In his Daily Pilot column on Sunday, November 1, Peter Buffa asserted that fairgrounds in Del Mar and Ventura were up for sale along with our own Orange County Fairgrounds. WRONG!
Last spring Governor Schwarzenegger suggested that numerous properties up and down the state be sold. These included the Del Mar, Ventura and Orange County Fairgrounds, the Coliseum and the Cow Palace. Legislators and local officials in every other area worked hard to save important assets in their districts. At the Del Mar Fairgrounds they passed out postcards, asking fairgoers to tell the Governor what they thought about the sale and collected over fifty thousand postcards protesting the sale.
Not so in Orange County. Local officials got out their pompoms and cheered. Heck, the Daily Pilot reports they even hired Dick Ackerman to lobby for the sale.
Sure enough, when the dust settled, and budget legislation was passed, the only properties authorized for sale were the Orange County Fairgrounds and a few office buildings. All the landmark properties in other areas of the state will remain in the public trust.
How did we get to be so special?
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