Update, December 29, 10:28 a.m.: Meeting cancelled. Attorneys threatened to seek contempt of court if the OC Fairgrounds Board of Directors held its emergency meeting, and they backed off.
Going against the ruling of the court is never good business. So, for now, the sale of the fairgrounds is once again on hold.
The new administration moves in next week and the appeals court is scheduled to hear the case in February.
Original Post, December 28, 7:00 a.m.: The already mucked-up Orange County Fairgrounds situation took on a whole new shade of shady in recent days.
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An emergency meeting of the Fairgrounds Board of Directors has been called for January 1, 2011. Yeah, you read that right–somewhere someone somehow talked all the folks on the Fair Board into attending a meeting on New Year's Day.
When the state appellate court issued a restraining order, halting the sale until early in 2011, it seemed that the Fairgrounds would be safe from falling into the hands of Facilities Management West. But the Schwarzenegger administration seems to be making last-minute moves to create a situation that would solidify FMW's takeover purchase of the 150 acres. According to a Voice of OC report, the administration is trying to transfer title to the property from the 32nd District Agricultural Association (controlled by the OC Fair Board) to a shell entity.
Why does this matter?
If Schwarzenegger and his henchman are able to move the sale along to a point that it's beyond reversal, it won't matter what a court or the incoming Jerry Brown administration has to say about the matter.
In order for the transfer to be finalized, a vote is required by the Fair Board–the same Fair Board that has three new Schwarzenegger appointees.
