Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/oc-fairgrounds/)
Fair Board directors at their first nighttime meeting on Thursday didn’t vote to approve any ticket price hikes at the fair gates for this summer, following public backlash and uncertainty by some directors that they had enough information to make such a decision.
Potential admission price hikes come as some community members ask: does the OC fair really reflect Orange County? Or is it losing its way as a callback to the county’s farming origins and drifting instead toward a more Disneyland-like business venture focused on vendor contracts, concerts, and being a major event venue?
The struggling Orange County Marketplace swap meet, where hundreds of mom-and-pop vendors set up shop on the county fairgrounds on the weekends, wants an annual $600,000 from the Fair Board to cope with a longtime decline in business and attendance.
OC fairgrounds board members will scrutinize contracts and employee separation agreements and ensure all board members receive future audits.
OC Fair and Event Center CEO Kathy Kramer faces questions from state auditors about a potentially illegal $75,000 separation agreement as well as a public showdown with her Finance VP in front of board members in public session. Since Kramer was hired in 2015, the fairgrounds have gone through four VPs of finance.
Voice of OC has published a series in our opinion section of some of Orange County’s most notable veterans who received the highest honors the U.S. military bestows on soldiers for their heroic actions in combat. Plaques honoring these individuals are showcased at Heroes Hall at the Orange County Fairgrounds.
This Veterans Day Voice of OC is publishing the most recent plaques on display at Heroes Hall honoring some of Orange County’s most decorated veterans. The most recent plaque was erected to honor the 84 men who were killed when the plane transporting them to Viet Nam crashed into Loma Ridge after take off from El Toro Marine Air Station on June 25, 1965.
Vincent Pollmeier, Director of Friends and Neighbors of the Orange County Fairgrounds, writes that the OC Fair, which is beginning its 5 week run July 13th, has degenerated into a generic County Fair and is calling on the public to insist that their county fair reflect their county.
A series of recent state fire and safety inspections are triggering questions about the safety of this year’s summer fair. Officials insist the property is safe. Activists are demanding more information.
Former OC Fair Board Member David Ellis writes that his former colleague, David Padilla, is factually wrong in his claims that Congressional Candidate Scott Baugh was involved in Governor Schwarzenegger’s decision to sell the Orange County fairgrounds. Ellis argues Baugh didn’t work for any of the firms retained by the fair board during the failed privatization effort.