Tel Phil is reason for success of Market Place

This is an open letter to the Orange County Fair Board regarding the

contract renewal of the Orange County Market Place.

There have been a number of commentaries detailing the process for

the renewal of the contract to operate the Orange County Market

Place. As far as I have seen, the only one opposed to allowing Tel

Phil to continue running its own 34-year old creation was a paid

advertisement by Delaware North, which has submitted a competing bid.

That advertisement asserted that this community has no right to an

opinion contrary to Delaware North’s. I found it extraordinarily

condescending.

The Teller family is the reason for the existence of and the high

quality of the Orange County Market Place. For the last 34 years,

they have nurtured a small swap meet venue, invested in its success

and its future until it is widely recognized as the best in the

nation. The Orange County Fairgrounds has been the beneficiary of

millions of dollars of income from this venture. Thousands of small

business owners have either made a start or bolstered their own

income. But the burden of success or failure belonged to the Teller

family. Had the venture failed, it was their investment that would

have been lost. Not the state’s. Not anyone else’s.

However, the Orange County Market Place became hugely successful,

in part because of the many community outreach programs and events

that Tel Phil Enterprises has initiated and promoted. Also in part by

the fact that on any given weekend, you will find members of the

Teller family overseeing the quality of the Orange County Market

Place operation. This is something that will be lost by contracting

with a conglomerate managed 3,000 miles away. Where are the justice

and ethics in penalizing success by giving the operation to someone

who never took the risk of investment, but merely waited to swoop in

to steal away someone else’s hard-earned reward? There lies the

problem with the process.

Recent newspaper articles allude to a past felony conviction in

the history of Delaware North. Is there more beneath the surface? Why

haven’t the newspapers expounded upon these allusions? Should we be

concerned with who wants to come to town?

As directors of the Orange County Fair Board, you are faced with

allowing a huge company to put a small local business that spans two

generations of family ownership out of existence simply because it

has grown to be the best in its industry in the nation. If that

happens, the Orange County Fairgrounds will lose much of the

community spirit and support created by a home-grown small business

such as Tel Phil. A valued piece of Costa Mesa will disappear as the

community celebrates 50 years incorporation.

* ED FAWCETT is the president and CEO of the Costa Mesa Chamber of

Commerce.