The Insider hears Gov. Arnold’s people are second-guessing their planned sale of the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa in light of public opposition to a private takeover and a winning bid—$56.5 million by Orange County businessmen Steve Craig and Dwight Manley—that is well below the state’s minimum valuation of $96 million for the 150-acre site. To boost the sales price, the Insider is told, the state might seek new bids and offer payment terms; if that doesn’t produce an adequate bid, the governor could throw in the towel. State officials also are said to be considering a transfer of the fairgrounds to OC, although any deal might be too pricey for the locals. Schwarzenegger’s decision to accept or reject the Craig-Manley bid is expected within weeks …
When will Playboy be doing its pictorial on “Tiger’s Kittens?” It won’t be, says Playboy CEO (and Shady Canyon resident) Scott Flanders. He says the magazine is about the “fun” of sex, not the “tawdry” sex of the Tiger Woods ordeal, and that many Playboy readers disapprove of the way Tiger is being treated in the media …
Steve Forbes on the “New Normal”: “You might look at it not as the ‘new’ normal but ‘going back’ to normal, and what happened in recent years as the ‘abnormal.’” Forbes and retiring Northwestern Mutual boss Ed Zore addressed more than 500 at the Balboa Bay Club. Sitting next to Forbes at the lunch was one of his magazine’s “rich list” entries, OC investor and developer George Argyros. The Insider notes that while Forbes inherited his business, both Argyros and Zore began their careers working in a grocery store …
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle and five of the state’s other “Big 10” mayors met privately for two and a half hours in San Jose recently with 13 Silicon Valley execs, including the CEOs of Adobe Systems (Shantanu Narayen) and Brocade Communications Systems (Mike Klayko). The agenda: How to get California back on track. Pringle says they swapped concerns and addressed the state budget crisis, but also discussed infrastructure investment and other ways to build for the future: “I was pretty impressed. There was much more substance, focus. It was not a meet-and-greet” …
EE RR discusses “Opportunities for Business Leaders in Challenging Times” March 18 at a Junior Achievement of OC breakfast at the Center Club in Costa Mesa. Call (949) 515-1998 …
Activist Len Kranser sent an e-mail noting March 7 was the 10th anniversary of Measure F’s passage that killed the proposed El Toro airport …
More S. Paul Musco philanthropy: He helped Corinthian Colleges cofounder David Moore and wife Kathryn raise $600,000 for Haiti at an Island Hotel event; Musco’s Relief Pods that have helped in Haiti now have been sent to Chile. He and Marybelle chair the OC High School of the Arts gala Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.
