The OC Fairgrounds is holding a budget meeting to discuss the 2020 budget and capital expenditures plan during the evening on Thursday, November 14, 2019, starting at 6:30 PM in the Administration Building. Input from the public is needed regarding revenues, operating expenditures, and capital expenditures.

URGENT: Requests to the Board to Change Format of Meeting

We need to ask the Board to make this into a public workshop, rather than just a public meeting. a public workshop will allow members of the public to have more than one 3 minute speaking time to make input, and allow them to request and receive answers from staff. These requests need to be sent to the Board well before the meeting so that the format may be adjusted.

URGENT: Requests to the Board to Require Meaningful Budget Development Background

In the past, the budget was presented a list of revenues and expenditures which happened to add up. Download 2019 Budget 

A slide presentation provides only a little more detail, but staff avoided being specific on how the numbers were calculated and how money would be spent. Download 2019_Budget_Presentation

The Board needs to receive requests, beginning now, that the public expects to see full backup on the development of the budget numbers and the rationale for the budget priorities.

Background on the Budget and Budgeting Process

How Much Money Does the OC Fairgrounds Have?

Over $62 million in cash as of August 2019.  Annual revenues are about $50 million making the cash reserves about 125% of annual revenue.  The OC Fairgrounds can spend as much as they want to on capital improvements and other projects.

Board policy sets the reserve level at 25% of annual operating expenditure which is about $10.75 million in reserves. The OC Fairgrounds is sitting on over over 5.75 times the required reserve level. In comparison, Costa Mesa which is a city of 110,000 residents which operates a city government with police and fire departments has about $55 million in reserves.

Ideas for Capital Improvement Projects and Other Needed Expenditures

1. Traffic and parking study to reduce the impacts of 5 weeks of near constant gridlock during the OC Fair which stops the 55 Fwy to the Paularino exit and causes OCTA buses to detour through residential neighborhoods. A parking study is needed to find places for the 1.4 million OC Fair attendees to park. It's time to work to reduce the encroachment of OC OC Fairgrounds traffic and parking problems on the homeowners. 

2. A sound wall for the Action Sports Arena to reduce noise from monster truck shows, motorcycle races, and other events from encroaching on the homeowners around the OC Fairgrounds. This projected has been promised "next year" for several years and needs to be built now.

3. Removing the weeds on the Pacific Amphitheatre berm and putting in native plants which can thrive in the salty soil with little water or maintenance. Sprinklers on the berm have not worked correctly since the project was finished several years ago  and the staff member in charge of the project did not follow up on the problem during the time the contractor was liable to make the project work. It's time to pull the weeds and put in a native garden.

4. Make needed repairs and upgrades to the Equestrian Center including installing wifi access.

5. Agreements for use of off-site parking and storage lots for use during the OC Fair. Agreements for shuttle service to and from the off-site parking lots are needed.

6. A covered riding arena in the Equestrian Center. 

7. Development of green-space around the property to buffer the sonic and visual encroachment of the OC Fairgrounds on the neighbors.

What Are Your Ideas on the 2020 OC Fairgrounds Budget?

Please email the Board with your ideas on how state money should be spent at the OC Fairgrounds and requests for handling the budgeting process. And please join us at the meeting!

Contact the OC Fair Board

Board Chair Sandra Cervantes [email protected]

Vice Chair Andreas Meyer [email protected]

Director Ashleigh Aitken [email protected]

Director Barbara Bagneris [email protected]

Director Doug LaBelle [email protected]

Director Newton Pham [email protected]

Director Natalie Rubalcava-Garcia   [email protected]

Director Robert Ruiz   [email protected]

The OC Fairgrounds is also known as the Orange County Fair and Event Center, OCFEC, 32nd District Agricultural Association, and 32nd DAA.

A special Fair Board meeting was held on July 27, 2019. The only item on the agenda was a vote to approve the selection of contractor MossAdams to consult on updating and revising the Board Policy manual.

Prior to the meeting, a letter had been sent to the Board members recommending that they not approve the contract because of MossAdams stated preference for a particular policy approach known as the Carver Model, which is used in the Board's current policies and has been severely problematic, and is, in many cases, the root cause of the Board dysfunction and the out-of-control management at the Fairgrounds.

Read the MossAdams proposal Download MossAdams Proposal

Read the letter sent to the Board Download 2019-07-25_Ltr_to_Board

Unfortunately, it appears that the attempt to hire a contractor to assist is leading to more problems due to a failure of the Board to recognize important differences between the process that was described to them by Director Andreas Meyer and that for which they will be contracting.

Director Meyer’s Description of Policy Development Process

During the meeting, Director Meyer, who chairs the ad-hoc committee on Board Governance Policies, defended the recommendation of MossAdams by stating that, despite their stated preference for it, MossAdams will not be using the Carver Model or even directly writing the policies. Instead, the policies will be developed by the Board and the public in sections, through a series of public workshops and based on best practices and examples from other organizations and cities. Policies from each segment will be developed prior to starting on the next segment.

Unfortunately, this is not what the contract being recommended by Director Meyer actually includes.

Actual MossAdams Proposal

MossAdams, in their bid in response to the Fair Board's Request for Proposal proposed one round of drafting of new policies by MossAdams with input from the staff, Board, and stakeholders. The draft would be presented and revised to make the final version of the Board policies. MossAdams does not mention workshops with the owners of the property (i.e., the public), a Board centric process, or the development of the policies in a segmented, iterative fashion. MossAdams proposes a process that will only cost $45,000 (the equivalent of 150 work-hours) over 16 months, or just 9 hours of work per month. It is inconceivable that the intensive iterative process that Director Meyer has described can be performed for that amount of effort.

Per state contracting laws, the contract issued by the Fairground must reflect the bid proposal from MossAdams.

Failure to Recognize Discrepancy

During the meeting, it was not clear that the Board recognized the gap between the MossAdams proposal and Director Meyer's description of what would be done. Consequently, it was not clear whether Board Members were voting to approve a contract to cover what Director Meyer was describing or the contract proposed by MossAdams. When the public tried to have the Board address the gap, Chair Robert Ruiz shut down the public and discussion of the gap and approved the contract.

Letter Was Sent to Board Addressing the Gap Between Reality and Expectations

Following the meeting, a letter was sent to the Board addressing the gap between the MossAdams Proposal and Director Meyer's description of the process. If the Board responds to the letter, we will share the response with you.

Read the letter sent to the Board Download 2019-07-27_Ltr_to_Board

Contact the Fair Board

• Traffic routing and road closures created headaches for Fairgrounds neighbors traveling to and from their homes because changes were made during the day. Neighbors found themselves stuck in the traffic they were trying to avoid.
• Eastside Costa Mesa was parked bumper to bumper with cars left by people walking to the OC Fair. Trash was left in the neighborhood by the fairgoers.
• Merrimac Way was used as a cut thru from Harbor Blvd.
• Maxed out parking at the OC Fairgrounds and Orange Coast College (OCC) caused fairgoers to find other places to park. 

• Are "No OC Fair Parking" signs and parking enforcement needed for your neighborhood? Where are the signs and enforcement needed?
• Does your neighborhood need OC Fair Ambassadors to pick up trash? If there are OC Fair Ambassadors in your neighborhood, are more needed?
• Do neighbors need to be given traffic routing maps including restricted turns and street closures? Should neighbors be told when traffic routing changes to plan for trips to and from their homes?
• Should offsite parking with shuttle service be offered during the weekday evenings of the OC Fair? Hollywood Bowl and Ventura County Fair have been offering shuttle service during the weekdays for a number of years.
• Is more weekend offsite parking with shuttle service needed?
• Is there a better way for the OC Fair to let fairgoers know parking is maxed out other than signs on the 55 Fwy and Fairview Rd? How could fairgoers be told before getting to Fairview Rd that parking is maxed out? Where should fairgoers be routed to when parking is maxed out?

You can copy [email protected] on the emails to help us track issues experienced in the neighborhoods and resolution of the issues.

In This Issue: 

• Lack of Planning for 405 Freeway & OCC Construction Expected to Compound OC Fair Traffic & Parking Problems
• Is a Fair Share of OC Fairgrounds Sales Tax Revenue Coming Back to Costa Mesa & OC?
• Did the OC Fairgrounds Pass Up on a Share of $18 Million in Grant Money to Improve Emergency Readiness?
• Over $129,000 of State Money Spent on Personally Motivated Investigations 
• OC Fairgrounds Sent $75,000 to LGBT Opponent While Trying to Hide Behind Rainbow Flag

Lack of Planning for 405 & Freeway Construction Expected to Compound OC Fair Traffic & Parking Problems
OC Fairgrounds staff did not get ahead of problems arising from the demolition of the Fairview Rd bridge and construction at Orange Coast College. No plans are in place to have more parking lots with shuttle bus service or expanded OCTA Fair Express bus service. Expect traffic to be worse and more Fairgoers to attempt to park in Costa Mesa neighborhoods.

Is a Fair Share of OC Fairgrounds Sales Tax Revenue Coming Back to Costa Mesa & OC?
We started asking questions when we saw that sales tax revenue received by Costa Mesa from the OC Fairgrounds was flat since since 2004 despite OC Fairgrounds revenues nearly doubling since 2004. Sales tax revenue is a major source of funding for local governments. A new law enacted in 2018 makes it easier for sellers to report sales made at the OC Fairgrounds.  Preliminary numbers show an increase from the 2004 numbers and we continue to work on this issue.

Download 32nd DAA Historic Revenue Chart

Download Fairground Flat Sales Tax

Did the OC Fairgrounds Pass Up on a Share of $18 Million in Grant Money to Improve Emergency Readiness?
The OC Fairgrounds is a key part of the emergency readiness plans for Orange County and can be used as a shelter site for people and animals in addition to a staging site for emergency and rescue equipment. Gov. Newsom has made emergency readiness a priority and $18 million in from Proposition 68/SB 5 has been allocated to be used to improve emergency readiness infrastructure at fairgrounds. We are digging to find out if the OC Fairgrounds applied for a grant.

Over $129,000 of State Money Spent on Personally Motivated Investigations 
CEO Kathy Kramer targeted two Board Directors and the Chief Financial Officer for investigation for reasons which are unknown.  The bill has climbed to $129,270 with no end in sight.  If there are real problems to be investigated, law enforcement authorities such as the California Highway Patrol, Attorney General, State Auditor, Orange County Sheriff's Department, and other agencies should be brought in. The Fair Board has the legal authority to stop the investigations and has not stopped drain on the public coffers from the nefarious investigations. 

OC Fairgrounds Sent $75,000 to LGBT Opponent While Trying to Hide Behind Rainbow Flag
At its monthly meeting on May 23, 2019, the Fair Board voted to fly a Rainbow Flag over the Fairgrounds.  This despite the fact that the same Board has refused to order Fairgrounds CEO Kathy Kramer to cancel a sponsorship agreement she entered into with Vanguard University that has resulted in over $75,000 in public funds being transferred to the University.

Download Pride Resolution  

Download Contract 32nd DAA Vanguard

Vanguard University, which is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, takes a hard-line fundamentalist Christian position regarding homosexuality. Engaging in a even a chaste romantic same-sex relationship or publicly questioning any of the University's policies on homosexuality are grounds for expulsion.  The Orange County Fair and Event Center (a state agency) entered into a sponsorship agreement with Vanguard in 2018, but apparently did not include state required non-discrimination language in its contract. State law (Cal. Gov't. Code §11135-11139.8) prohibits the state from contracting with groups such as Vanguard University which discriminate.  

CEO Kramer has also given thousands of dollars in free OC Fair admission and concert tickets to Vanguard University in addition to allowing the school to rent OC Fairgrounds facilities on terms not available to the general public.

Did You Know?

• OC Fairgrounds employees are not paid overtime. All hours worked are paid at the regular pay rate. Download Morales v. 22nd Dist. Agricultural Assn
• Free admissions to the OC Fair are around 25% of the paid OC Fair admissions.
• Fair Board Directors can buy an unlimited quantity of general admission OC Fair tickets for $1/each. Former Fair Board Directors receive a lifetime admission credential and can buy up to 30 general admission OC Fair tickets for $1/each. Download Board Director Tickets
• Spouses and dependent children of current Fair Board Directors receive free admission credentials.
• A Board Concierge who is a state employee arranges the dinners and concert tickets for Fair Board Directors, their friends, and business associates. Former Fair Board Directors can use the Board Concierge to book concert tickets.
• CEO Kathy Kramer wants to raise admission prices for the 2020 OC Fair.

Contact the Fair Board
Chair Robert Ruiz [email protected]
Vice Chair Sandra Cervantes [email protected]
Ashleigh Aitken [email protected]
Barbara Bagneris [email protected]
Doug La Belle [email protected]
Andreas Meyer [email protected]
Gerardo Mouet [email protected]
Newton Pham [email protected]
Natalie Rubalcava-Garcia [email protected]

The OC Fairgrounds is also known as the 32nd District Agricultural Association, 32nd DAA, Orange County Fair and Event Center, and OCFEC.  

The OC Fair Board (aka 32nd District Agricultural Association or 32nd DAA or Orange County Fair and Event Center or OCFEC Board) will meet on March 28, 2019, to consider taking action regarding the 2016 audit of the OC Fairgrounds conducted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), the parent state agency of the OC Fairgrounds. The audit found an employee paid over $75,000 in cash and benefits to not show up for work for about eight months, which was deemed to likely be an illegal contract by CalHR, the human resources department for state employees. An unredacted copy of the audit is available for download. An audit timeline prepared by CEO Kathy Kramer and her staff was presented at the February 2019 Fair Board meeting. CEO Kramer and her staff have attempted to create confusion and obstruction around the audit all while stalling Board action on the audit for nearly two years. 

Download CDFA Unredacted 2016 Audit   

Download Audit Staff-Reports-Combo1 

Understanding the facts about the the audit and why the Fair Board needs to clean house immediately can be broken down into four separate issues:
Issue 1: The propriety of the actions that resulted in the conclusion by CDFA and CalHR that the 32nd DAA entered into an illegal contract with a former employee.
Issue 2: The handling of the audit and interactions with CDFA and CalHR.
Issue 3: The disclosure of the audit to the Board and the failure to keep the Board in the loop regarding the audit.
Issue 4: Failure to accept the findings of the audit and address the issues raised.

CEO Kramer wants to confuse and conflate these four issues so that everyone will focus on Issue 1, and ignore the circumstances regarding Issues 2, 3, and 4, and what they say about her management of the OCFEC.

Issue 1: The propriety of the actions that resulted in the conclusion by CDFA and CalHR that the 32nd DAA entered into an illegal contract with a former employee.
CEO Kramer continues to try to re-litigate the propriety of her and staff's actions and characterize them as a mistake involving state employment procedures. This is a false narrative, intended to confuse the Board and others.

• CEO Kramer made the same arguments to CalHR and they rejected them. CalHR has concluded that the contract is likely an illegal gift of funds.
• CEO Kramer claims that prior outside counsel approved similar agreements, but has not provided such agreements to demonstrate that they were approved or comparable. Despite this, the Board accepts her unsupported claim that similar prior arrangements had been approved. Given the seriousness of these allegations, the Board should demand documentary proof of the defense.

CEO Kramer has attempted to portray paying an employee to not show up for work as a minor administrative matter, which the issue is not. This is a matter regarding misappropriation of public funds. Misappropriation of Government Funds is a felony in California (Cal. Penal Code §424), if done with knowledge of, or gross negligence regarding, the illegality of the appropriation or the lack of authority of the person making the appropriation to do so.

• CEO Kramer was grossly negligent in that she did not take the least action to verify that this separation agreement was legal. She never sought the opinion of CalHR, or of the Attorney General's office, either one of which could have been done with a five minute phone call.
• The separation agreement resulted in a cost to the 32nd DAA which exceeded Kramer's delegated authority, i.e., she knowingly made the misappropriation despite the fact that she knew she lacked the authority to do so.

Issue 2: The handling of the audit and interactions with CDFA and CalHR.
There is a substantial and unexplained gap in the timeline of this audit. CEO Kramer attempted to stiff-arm and delay the audit. Only when she know longer had any choice was the audit completed. This is not the behavior of a CEO who is cooperating with state officials.

The Board needs to get an explanation for gaps in the timeline and receive and review all communications or the lack thereof, between CDFA and the 32nd DAA to determine if CEO Kramer's interaction with the CDFA was in keeping with the standards that the Board would expect of the 32nd DAA's CEO.

Issue 3: The disclosure of the audit to the Board and the failure to keep the Board in the loop regarding the audit.
It is unacceptable that an audit uncovered a provisional finding of a major impropriety and this was not brought to the immediate attention of the entire Board. This calls into question the fitness of the former Board chairperson, who still sits on the Board to hold the position.

The Board needs to understand why two Board Chairs did not share this information with the entire Board membership and correct policies and guidelines to ensure that such critical information is not, in the future, hidden from the Board. 

The Board needs to find out why CEO Kramer did not disclose the final findings of the audit to the entire Board prior to her annual performance review. Willful failure to disclose such highly relevant information to the Board is suspicious and calls into question the ability of the Board to rely on the CEO to provide them with ALL information that they need to perform their oversight function.

Issue 4: Failure to accept the findings of the audit and address the issues raised.

The failure of CEO Kramer to accept the findings of CalHR and to continue to argue the propriety of the finding is indicative of someone who lacks the ability to recognize failures and take corrective action.

While all of the focus has been on the misappropriation of public funds, the audit made a fourth recommendation:
The 32nd DAA should comply with FAC 4051 by establishing written policies and procedures over its contracting processes.

Cal. Food & Agr. Code §4051 directs the 32nd DAA Board to establish and maintain written procedures for contracting. There is ample reason to recognize that current procedures are inadequate or not being applied:

• There are multiple examples of expenditures of funds by the CEO and her staff which violate the established delegation of authority.
• There have been identified examples of unilateral and retroactive changes to contract terms by the CEO without Board direction or knowledge.
• The CEO has initiated and supported agreements that do not appear to be in the best interest of the state or which violate state policies or state law.
• The amount of charges o the state authorized credit card (more than $2.3 million in 2018) raises serious questions as to whether state rules of the use of the card are being followed.

State law grants the Board authority over the affairs of the association and can make all necessary bylaws, rules, and regulations for the government of the association. (Look up Food and Agriculture Code section 3965)  It is time to clean house. 

The agenda for the Thursday,  February 28, 2019, OC Fair Board (aka Orange County Fair and Event Center, OCFEC, 32nd District Agricultural Association) meeting has been published.  The Board meets at 9 AM at the Administration Building off Arlington Drive. If  you cannot make the meeting, please email comments to the Board Directors using the emails at the end of this post.

Agenda available here Download 19_02_February_Agenda1

Complete agenda packet available here https://ocfair.com/publicmeetings/board-of-directors-meeting-february-28-2019/

Refusing Action on State Audit Which Found Employee Paid to Not Show Up for Work 

No action can be taken by the Board regarding the 2016 state audit which found an employee paid over $70,000 to not show up for work for approximately eight months because the matter has been agendized as "Information Only" notwithstanding either the seriousness of the matter or the multiple requests by the public for action to resolve the issues which permitted this to occur. The same management are in place now as were during 2016 when the deal went down.  The Board refuses to take action to address the underlying issues which allowed these actions to occur. Download CDFA Unredacted 2016 Audit

Restricting Public Comments

New restrictions on public comment are in place for the February 2019 meeting. The new policy called a "Statement of Meeting Decorum" limits what can be said during public and agenda item comment:

Hiring a Private Investigator

Over $58,000 was spent with private investigation firm Morley Group during 2018 without either a contract being brought forward to the Board or an explanation given of why a private investigator needed to be hired.  Morley Group is being given another no bid contract SA -051-19YR (agendized in the Standard Agreements file as "professional services" in an attempt to conceal the true nature of the contract) for $49,000 for the period from February to July 2019.  There is no need for the Morley Group contract as the OC Fairgrounds can request the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Costa Mesa Police Department, California Highway Patrol and/or other state investigative services to conduct investigations.  

Board Director Nick Berardino requested hiring an outside performance auditor and presented a report at the May 2018 Board meeting.  Download Performance Auditor Request Board Directors requested action to move ahead on a performance auditor while staff have not followed up on the request. Now is the time to bring in an outside performance auditor and request the State Auditor for assistance. If there is money for a private investigator, there is money for a performance auditor. Maybe the performance auditor can find out why the private investigator was hired and report back.

Video Recording of Meetings

Board meetings are held on Thursday mornings at 9 AM, when few people can attend.  Board intent was to look into both live streaming and recording of meetings for later playback, but the agenda says "video recording." Staff and at least one Board Director have used the specific wording of an agenda item to throttle the intentions of Board Directors on prior matters.  A push needs to be made to have live streaming of meetings and archiving of meeting records despite wishes of staff and some Board Directors to the contrary. 

Increasing Oversight of Requests for Proposals and Capital Projects

A number of surprises in requests for proposals (RFP's) and capital projects have come to light in the past few months. Several examples are:

• Staff entered into a legally binding storm water management plan (SWMP) with the State Regional Water Quality Control Board (SRWQCB) in 2016, spent over $80,0000 on storm water consulting services, received a notice of violation for allowing runoff water from operations to enter the storm drain during 2018, and failed to let the Board know what was going on. Members of the public let the Board know about the SWMP in late 2018.
• Nature and scope of the effort undertaken by staff to rebrand the property was unknown to several Board Directors and the public until October 2018 at which time the contract was in place and work had been started.  Staff had written the scope of work without Board or public input. The contract left out the Equestrian Center and tilted the process towards becoming an events and entertainment center.
• Staff publicly stated that the much needed sound wall for the Action Sports Arena (ASA) was not planned to be built despite appearing in the budget for several years. Estimated costs of the sound wall are around $1 million, which is a small portion of the over $50 million in cash reserves. Staff had been leading on the Board and neighbors about building the Action Sports Arena sound wall.

Board Directors have requested to have input and oversight over how public money is spent on contracting and capital projects.  This is a good thing. 

Relocating A4 Skyhawk from Orange County Civic Center to OC Fairgrounds

Plans are being made to relocate the A4 Skyhawk currently located in the plaza at the Orange County Civic Center to the OC Fairgrounds and to place the plane near Heroes Hall Veterans Museum which would allow the plane to be used as part of the museum. Watchful eyes of the public are needed to insure that staff don't create an obstacle to this project. This is a great project. Are there other historic items which could be moved to the OC Fairgrounds?

This post is available as PDF. Download 2016 Audit Accountability Handout

An unredacted copy of the 2016 audit report is available. The audit was conducted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) which is the parent agency of the OC Fairgrounds (aka Orange County Fair and Event Center, OCFEC, 32nd District Agricultural Association or 32nd DAA). Download CDFA Unredacted 2016 Audit

Fair Board Meeting on Thursday, September 27, 2018, starting at 9 AM in the Administration Building at 88 Fair Drive, CostaMesa, CA. Agenda items include:

• Costa Mesa City License and Sales Tax Requirements;
• Public Records Processes;
• New Safety and Security Board Policy;
• Scheduling an October Board and Community Master Site Plan Workshop;
• Property Wide Infrastructure Analysis;
• Discussion of Storage Solutions.

Complete agenda available at this link

 https://ocfair.com/public-information/public-meetings/

Use the September 2018 meeting information.

Contact Information to Follow Up on Issues

Contact the Fair Board 

Chair Barbara Bagneris [email protected]
Vice Chair Robert Ruiz [email protected]
Newton Pham [email protected]
Sandra Cervantes [email protected]
Doug La Belle [email protected]
Gerardo Mouet [email protected]
Ashleigh Aitken [email protected]

Contact CEO Kathy Kramer [email protected]

Contact VP of Operations Ken Karns  [email protected]

Contact VP of Business Development Michele Richards [email protected]

In late March 2018, contractors arrived unannounced at the Equestrian Center at the OC Fairgrounds (aka Orange County Fair and Event Center or OCFEC) to fence off a substantial part of the facility to make more room to store shipping containers. The immediate threat of installing a fence to make room for more shipping containers was stopped with the fence removed, but questions regarding who did this, why they did this, how this was paid for, who authorized the fence, and how long this was in the works remain unanswered. Direct questions sent to the Board on April 2, 2018, have been ignored. Records requested on April 5, 2018, regarding the attempted size reduction are being delayed until late June 2018. Board Directors refuse to discuss details of the matter in public. This is the wrong approach which does not serve the interests of the Public who own OCFEC.

The instincts of the Board are to cover up questionable actions and misconduct by Executive Management and staff while criticizing and berating the Public for asking questions. Members of the Public have been threatened with removal from Board meetings and action from the Attorney General in response to asking questions which put the Board on the spot regarding conduct of Executive Management and staff.  Board Directors Barbara Bagneris, Robert Ruiz, Sandra Cervantes,  Newton Pham, Stan Tkaczyk, Ashleigh Aitken, Nick Berardino, Doug La Belle, Gerardo Mouet are teaching Executive Management and staff that dishonesty, incomptency, inexcusable neglect of duty, willful disobedience, and misuse of state property, among other issues, are acceptable and the Board will cover it up for them. What do Board Directors gain by covering up for Executive Management and staff?

The Board Directors continue to delegate authority to act to Executive Management despite Executive Management demonstrating on multiple occasions that they are dishonest, incompetent, inexcusably neglect their duties, are insubordinate, and are discourteous in treatment of the Public, among other issues.  Executive Management have shown time and again that they can't be trusted. What do the Board Directors gain by delegating authority to act to Executive Management who can't be trusted?

California civil service employees are subject to disciplinary procedures under statute Cal. Gov. Code § 19570. CalHR distinguishes between employee performance problems and misconduct. CalHR's Supervisors Guide to Addressing Poor Performance describes misconduct as:

The second category of problem behavior is “misconduct” -- meaning the employee does something that is contrary to the nature of the job or state rules. Threatening violence against a coworker, stealing and dishonesty are examples of misconduct. An employer can take adverse action against an employee who engages in these behaviors immediately without engaging in the corrective phase or progressive discipline. In other words, there is no training course to teach someone how to not steal, employees are reasonably expected to know that this is unacceptable conduct.

Board Directors should require Executive Management to immediately release any and all documents regarding the attempts to reduce the size of the Equestrian Center to create more storage for shipping containers.  The Board needs to stop covering for Executive Management and staff who work against the interests of the Public.

When Executive Management refuses to immediately release the documents, the correct response from the Board is to remind Executive Management that insubordination, among other actions, is grounds for disciplinary action under California law and proceed accordingly.  Get the information out there to the Public who own the Equestrian Center and whose money was wasted on this mess while Executive Management and staff who participated bear the consequences.

And remember, there is no training course to teach someone how to be honest and employees are reasonably expect to know what is acceptable conduct.

Contact Information to Follow Up on Issues

Contact the Fair Board 

Chair Barbara Bagneris [email protected]
Vice Chair Robert Ruiz [email protected]
Newton Pham [email protected]
Sandra Cervantes [email protected]
Stan Tkaczyk [email protected]
Doug La Belle [email protected]
Gerardo Mouet [email protected]
Ashleigh Aitken [email protected]
Nick Berardino [email protected]

Contact CEO Kathy Kramer [email protected]

Contact VP of Operations Ken Karns  [email protected]

Contact the Governor's Appointments Secretary Mona Pasquil Rogers at [email protected] to discuss OCFEC Director performance issues. Fair Board Directors are appointed by the Governor and may be removed for cause by the Governor at any time. (Cal. Food & Agriculture Code § 3959-3960.)

Contact Parent State Agency OCFEC is a state agency under the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)  because OCFEC is a state run county fair created to support California agriculture. Please refer to as OCFEC as the 32nd District Agricultural Association (32nd DAA) when dealing with the state.

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross 916-654-0433 [email protected]

Fairs and Exhibitions (F&E) are under the Marketing Services Division. 

F&E Branch Chief John Quiroz 916-900-5025 [email protected]

Yes, Directors receive free tickets to the concerts in the Pacific Amphitheatre and The Hangar as well as events in the Action Sports Arena.