Bids for the OC Fairgrounds: REJECTED!

That's right fellow OC denizens, all bids on the Orange County Fairgrounds have been rejected. Which means you can look forward to more summers filled with deep-fried Twinkies, Zipper marathon runs, and high quality headliners like Weird Al Yankovic. For now…

The Department of General Services, the
state agency responsible for the sale of the fairgrounds, sent a letter to Governor
Schwarzenegger today.

“Please be advised that after careful consideration, today I have
decided to reject all of the bids,” said director Ronald L. Diedrich. “The offers contained in those bids
are not in the best interest of the citizens of California because they
do not obtain the highest and most certain return for the state.”

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Craig Realty Group, the Newport Beach-based developer responsible for
the Citadel Outlet mall, among others, submitted the highest bid back in January, after
the governor directed General Services to put the property up for sale in a desperate attempt to
raise capital.

And by high bid, we actually mean pathetically low.

Craig Realty offered a measly $56.5
million for 150-acres of property that the state valued at $90 million
to $180 million.

However, this announcement doesn't mean that the fairgrounds are off the chopping block for good. Diedrich goes on:

“I continue to fully share your commitment to selling the fairgrounds,
and the department will go forward to explore alternative means to
promptly achieve that goal.”

Diedrich's goal should be to see how many consecutive spins he can rack up in his Zipper cage. Can anyone beat our record of 14? I think not.