Countywide : Fair Voids and Restarts Bidding for Carnival

Orange County Fair officials said they will start all over again in their efforts to negotiate a contract with a carnival operator for the next three annual fairs.

The fair board initially planned to award the three-year carnival contract to Ray Cammack Shows of Laveen, Ariz., which has worked with the Los Angeles County Fair for many years.

But B&B; Amusements of Yuma, Ariz., which has provided rides at the Orange County Fair for the past 10 years, filed a protest, alleging the bidding process was flawed, fair General Manager Becky Bailey-Findley said.

The fair board maintained that it followed correct procedures but said that B&B; could have misinterpreted them.

Since the dispute would have taken several months to resolve, the fair board opted to reject all bids and start over, Bailey-Findley said.

The new request for proposals will make clear the procedures regarding a disputed point, she said.

Bidders will be scored on a 100-point scale with different point values possible in several categories, Bailey-Findley said.

The criteria include the operator’s financial stability and offer, based on the sharing of profits and willingness to build fair improvements; the operator’s safety record; the quality and quantity of rides, games, shows and other concessions; management’s labor practices; customer service practices, and the operator’s experience and performance over the past two years.

The fair board hopes to have the new request for proposal forms ready for distribution by the end of the week and to select a company by the end of January, Bailey-Findley said.