Editorial:

The state’s Department of General Services acted in the public interest this week when it rejected all seven bids to buy the Orange County Fairgrounds. The state is broke, but that doesn’t mean California, which owns the 150-acre fairgrounds, should sell a treasured and economically viable landmark at fire-sale prices.

One of the key problems is that the true market value — forget the intrinsic value to the Orange County community, just for a moment — appears to be unknown. At the very least, there was a deep valley between what the state thought the land was worth — somewhere in the range of $96 million to $180 million — and the private developers who tried to buy it — $56.5 million was the top bid.

It’s hard to say what the fairgrounds are worth without an unbiased assessment, particularly in a volatile real estate market that is finally showing signs of stabilization. The state was smart not to let the fairgrounds go just yet, but the property remains up for sale, and California should do what any of us would before we sell a house and find out what it’s worth.

Ronald Diedrich, the department’s acting director, wrote in the office’s rejection of the bids that they “... are not in the best interest of the citizens of California because they do not obtain the highest and most certain return for the state.”

Good for him. Diedrich has a fiduciary responsibility to get the best deal for taxpayers, and he appears to have exercised it.

Though reports have said the state did not take into consideration activists’ opposition to the sale before rejecting the bids, we cannot help but assume that the heat applied by dedicated Costa Mesa and Orange County residents at least shined a light on the fact that part of this process was handled in haste.

The governor does not believe California should be in the real estate business, and he’s right about that, particularly in a state that is so mismanaged it struggles to provide even the most basic of services with any acuity. There are far more unmet priorities in California than keeping the Orange County Fairgrounds in the hands of the state.