Politically Connected Horseman Wins Contract for El Toro Stables

When Orange County supervisors approved a politically connected horseman’s bid to run El Toro Stables, they overruled their staff’s choice of another bidder--and chose a winner who has been criticized for his management of a similar facility in the Los Angeles area.

Two bidders--the Orange County Fair and the Western Heritage Assn., a San Juan Capistrano-based nonprofit headed by Jerry Harris--competed to run the 150-horse stables at the closed El Toro Marine base.

An evaluation panel examined both proposals, looking at assets, experience and income projections. The panel decided the fair’s bid was more qualified, citing its financial stability.

County staff accepted the findings and recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve the fair’s bid. But when the vote came before the supervisors last month, they chose Harris to run the 60-acre stables.

The vote came as a surprise to many who thought Harris’ bid was going nowhere because it was up against the formidable fair. Harris proposed cleaning up the corrals and stalls, installing an irrigation system and starting equestrian programs under the umbrella of Western Heritage, a largely dormant nonprofit with few assets.

By contrast, a proposal submitted by the fair, a state agency, highlighted the fair’s strengths, its 110-year history, its hefty assets. As its chief spokesman, the fair had Curt Pringle, a former Assembly speaker, prominent Republican, lobbyist and the fair board’s president.

But Harris had a formidable lobbyist of his own: former Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates, himself an equestrian and the chairman of Western Heritage’s board of directors. When he appeared before the Board of Supervisors last month to plead Harris’ cause, he proved an effective advocate. Supervisors approved Harris’ bid, 4-0, with board Chairwoman Cynthia P. Coad abstaining.

“Brad Gates and Jerry Harris are wonderful people,” Coad said. “I have no qualms about their ability as horse people and trainers and so forth. But the vote was unclear and I was concerned with the board’s lack of following the procurement process, which had recommended the fair.”

Controversial Awarding of Taxi Contract

The county’s procurement process has been scrutinized ever since supervisors approved a start-up firm co-owned by one of the county’s prominent lobbyists to handle the taxi contract at John Wayne Airport. The company later filed for bankruptcy, forcing the county to scramble for taxi service at the airport.

While some think board politics swung in favor of Harris and Gates, Supervisor Chuck Smith said he was swayed by economics.

“Very simply, the difference in bids was money,” Smith said. “[Heritage] was going to pay us nearly $50,000 a year. But the fair board projected operating at a loss in the first year, though they were going to make improvements at the stables.” Harris’ bid for a three-year lease includes minimal improvements to the facility in the first year.

The county has a contract to lease the base from the Navy through 2005. A majority of the supervisors have said they may not subsidize recreational activities like the equestrian center at the site after that, especially if they lose money. Last year, the stables lost $105,000.

Across the county, horse owners are feeling similar pressures from other landlords eager to turn their boarding stables into more lucrative enterprises. River Trails in Orange is the most recent stable to receive its eviction notice.

The number of Orange County boarding stables has dwindled to 18. Those stables house about 3,600 horses, but most facilities have long waiting lists.

El Toro Stables, built by the military, has deteriorated over the years from lack of maintenance. Paint is peeling from some stalls, floors are uneven, the arenas need repair, and junk and debris are scattered on the property.

Before the base’s closure, the military stopped maintenance. Then, when the county took over in 1997, it invoked numerous restrictions because of asbestos in buildings and soil contaminated by hazardous solvents used as engine degreasers and poured into the ground for decades.

“We haven’t had a lot of support for a lot of years,” said Star Lewis, who has boarded horses at the former base for more than two decades. “The county would not allow us to fill in [holes in the stalls and paddocks] with dirt taken from a nearby field because of contamination fears, even though we’ve been doing it for years.”

Of the $7 million in yearly rent the county pays for the base, about $3.5 million comes from its general fund, said Supervisor Tom Wilson. In its bid, “The fair board wanted to operate in the red ... and as a businessman that bothered me.”

Officials with the fair proposed making a one-time payment of $5,000 for yearly rent and estimated expenses of about $918,000. They would have added stalls, improved lighting, added three acres of event parking and created a mini-farm with community programs. But the fair estimated it would operate about $284,800 in the red in the first year.

By contrast, Western Heritage proposed paying at least $36,000 in yearly rent or 8% of annual profits, whichever was greater, and projected a net income of $107,530.

Harris’ plan is to build more stables, provide clean stalls and have improved riding arenas, where major horse shows and events could be held.

With more clients to serve and greater visibility among equestrians in the county, Western Heritage could then generate enough income to operate in the black.

In addition, Harris said he plans to reinvest a portion of that income back in the operation.

A Long History of Equestrian Endeavors

Harris, 53, has long years of experience in equestrian operations. He has been involved in rodeos, horse shows and other equestrian activities for more than two decades.

A former San Juan Capistrano councilman, he developed Rancho Sierra Vista stables in San Juan Capistrano with his then-wife into a successful 400-horse enterprise. When they divorced several years ago, she took control of the equestrian center.

For more than two years, he has run the stables at Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades. But equestrian activities were suspended there after state park officials tried to evict the horses to halt “continuing environmental damage”; horse owners have filed suit to stop the eviction. Harris continues to hold the lease on those facilities.

Criticism From a State Audit

The controversy at Will Rogers was due in part to the unhappiness of preservationists and descendants of Will Rogers over the state’s management of the 180-acre park.

According to a state audit, some of Harris’ projects at Will Rogers lacked a written plan, budget or written state approval. In addition, Harris installed permanent improvements without approval.

The audit concluded that Harris was not in compliance with terms of the lease--an allegation rejected by Harris, who says he was unfairly targeted by equestrian opponents. He also noted that the audit concluded that the state was out of compliance with the park’s General Plan.

“This whole thing concerned one of the Rogers family [members who was] complaining about conditions with the barn and boarding of private horses there,” Harris said. “The horses became a scapegoat and I’m in the middle because I was the contractor. It wasn’t my responsibility to fix the things I didn’t damage.”

Rogers’ descendants could not be reached for comment. But in the past, they and preservationists have criticized the boarding of privately owned horses at the park, including those owned by Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as the state’s management and barn damage caused by the horses.

Richard Troy, deputy director for state park operations, defended Harris, saying the problems have percolated for decades. “The problems are not of his making. You have to understand that the state is trying to run an operation at a historic national shrine and some preservationists don’t believe private horses or any horses should be boarded there.”

Harris has been invited to participate in a comprehensive report on the park’s future, Troy said. “I’m sure it’s going to be a lot easier in Orange County, where [Harris] won’t have the constraints or politics here.”

But politics of another sort could hamstring Western Heritage’s long-term plans for El Toro stables, especially if Measure W, a countywide initiative, is approved by voters in March. The measure seeks to replace airport zoning at the former base with zoning for an urban park, university complex and sports fields.

The stables’ future hangs in the balance, as does any contract for agricultural leases and recreational programs at the former base. Harris, who said he wants to stay clear of airport politics, said it would be easier to negotiate a longer lease, such as 10 or 15 years, so he could add community programs to introduce disadvantaged youth to the county’s equestrian heritage.

“We could even add overnight trail rides and bring in the non-equestrian community,” he said.

County supervisors have stressed that the recreational programs must earn a profit. Otherwise, there is the likelihood that they would padlock the base, as they have threatened to do, rather than subsidize those activities with taxpayer money.

During a recent tour of the facility, Harris, a strapping 6-foot-3 cowboy who bought his first pony with money he made selling avocados as a youngster growing up in south San Gabriel, said he wants to first put in some “sweat equity” by cleaning up the 150-horse center, refurbishing arenas, hauling junk to the dump and bringing in stalls for more horses.

According to Harris’ marketing plan, his concept has attracted interest from horse trainers with a clientele of another 150 horses. He is tight-lipped about raising boarding fees, but many who board their horses there now expect that to happen.

For years, horse owners using El Toro have enjoyed some of the cheapest rates in the county. Upscale stables charge an average of $400 a month for a 12-by-12-foot stall.

Star Lewis, who boards two horses at El Toro, said rents average $225 to $250, with feed. Veterinarian Sarah McCarthy of Lake Forest, who boards her horse, Aurio, in a 60-by-90-foot paddock at El Toro, pays $225 a month.

Harris said he will rely on help from his board of directors to pitch in with the stable project.

He created Western Heritage in 1986 to fight a city-inspired proposal to tax horses in San Juan Capistrano. In addition to Gates, Harris said the board includes Gilbert Aguirre, executive vice president at Rancho Mission Viejo; Raul Ramos, former Orange County undersheriff; and Shigeru “Shig” Kinoshita, a retired farmer.