale presented to the State by Costa Mesa, the Joint Powers Authority created by the City will be designated as the 32nd Ag. District Board and the State would be prohibited from creating a competing “fair” anywhere in Orange County. Still waiting for a call back from sources regarding the lease issue… hope I hear soon or old Vern may stroke out on us! 🙂
Actually right now I’m trying to figure out how to make and upload PDF files… I know everybody wants to see the American Fairs and Festivals proposal… “what coulda, shoulda been…” and maybe still could.
Potstirrer,
Unless those terms (changing the 32nd Ag D) are incorporated in the law, it won’t happen and the Fair can open anywhere in the county anytime – the proposed law only deals with real property.
You’re being misled as those proposed terms of a sale will go away in final negotiations if the legislature approves a sale per the proposed law or the deal will fall through.
Larry Morrissey, part of the deal the state approved, which you correctly said must be part of the law the legislature passes to complete the deal, included language specifically shifting the designation of the 32nd Ag. Dist. to the JPA formed for the sale AND specifically prohibiting the State from subsequently creating a competing “fair” anywhere in Orange County.
Still humming the Jeopardy! theme, tapping my toe and waiting for word from Sacramento on the lease issue. My original contact is long gone and his replacement is a newby with, apparently, ZERO institutional knowledge of the issue. She swears she will find my answers and get back to me. If I hold my breath that long I’ll look like a smurf! In the meantime, I’ve had another confidential source in Costa Mesa confirm the opinion that the State can, indeed, lease the land if the FMW deal fails. Vern, don’t start hyperventilating – I’m still digging for more info. Will report back…
I keep learning new things every day too, old colleague. For example, I have a clearer understanding today than I did yesterday, of why exactly the negotiating team went from favoring American Fairs in early May to abandoning them for FMW by May 18/19.
The story still reflects terribly on FMW, who got what they wanted through bribes, threats, insults and deceptions. I’m trying to weave it all into my next story, and still would like to help somehow scuttle this deal – and get to either the status quo or a return to AFF.
Meanwhile I wish I could concentrate on these other things I want to write about: the Bolsa Chica Giveaway in Huntington Beach, Westminster’s return to its racist roots tonight with a pro-SB1070 resolution, and Gary Pritchard’s jumping in to the CAPO Unified Race against knuckledragger Ken Lopez-Maddox. But it’s like the Fairgrounds Swindle has me transfixed.
Vern, so many stories, so little time. Kinda makes one wish for ADHD, huh? 🙂 Still waiting here for Sacto info… maybe tomorrow.
Here’s an idea for you… why don’t you go to the Fair tomorrow – have a deep-fried Twinkie, a turkey leg and a monster corn-on-the-cob and enjoy yourself?
Geoff, I am totally enjoying myself right now, putting last night’s Westminster Council meeting into choice prose. Spoiler alert: They found a politically expedient way to just say NO to Babs Coe’s team of Mexican-bashers!
Mr. Fait has more money than God, if he purchases a piece of property, he will do what he wants with the that piece of property. You can try and take him to court, but he has the ability to keep you tied up in court for however long it takes so that he wins at the end. He is brilliant and he can out smart the best of us. He is an exceptionally good business man but he is not a trustworthy person. Beware