Fair Swap Meet Vendors Given Rent Reprieve : Moratorium: About 300 angry vendors gain hearing at monthly Fair Board meeting and win a temporary moratorium on fees charged for space.
About 300 swap meet vendors, angered by rent hikes that had been scheduled to go into effect today, seized the floor at the Orange County Fair Board’s monthly meeting Thursday, and succeeded in winning an indefinite moratorium on rent increases of up to 200%.
The vendors, many of whom came to the meeting wearing T-shirts with “Rent Increase” in a slashed red circle, and carrying picket signs, had threatened to barricade entrances and boycott the swap meet this weekend if the rent increases were not struck down.
Tel-Phil Enterprises, which has operated the swap meet since its beginning 23 years ago, recently won the right to continue operating it after the Fair Board put the contract out for bid. Tel-Phil notified vendors of the rent increase last week. Rents would have doubled and tripled in some spaces.
Although the subject of rent increases was not on the agenda, the Fair Board allowed vendors to share their stories. After yielding the podium for 2 1/2 hours, the board agreed to meet with representatives of Tel-Phil as well as an attorney hired this week by the vendors. After another 2 1/2 hours, the three parties agreed to a moratorium on the rent increase until Tel-Phil’s rent proposal can be reviewed, said board spokeswoman Jill Lloyd. In the meantime, the rents will stay what they’ve been.
“I feel pretty good about it right now,” said Diane Wallace, who sells beauty supplies in a 30-square-foot space. Her rent would have nearly doubled from $800 to $1,500.
The Fair Board does not have the power to alter rents, Lloyd said. Initially, when the swap meet contract was put out for bid, the Fair Board wanted to have more of a management role in the operation of the swap meet. However, the specifications of the bid were changed when vendors and bidders protested that a public agency should not be involved in running a private enterprise.
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