SANTA ANA : Swap Meet Would Undergo Changes

There are changes in store for El Mercado, the privately operated swap meet that is held Sundays at the Rancho Santiago College parking lot.

The swap meet’s future has been in doubt since Dec. 26, when an appellate court gave Santa Ana the power to shut down the swap meet because it violates city zoning laws.

Members of the college district’s Board of Trustees, who have not yet decided whether they will appeal the court’s decision, said this week that if the swap meet survives, the college would no longer look to an outside contractor to run it.

“The consensus is that if El Mercado continues, we will run it ourselves,” said Shirley Ralston, board president.

The board reached this consensus at a recent two-day study session, but board members remain split on whether the college should continue to be involved in a swap meet.

Board members agreed that if the swap meet was to continue operating, it would have to be a joint effort between the college and the city and would have to be moved from its location at 17th and Bristol streets.

“We’re going to try to work with the city to see how the Mercado can continue somewhere in the community with the college’s involvement,” Ralston said.

Since it opened in 1987, the mostly Latino El Mercado, which means open market in Spanish, has been surrounded by controversy.

In addition to the city’s lawsuit, the swap meet has been the source of numerous complaints from residents who live near the college, has been criticized by people who say that a privately run business does not belong on a college campus, and has caused dissension among board members in recent months.

According to an agreement with the Santiago Club, the nonprofit organization that runs the swap meet, the college receives 24% of gross revenue generated from admission fees and space rentals. The club contracts with Norton Western LTD, a company owned by Santa Ana Councilman Richards L. Norton, to manage the swap meet.

In December, Alex Vega, a former El Mercado employee, told the board that swap meet management had been overcharging vendors for space rentals and were not providing the college with its fair share of profits.

Norton has publicly denied the charges.

Last month, trustees Charles W. (Pete) Maddox and Brian Conley asked the Orange County district attorney’s office to investigate the charges. The office is still reviewing the request, Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace Wade said on Thursday.

After the request, angry board members stripped Maddox and Conley of their membership on several county education-related committees because the inquiry was made without the consent of the rest of the board.