Advocacy in Action
Join Us at the Board of Supervisors Meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 15
With the 2017 Fair wrapped up and the Heritage Foundation’s booth packed away for this year, we wanted to share our excitement with you. A major objective of our presence at the Fair was to get the word out about decisions the Board of Supervisors are making about the Fairgrounds, as they will be doing at the County Supervisors meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, August 15th , at 10 am, at the County Building on Hedding in San Jose. County staff and consultants hired by the Supervisors to investigate potential uses for the Fairgrounds will be making their final recommendations at this meeting. We hope you will join us at this important meeting and let your voice be heard!
Successful Fair Kickoff VIP Reception
The FairgroundsHeritage Foundation (FHF) again participated in the Fair opening day VIP Reception sponsored by the Fairgrounds Management Corporation. Over 300 community leaders representing all parts of Santa Clara County turned out to show their support for the Fair and the Fairgrounds Foundation. Politicians, City and County staffers, leaders from non-profits, the arts community, educational institutions, technology companies, the media and people like you who care deeply about the future of the Fairgrounds, brought their families to mingle, talk, and enjoy all the Fair had to offer. It was a fun and exciting evening with so much positive feedback about the great gains the Fair has made in recent years and the insistence on public input by the Foundation. Supervisor, Dave Cortese, who attended, remarked of the importance of keeping the Fair and Fairgrounds accessible for county residents. Stars of the evening were members of the Senior and Junior Fair Board (shown above with FMC Executive Director Mary Bartlett), whose youth and enthusiasm and achievements were a constant reminder that the Fairgrounds really is a public legacy for the young, and should not be a source of revenue for private interests.
L to R, FMC CFO Abe Andrade, Supervisor Dave Cortese, and Superintendent of Orchard School District, Dr. Joel Ruiz Herrera
Sheriff Laurie Smith and FMC Board Member Charlie Wasser
FHF Board members Keri Rees and David Peck working the booth at the Fair.
Great Feedback Received at FHF Booth at Fair
Funds Raised During Fair to Support FHF Goals
Another primary objective during the Fair was to raise $10,000 to help fund a public awareness campaign about the future of the Fairgrounds. Although we did not quite get there we raised over $8,000. Special thanks go to the people at Nikon Precision Inc . for their generous donation.
If you would like to make a donation to help support our efforts please visit our website at fairgroundsfoundationscc.org.
The Fairgrounds Needs Your Voice!
After such a great experience talking with so many people at the Fair we are confident the message is getting out but the Heritage Foundation cannot do this alone – we need your help! The Board of Supervisors is not yet convinced that decisions about the future of the Fairgrounds belong to the public and not an RFP process. They are not convinced that an Oversight Planning Taskforce made up community leaders, subject matter experts, financial organizations, FMC and the Fairgrounds Heritage Foundation can and should be working on a coherent plan for the future that will carry a self sufficient Fairground through the next 75 years. And they are not yet convinced that a long term lease of 35-50 years is necessary for private and philanthropic funders to invest the very large amount of money necessary to bring a vision to life.
If you have not already, please join us by volunteering, donating, participating in public meetings or just writing us an email, letting us know we have your support. The Fairgrounds belongs everyone in the County and everyone should have a voice. Pleasemake sure your Supervisor hears your voice!
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