Solorio vows to fight Arnold’s latest attempt to sell the Fairgrounds, legislatively.

You probably saw in the news that the Fairgrounds are finally really getting sold.  To the same pricks – Facilities Management West – who have been trying to get their hands on the property all year.  The guys with the inside track.  The guys who long ago hired Gerry Hunt – Governor Schwarzenegger’s campaign finance chairman – to argue their case and make things go their way at every stage in Sacramento.  The guys run by Ken Fait (pictured above) who when questioned about his miserly deal with Costa Mesa, barked “I want all of the profits!”

Maybe you even said, hatefully, “Vern and his friends failed again.”  I hope not.  This is an ongoing fight, against all of us.  The very rich are taking everything our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents paid for us to have, and selling it off.  And not enough of us are standing up to stop it.  A lot of us are, but not enough.  This is called “privatization,” but I prefer “PIRATization.”  Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to want it to be his last act before his final political bow.  A big FAVOR owed to the folks who helped him out politically these last six disastrous years of his governorship.

But Orange County’s Assemblyman Jose seems to sincerely think this can still be stopped – I spoke to him after he sent out this statement – and he doesn’t want us to give up the fight.  We all need to be on the ball in early December to make sure ALL our OC legislators back him up on this – it’s gonna be tight timewise.  Here’s Jose:

Assemblyman Solorio’s Statement Regarding the Announcement of the “Latest” Selected Bidder to Buy the Orange County Fairgrounds

SACRAMENTO, CA – State Assemblyman Jose Solorio issued this statement regarding today’s announcement of the Department of General Services’ selection of a new bid in the third round of the Governor’s attempt to sell the Orange County Fairgrounds.

“The citizens of our county want to keep the Orange County Fairgrounds under public ownership. I and others will continue to fight to preserve the OC Fair, the equestrian facility and the talented staff that run the fairgrounds.

Therefore, on December 6th, I will introduce new legislation to stop the sale, and I will consider other legislation as developments dictate.

Like last year’s effort to stop the initial sale, I expect strong bipartisan support for the bill. And come January, we will have a new Governor that will be open to hearing our county’s interests.

On a related note, I also remind the Governor that his Request for Proposals (RFP) states that the sale would be subject to legislative approval. He should keep this promise. On page 12 of the RFP, it’s written, ‘Subject to Department and legislative approval, the Department intends to execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement with the bidder deemed to have offered a bid that best complies with the State’s objective of obtaining the highest and most certain return for the Property.’

It makes no sense to lose forever our county’s link to the past just for a small and fleeting financial gain, especially in a down real estate environment. I urge this governor and candidates Brown and Whitman to stop the sale once again.”

State Assemblyman Jose Solorio is the Chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee and serves on the Assembly Appropriations, Local Government and Transportation Committees. He represents the Sixty-Ninth Assembly District, which includes the cities of Anaheim, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana. For more information about Assemblyman Solorio, visit www.assembly.ca.gov/solorio.