Category Archives: Vacaville CA

Latest on Flannery’s plan for new Solano City (California Forever)

[BenIndy note: We don’t often expect much good reporting from Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, but the following story is thorough, fair and timely – highly recommended. Below that are links to three recent local reports from our Vallejo paper, and a few links to Bay Area tv reports. Check ’em out and stay informed. Oh, and… you might be interested in the Change.org petition: Oppose Flannery Associates and No to California Forever.]

$1B Silicon Valley-backed utopian city ‘California Forever’ facing national security probe: pols

Solano County
Flannery Associates has bought up nearly $1 billion in land located in Solano County. AFP via Getty Images

New York Post, by Thomas Barrabi, Published Nov. 12, 2023

A planned utopian city in California continues to face a high-stakes probe by a US national security panel – and state politicians still aren’t satisfied that the secretive project isn’t linked to China.

Since 2017, a little-known firm called Flannery Associates has stealthily bought up nearly $1 billion in land next to Travis Air Force Base, sparking alarms on Capitol Hill that a foreign entity could be backing the project for nefarious purposes.

Similar concerns arose last year after a Chinese firm bought 300 acres of land near an Air Force drone base in North Dakota.

In August, Flannery tried to calm nerves by revealing its backers included US tech tycoons such as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.

The group has said the land’s proximity to Travis was unintentional and outlined plans to develop a picturesque city featuring sustainable energy, a pedestrian-friendly layout and good-paying jobs.

John Garamendi
Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) is among those who have raised concerns about Flannery’s origins. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Nevertheless, the US Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) – an interagency panel responsible for vetting business transactions for potential national security risks – is still actively reviewing the project as of this month, a pair of California lawmakers told The Post.

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif), who previously blasted Flannery for using “strong-arm mobster techniques” to acquire land from local farmers, told The Post that the firm’s explanation to date is “only half of the story” – and claimed the project bears the hallmarks of a “patient” foreign investment scheme.

“To say it’s ‘American money’ is not a complete explanation of who is the investor,” Garamendi said. “I’ve been around long enough to understand the way foreign money – legitimate and illegitimate – is invested in the United States. Usually in an LLC, in a real estate transaction.”

Flannery Associates was originally registered as an LLC in Delaware, which does not require an ownership disclosure. The project’s organizers describe California Forever as Flannery’s parent company.

Flannery has rankled Solano County residents with vaguely-defined plans to build the city on patches of dry, unincorporated farmland that is pockmarked with wind turbines and abandoned gas wells and is known to lack enough infrastructure to support a large population.

California Forever
The first renderings of the “California Forever” project emerged earlier this fall. California Forever

Catherine Moy, the mayor of Fairfield, Calif., said the feds are “still investigating” the situation and were “not 100% that China is not behind funding on this.”

“CFIUS, they’re still going forward with their investigation. You can trust but verify, especially with things like this,” Moy said. “A couple of the investors already are very connected with China, business-wise.”

The CFIUS probe was first reported by CNN in August – weeks after it emerged that Garamendi and fellow US Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) had asked the panel and the FBI to investigate the matter.

The duo noted that Travis is a critical military transport hub known as the “Gateway to the Pacific” that serves as a key conduit for shipments to Ukraine, among other key functions.

“My concerns with the land acquisition in Solano County have always been on national security and food security,” Thompson said in a statement. “Their rapid acquisition of land around Travis Air Force Base caused concern about who was making the purchases and their ultimate goal.”

A spokesperson for Travis Air Force base confirmed that “senior officials are actively supporting all involved federal and Solano County agencies regarding the land purchases.” The spokesperson referred further questions to the Treasury Department.

The Treasury Department did not return multiple requests for comment.

When reached for comment, a Flannery Associates spokesperson said the project has “no other foreign investors” beyond those it has disclosed.

The firm has said its investors are passive and have no role in day-to-day operations.

“While most area electeds have taken an open-minded approach to the opportunity our project presents for local jobs, investments, homes for middle class families, and clean power, a couple of local politicians are unfortunately and irresponsibly spreading rumors and misinformation to insinuate that California Forever is a not an American company,” the spokesperson said.

“We have complied with all government inquiries and provided documents (including all investment agreements and subscription agreements) that unquestionably prove that over 97% of our invested capital comes from U.S. investors, and that the remaining less than 3% comes from UK and Irish investors (Patrick and John Collison, with smaller stakes held by Charles Songhurst and Thomas Mather),” the spokesperson added.

Fairfield, California mayor Catherine Moy
Fairfield, California mayor Catherine Moy is an outspoken critic of the city project. fairfield.ca.gov

So far, the list of publicly-disclosed Flannery investors includes Hoffman, Andreesen, his investment firm Andreesen Horowitz, former Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz, Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison, Chris Dixon, John Dooer, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross and Laurene Powell Jobs, the prominent philanthropist and widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Moritz spent nearly four decades at Sequoia Capital and helped spearhead the venture firm’s expansion into China before exiting last June. Sequoia Capital itself has not been linked to Flannery Associates or the “California Forever” project, though the House Select Committee on China recently revealed it was probing the firm’s investments and business interests in China.

Moritz did not immediately return requests for comment.

A Sequoia Capital spokesperson confirmed that the firm had received the select committee’s letter about the probe, was “reviewing it and will respond.”

Jan Sramek.
Flannery Associates CEO Jan Srakek has denied that his firm wants to build a “utopian” city.  KGO-TV

Flannery CEO Jan Sramek has scrambled to downplay the project’s ties to the tech industry, describing it as a “city of yesterday.”

Its website specifically rejects the notion that it is building a “tech utopia” and said Flannery is “not proposing a pie-in-the-sky ‘utopian’ fantasy.”

Critics, including Garamendi and Moy, argue that Sramek and his team are merely trying to reframe the project due to local backlash.

“The story has changed,” Moy said. “Any credibility he was trying to earn after being secretive for five years is being lost because he’s changing the story now. That’s what happens with people who you can’t trust.”


RECENTLY IN THE VALLEJO TIMES-HERALD
Cars on Highway 12 between Suisun City and Rio Vista. (Chris Riley/The Reporter)

California Forever form community advisory committee | Company makes statement ahead of SCWA meeting
Vallejo Times-Herald, Nov 9, 2023
>> California Forever announced a community advisory committee, full of current and formal public officials and community leaders from across Solano County. The committee, according to a press release from the company… (continued)

California Forever CEO Jan Sramek during a packed Solano County Water Agency meeting in Vacaville. (Chris Riley/The Reporter)

Turning off the tap | SCWA directs staff not to discuss Water Plus with California Forever
Vallejo Times-Herald, Nov 10, 2023
>> The Solano County Water Agency Board of Directors told its staff not to continue discussions with California Forever regarding their proposed development project in eastern Solano County.   At a regular meeting of the board Thursday evening, over 90 attendees and public commenters filled the meeting room… (continued)

Sheep graze in a plot of land east of CA 113.  (Chris Riley/The Reporter)

What would a new Solano County city mean for Vallejo? | California Forever promises high-paying jobs; officials question company’s approach
Vallejo Times-Herald, Nov 11, 2023
>> With stances ranging from skepticism to outright hostility, Vallejo officials are pushing back against what they say is a shamelessly ambitious plan to construct a new city of between 100,000 and 400,000 people in eastern Solano County…. (continued)

RECENT BAY AREA TV COVERAGE

NBC BAY AREA NEWS: ‘California Forever’ CEO shows tour of proposed site amid uphill battle with Solano County residents, leaders, by Jodi Hernandez, Nov 10, 2023

KTVU Fox News: California Forever: 1st tour of Solano County land bought for $800M under mysterious circumstances, by KTVU staff, Nov 10, 2023

KXTV ABC10 Sacramento: California Forever proposes land swap, $1M toward habitat conservation, by Devin Trubey, Krys Shahin, Nov 11, 2023


CLICK HERE TO READ MORE about the proposed Flannery Inc. land grab here on the BenIndy

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SF Chronicle: Eyes on Solano County’s COVID rates

The Chronicle has published two excellent reviews this week contrasting Solano County with our Bay Area neighbors.  The first  below profiles Solano with stats and detailed interviews with  Solano leaders and residents.

In Solano County, the Bay Area’s COVID outlier, masks are anything but universal

SF Chronicle, by Kellie Hwang, Danielle Echeverria, Sep. 19, 2021
A man walks along Main Street in Vacaville. Solano County, has had the Bay Area's poorest record on coronavirus cases and vaccinations
A man walks along Main Street in Vacaville. Solano County, has had the Bay Area’s poorest record on coronavirus cases and vaccinations [Photos by Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle]
Paulie Spacco believes anyone infected with the coronavirus should just “let the body do its thing” and build antibodies, even though an 18-month pandemic and the deaths of 1 in 500 Americans point to the dangers of following such a strategy.

Spacco, a Vacaville resident and small-business owner in his 60s, and his friend Gregorio Serrao, in his 70s, both say they have no intention of getting vaccinated and oppose restricting people’s activities to try to control the spread of COVID-19. Over sandwiches recently at La Borgata Italian Deli on Vacaville’s Main Street, the two dismissed evidence proving that masks work to help block transmission of virus-laden droplets.

“At this point, if you get sick, that’s on you,” Serrao said. And it’s just inevitable, they agreed, that “you’re going to lose some people.”

Their views, which are at odds with national health advice about the coronavirus, are not hard to find in Solano County, a Bay Area outlier when it comes to the pandemic almost from the start.

Paulie Spacco (left) and Gregorio Serrao stop in La Borgata Deli in Vacaville. Both are opposed to vaccines and preventive measures such as masks to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Paulie Spacco (left) and Gregorio Serrao stop in La Borgata Deli in Vacaville. Both are opposed to vaccines and preventive measures such as masks to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.  Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

The inland expanse dotted with suburbs and medium-size cities is the least vaccinated of the Bay Area’s nine counties. Just 54% of its 450,000 residents are fully vaccinated, compared with 67% in Napa and Sonoma, the counties with the next-lowest rate. It has a high daily infection rate — currently 18.6 cases per 100,000 people, the highest of any Bay Area county except Napa according to state data — and a hospitalization rate two to three times higher than that of other local counties.

And while the county’s case numbers, like those throughout the Bay Area, have shown improvement lately, the approach of local leaders — who have been less willing to restrict residents’ activities and impose mandates — has consistently set Solano apart.

It is the only Bay Area county that doesn’t require universal masking in indoor public settings, although two of its cities — Vallejo and Benicia — have imposed mandates. Solano lagged behind several other Bay Area counties in imposing stay-home orders last year, waiting until the state required it. Tuesday, Solano supervisors voted down a proposal requiring that county employees be vaccinated, saying it should be a personal choice.

Currently only unvaccinated people are required to wear masks in indoor public settings in Solano County, in line with state policies.

Many residents and officials say they want the county to act more aggressively. Supervisor Monica Brown, for instance, whose district covers Benicia and part of Vallejo, supports a broader mask mandate.

“Our health care workers are still being inundated with COVID-19 cases,” she said at a contentious board of supervisors meeting on Tuesday, noting that it’s impossible to know whether a maskless person is vaccinated.

A woman walks by outdoor seating in a plaza along Main Street in Vacaville, Calif., on Wednesday, September 8, 2021. Solano County, has had the Bay Area's poorest record on coronavirus cases and vaccinations
A woman walks by outdoor seating in a plaza along Main Street in Vacaville, Calif., on Wednesday, September 8, 2021. Solano County, has had the Bay Area’s poorest record on coronavirus cases and vaccinationsCarlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle

Supervisor Mitch Mashburn said that with young children and immunocompromised people in his house, he wears a mask to be safe. Still, he doesn’t think it’s the role of the board to force people to be vaccinated or mask up.

Vacaville waking up to COVID threat – Council votes mask mandate for City buildings and events

Vacaville Council requires masks for Vacaville city buildings, some outdoors activities

Fairfield Daily Republic, By Susan Hiland, September 17, 2021

VACAVILLE — City Council members voted Tuesday to require face masks indoors at city buildings and during certain activities as the delta variant continues its surge.

Council members debated the proposed directive of the use of face coverings inside all city facilities and while participating in outdoor programs and events conducted by the city when social distancing is not possible.

“I think people have the right to make the decision that is best for their family, whether to put something in your body or wear masks,” Councilman Roy Stockton said. “This to me feels like tyranny.”

“This is not about tyranny,” Councilman Michael Silva said. “This is about how to keep staff safe and showing that we genuinely are concerned for keeping staff safe.”

The city government has experienced firsthand the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

A total of 29 city employees tested positive for Covid-19 in August and numerous others were forced to miss work for testing and quarantine due to workplace exposures, the city reports. Several of the positive cases were in vaccinated employees.

Solano County Public Health reported 773 active Covid-19 cases in the county as of Wednesday with 92 people hospitalized and the availability of staffed ICU beds at 23%.

Roy Stockton Michael Silva
“Part of this is looking at this as a business,” Vice Mayor Nolan Sullivan said. “We have an outbreak in the city and it is affecting how business is working. I am for anything that helps keep things moving.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended July 27 that face coverings be worn in public indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status, in areas of substantial or high Covid-19 transmission. The California Department of Public Health has recommended that fully vaccinated people wear face coverings in indoor public settings statewide.

Vacaville has the lowest vaccinate among its residents 12 and older – 68.3% – among the seven Solano County cities.

The number of reported cases is going down from the surge seen in August. But numbers are still high with some 11,399 cases in Vacaville. The number of deaths is 280 with 16 recently added during the current surge.

The CDC has released data that indicates people who are unvaccinated who contract Covid-19 are 11 times more likely to die than are those who are vaccinated.

The face-covering mandate will be effective until repealed by either the city manager or the City Council.

[…continued…]

Vallejo (and all Solano County) residents are welcome in Benicia’s library where masks are required

By Roger Straw, September 14, 2021

[UPDATE: County reverses itself – click here…]

Worried about Solano County Library system not requiring masks?  Visit us in Benicia!

Benicia Public Library is locally run and follows Benicia’s indoors mask mandate.

And here’s good news from the Benicia Library websiteVallejo residents are welcome in Benicia’s library.   Solano County, St. Helena, and Dixon cards are valid in Benicia.

Even if you don’t check out a book, it’s a great place to just sit and read a magazine or get on the internet!

Here’s from the Benicia library website about pandemic hours and masks: “The Benicia Public Library has restored regular service hours, and we are excited to welcome you back inside our building. Whether you want to use a computer or plug into our free Wi-Fi, visit an exhibit, borrow materials or just browse our bookcases, we are here for you. Please bring your mask and library card. If you do not have one, they are free.”

The mask requirement applies whether you are vaccinated or not.