Over the past year, Mayor Mike Rawlings has steered an effort to turn the management of Fair Park over to a private entity headed by former-Hunt Oil exec Walt Humann. However, last month the Dallas city attorney ruled that the keys to the park couldn’t be handed over without an open bid process.
Now that the bid process has begun, an article on Watchdog.org raises questions about how the city is managing its search for a new Fair Park operator. Do the restrictions placed on potential bidders and the timeline on the bid process suggest that the fix is still in?
The bid process is set up with two levels of review. Before the city considers the plans, proposals must be deemed worthy of consideration. Among the criteria, potential bidders must demonstrate a track record with “establishing and maintaining working relationships with the State Fair of Texas, or other organizations of a similar size, purpose, and prominence.”
Another red flag is the expedited timeline. The city requires proposals by December 2, 2016. The author of the watchdog.org article cites a similar situation that occurred when the state of California attempted to sell-off the Orange County Fairgrounds, but were blocked after a court ruled that the bidding process didn’t include enough time for losing bidders to appeal.
