Editor's note: This corrects an earlier version.
A phone call Wednesday evening made it clear that the Orange County Fair Board should no longer discuss a profit-sharing model in order to keep the fairgrounds in state hands.
On one end of the phone call was a state official. On the other was Fair Board Chairwoman Kristina Dodge, who was told to take the item off the agenda.
“Yesterday, we received a call from Sacramento asking not to take action on this item,” she said during Thursday’s board meeting. “So, out of respect, we will take it off, and we will continue it to another day.”
Dodge would not say who called her from Sacramento, but she said if she had to guess why they asked her to remove the agenda item, it’s probably because the state is now in negotiations to sell the fairgrounds to Costa Mesa.
The phone call came on the same day city officials handed off a $96-million proposal to buy the fairgrounds — money the city doesn’t have, and has yet to explain how such a purchase would be made.
Aside from placing the agenda item for an open session discussion, as part of the board’s regular monthly meeting, a closed session was also scheduled for the fair board to hash out the details of the profit-sharing proposal. But that too was canceled.
Sharing the fairgrounds’ profits with the state would keep the 150 acres under the ownership of California, guarantee the jobs of its employees and preserve its history and use, said Steve Beazley, fairgrounds president and chief executive.
Although details of a profit-sharing proposal have not been discussed in public, Beazley said that the proposal would guarantee the state at least the minimum amount it is looking for over a number of years, which is $96 million.
Unlike the city, which had to make more cuts to balance the budget, the fairgrounds has no shortage of funds. The fairgrounds’ cash on hand, as of March, is $7.4 million.
Meanwhile, the board also heard from vendors and partners who use the fairgrounds, as well as its employees. The meeting was standing-room only.
