Voice of Orange County’s Norberto Santana, Jr. reported Tuesday afternoon:
The California 4th District Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld a temporary restraining order halting the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds until Jan. 10, and in doing so put a near-final nail in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plans to sell the 150-acre property in Costa Mesa.
In recent weeks, a group of fair vendors sued the state, arguing that officials hijacked the public bidding process to benefit a company with connections into the Schwarzenegger administration.
They were joined in the suit by two Orange County Democratic legislators — Assemblyman Jose Solorio and state Senator Lou Correa — and Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Katrina Foley.
Schwarzenegger has called on the state Supreme Court (whose own building is included in the sale) to consider lifting the delay on the state-owned buildings.
By doing so, he is practically admitting that the deal is dead if it’s delayed into a Brown Administration.
Many observers believe that a similar fate is in store for the Fairgrounds deal.
“I certainly do hope it (the stay) kills the deal to sell the fairgrounds,” Correa said.
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