Swap-meet bidders get new chance

Alicia Robinson

Directors of the Orange County Fair agreed Thursday upon a new

request for proposals to operate the weekend swap meet at the

fairgrounds.

The move comes after officials scrapped two previous rounds of

bidding because of disagreements over the process.

The request outlines what kind of bid information fair officials

want from potential swap-meet operators. The fair board will

officially begin requesting proposals to run the Orange County Market

Place on Monday, after language in the request is tidied up by legal

counsel. The deadline to submit bids will be Dec. 10, and the board

anticipates awarding a 10-year lease contract in January 2005.

The profitable and popular swap meet was founded in 1969 by Bob

Teller, and it is still run by his son Jeff through the family

company, Tel Phil Enterprises.

Earlier bids to operate the swap meet were thrown out in July 2003

after controversy arose between the two bidders, Tel Phil and

Delaware North Co. In February, the board hired an outside consultant

to oversee the bidding process.

“The board wasn’t pleased with the results of that request for

proposals, so they threw those bids out as well,” said chief

executive Becky Bailey-Findley, chief executive of the fair.

On Monday, the process will begin for a third time, but with the

rewritten request for proposals. Rob Bower, an attorney for Tel Phil,

raised some issues to the board Thursday, including questions about

confidentiality of bid information and who pays for yearly audits of

swap-meet operations.

Board members discussed changes to clarify provisions in the bid

request, and after the meeting, Bower said the board had addressed

Tel Phil’s concerns.

Board member Ruben Smith moved to approve the request for

proposals with the suggested changes, pointing out that an ample

amount of time and public input have gone into creating the request.

“We’re really going beyond what normally needs to take place,” he

said. “Most [requests for proposals] don’t even get to this stage.”

Bailey-Findley said she isn’t sure how many bidders to expect.

While about 16 companies asked for information on the bidding process

in previous rounds, only Tel Phil and Delaware North Co. submitted

bids.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.