Last week a judge stepped in to slow down the sale of the OC Fairgounds to a private developer as reported by the Voice of OC(EA). Seems hizzoner wants some time to look into all the allegations of hanky-panky that have been swirling around for the past year.
I have no evidence that that guy over there lied to me, and I don't intend to look for any.
But wait, hasn’t Tony Rackaukas already blessed the doings with his benediction? Yep, but despite our do-nothing DA’s whitewash of the entire 2009 Summer of Fair Love, lots of people have lingering questions about the role of some of OCs leading repuglicans in this whole mess.
Read the rest of “Orange County Fair Morass Gets Morassier; And Ackerman Questions Linger”
As long as the likes of Dale Dykema and Dave Ellis hold court at the Fairgrounds, Rackauckas is impotent to direct any justice or oversight.
It’s at Dykema’s little cocktail parties the checks are doled out.
There has been so much corruption and it’s still going on full steam ahead. Mainly because of Rackauckas, and his blessing.
This article is horribly flawed in that it creates a false equivalency. The DA’s investigation and the lawsuit address completely different questions. The claims in the lawsuit do in no way correlate to the veracity of the concerns in the investigation.
The DA’s investigation was about whether the board had violated any laws. The lawsuit is addressing legislative and procedural decisions.
Simply put, the investigation was about the board and the lawsuit is about DGS. To pretend otherwise is ethically lacking.
This is the worst kind of journalism.
It’s true that Mr. Peabody’s short article somewhat conflates the DGS shenanigans with Board malfeasance, but it’s not much of a stretch; as they’ve seemed to be working toward the same goal, and with the same lack of respect for openness and ethical process, plus they all just happen to be Schwarzenegger cronies who want the Fairgrounds sold. Gee, why would Mr. Peabody put them in the same article?
(Except for that confusing, still-to-be-explained episode in September where the Board briefly claimed ownership of the property themselves … I think they quickly got what they wanted out of that threat.)
Regarding your last point, what did they get?
Did you miss the last Fair Board meeting? I had you pegged as someone who keeps up on this, maybe someone I walk past occasionally.
Apparently Facilities Management West has agreed to retain them as some kind of advisory board – with unspecified royalty fees thrown in! – if FMW’s schemes go through. Probably a condition of that was to get rid of Padilla first.
If We the People fail and FMW does get the prize, at least I think we’ll get to enjoy the shadenfreude of watching FMW kick this slimy Board to the curb just like they did to Costa Mesa.
Vern, wasn’t at the last meeting but you do realize that governor got rid of Padilla, not the Fair board?
Oh God, just saw your e-mail address. You really are the devil’s right hand.
Yeah, yeah, of course, Arnold, DGS, Fair Board, FMW. As though they weren’t all tentacles of the same hydra. ONE-SIXTH of a degree of separation. Fred Aguiar, Arnold’s chief of staff, texts the Board how to vote. Gary Hunt, Arnold’s finance chief and FMW’s lobbyist, tries to chart the smoothest course. You make no point, trying to create distinctions between Arnold and the Board.
Love your stuff, Vern, and I have to admit, I don’t want the fairgrounds to be sold. My family loves the fair.
But, I have a hard time believing all the conspiracy theories when most of the people trumpeting them are just bloggers. As Mr. Peabody admits, bloggers have no credibility or professional standards.
Every time you are told something is black, you immediately say it is white. Without proof. Without reason. You assume everyone is always up to no good. Maybe government is just incompetent and that is the reason this whole thing is such a mess. Maybe no one is actually evil. Maybe they are just stupid.
On the other hand, I admit, I am evil, not stupid; but I want to keep the fair the way it is.
Peabody can speak for himself. I never say that “I’m a blogger not a journalist.” It seems like that would invite just the reaction you gave, and now it has. I try to be truthful and accurate and correct myself if I make a mistake. I don’t have any training in journalism but I learn as I go. I find out lots of shit other people don’t, the longer I keep doing this. People come to me. Often we bloggers break big stories, and many of us try to get them right. When we do that we’re de facto journalists.
I saw no problem with Peabody’s post, and he didn’t have to apologize for it or retreat into the “not journalism” line. He just passed on a couple of recent, related news stories, along with a bit of his opinion, and there was nothing dishonest in how he did it, even if you may have convinced him there was. The interest over at his blog seems to be less in the Fair per se, and more in two “Repugs” that they (justifiably) hate – the crooked Ackerman and the useless T-Rack.
Your third paragraph sure doesn’t describe me I hope. You never know when some liar is going to tell the truth, or when some usually truthful person will make a mistake and get things wrong. But the proper default position when dealing with the powerful and the government is SKEPTICISM. Somewhere between Reagan’s “Trust but verify” and the great Izzy Stone’s “All governments are run by liars. Believe none of them.”
Hydra’s got many heads, not many arms.
Whoopsie ur right my bad
Devil,
One can ignore the previous 11 comments, even the article and say that the OC public is getting hosed!
Is’nt DA Rackaukas tasked with protecting the public? Sounds like he’s done a pretty shitty job at it!
Historically, I have not commented on county (DA) politics, but in recent weeks I have seen T-Rack’s public demonstration in the Spitzer affair, the Child Rape guy (Brown) and now this.
Whyis this cat in office, his public speaking/presentation skills are that of an 8th grader, his record as a prosocuter sucks, he publically lambasted an innocent kid (caramona). This guy is a pile of shit. What in God’s name makes you think he is capapable of protecting taxpayers?
He’s too busy screwing them!
PROTECT THE PUBLIC INTEREST! SAVE THE FAIRGROUNDS.
Where is this Padilla expose? Enquiring Minds really want to know.
I’m as frustrated with that as you are. Dave is now involved in the struggle against the sale on several levels, and he has had second, third and fourth thoughts as to whether it’s a good idea to do this interview about his former colleagues or whether it could sabotage his other efforts. I’ll have it if and when I can because I think it would be a good story. Maybe it’ll have to be AFTER our final victory or defeat.
Sounds more like typical Padilla flakiness.
Maybe, maybe… Doesn’t mean he doesn’t know some important stuff, and is also on the side of the angels.
Vern, remember, devil’s are just angels who lost.
At this point in time, the court hearing trumps any “breaking news” in the blogasphere.
I’m hoping for a long in depth discovery motion so that the public will be able to REALLY see what has been happening to OUR Property.
I’m betting Padilla knows the right questions to ask, although I think he’s been the unpopular kid sitting at the wrong lunch table. The fact is , it’s a public Fair board with public records. Truth will out.
Gericault, I think you will find that your fiction is much more interesting than the truth. Remember, there is a big difference between stupid and criminal.
The enabling legislation probably wouldn’t have passed if it weren’t for the Fair Board paying Dick Ackerman to go up to Sacramento and “not lobby” for the sale, telling everyone it’s what OC and CM wanted. So if the sale goes through, that’s one of many things that may or may not be criminal, but neither was it “stupid” for those who want the property sold.
Don’t feel bad about losing your scoop on the Padilla interview. It looks like his answers were cobbled together from statements already posted by you, Greg, Geoff, Sandy, and others.
No new revelations, just the same speculations.
Sorry Devilwannabe, we’re not that orchestrated. All you have to do is observe this swamp and the scum floats to the top.
“why did this board choose not to fight the sale as the previous board and the San Diego board is now doing, but instead chose to use the money of the OC Fair to hire Nossaman ( Dick Ackerman) and Platinum Advisors, (Scott Baugh) to promote the sale to an entity they would control.”
“I have been skeptical from the moment Dave Ellis first pitched his suggestion that the Fair Board support the sale of the OC Fair and try to purchase it themselves for the ridiculous price of $30 million.”
“If the District Attorney’s Office was seriously investigating this deal, you would think that they would have contacted the one board member who had questioned this deal from the beginning.”
“I think a good case can be made that the 32nd Agricultural District is at least a partial owner of the property. At the last board meeting I attended, I urged the Fair Board’s legal counsel to pursue this. Four days later, I was removed from the board.”
and I love the ending………
“The first thing needed is stop this sale. Period. Once the OC Fair is saved, then there will be time to unravel how this terrible situation happened and what kind of governance reforms need to be enacted to make sure this never happens again.”
Then there is the part about the cloudy Tilte to the property, which has never been seen. The reason is the Fair board owns it but is behind this swindle. They are the ones who’ve been behind it all along.
Pure fiction? or educated guess……..? We’ll see…..