Discovery Builders, North Study Area, Seeno, Seeno property

Bad blood: Seeno family feuds over Bay Area real estate empire

[BenIndy contributor Nathalie Christian: Here’s a real gem from the article below: Concord’s negotiations with Seeno were halted not by “term-sheet specifics or the deal point, but rather [by] accusations that were made through editorial comment that were in the local papers.'” There it is, folks – proof that your letters to the editor and other community-facing actions like making a public comment at a city council meeting, public hearing or study can absolutely change outcomes. They sure did in Concord, no? Never underestimate the value of sharing your opinion with your community. Your community is listening. In the next few days I will be sharing other viewpoints on this important topic. Reach out to us at benindy@beniciaindependent.com if you would like to share yours. – N.C.]

East Bay kingpin Albert Seeno Jr. and his son have long courted controversy. Now they’re fighting each other for the family business

Albert Seeno Jr. (left) and son Albert III

The Real Deal [Real Estate News], by Pawan Naidu, May 1, 2023

For a family that’s spent the last nine decades building a real estate empire spanning thousands of homes in the East Bay, the Seenos have generally tried to keep their business dealings quiet.

“They don’t take the Donald Trump approach and pat themselves on the back,” said Phil Tagami, CEO of California Capital and Investment Group, which partnered with the Seenos on a failed bid to redevelop a former naval base in the region. “They just go onto the next project.”

But the spotlight they’ve avoided for decades does find them occasionally — and not for the right reasons.

For the past year, 80-year-old patriarch Albert Seeno Jr. has been waging a battle for control of the family business with his son Albert III, who he claims mishandled funds and attempted to muscle him and other relatives out. That is only the latest chapter in the Seenos’ decades-long legal history, which is dotted with allegations ranging from political meddling to threats of outright violence.

The Seenos did not respond to interview requests for this story.

The American dream

The family’s Bay Area story began when Albert Jr.’s grandfather Gaetano Seeno came to the U.S. in the early 1900s, one of thousands of Italian immigrants who became ​​fishermen in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and Suisun Bay.

Gaetano later worked in construction, eventually bringing his son Albert Sr. into the business.

Albert Sr. launched his own construction business in 1938, and at the time of his death in 2000, the company had built more than 30,000 homes, dozens of shopping centers, apartment buildings and offices, mostly in eastern Contra Costa County.

“In [the East Bay’s] Pittsburg, you can drive for miles and everything you see is a Seeno project,” Bob Rossi, a company executive, told SFGate in 2000. “[Albert Sr.] loved Pittsburg and took great pride in what he and his sons accomplished here.”

When Albert Sr. retired in the 1970s, he turned his company over to his sons, Albert Jr. and Thomas, who continue to run it as a family business across five companies: ADSCO, Seecon, West Coast Home Builders, North Village Development and Seecon Built Homes.

In 1997, third-generation exec Albert III followed in his father’s footsteps and started his own branch of the family business: Discovery Builders.

The growth that Albert Jr. led didn’t come without controversy, even though some locals have seen him in a different light.

“He’s almost like the pope with these people in town,” Allen Valentine, former Pittsburg Planning Commissioner, told SF Gate in 2002.

Nevertheless, he has been accused on multiple occasions of having improper relationships with local leaders — including allegations that he helped former Pittsburg Mayor Frank Aiello secure a favorable mortgage to buy a Seeno home, raising questions about whether the loan constituted a prohibited gift to an elected official. In 2004, Aiello agreed to pay $20,000 after failing to disclose gifts he’d received from Albert Jr., including Oakland Raiders tickets and trips to a casino in Reno, according to SFGate.

In 2003, former Pittsburg Councilmember Frank Quesada was sentenced to 300 hours of community service after pleading no contest to conflict-of-interest charges stemming from his votes on Albert Jr.’s projects while he owed the developer $370,000 in personal debt.

At a panel discussion ahead of the 2012 Pittsburg City Council election, voters expressed concern about the family’s outsized influence over the body, noting that the Seenos owned 90 percent of the city’s undeveloped land, according to the Mercury News.

Despite the alleged improprieties, the family has sought to maintain a favorable local reputation — and continue developing new projects. Last month, Discovery Builders scored approval to build 1,500 homes on 341 acres just outside Pittsburg after years of pushback from local officials and environmental groups.

But as Albert III tries to move the business forward, the family’s past keeps coming back to haunt him.

Seeno evil

Other far more serious accusations have been levied against the family. In 2012, the Seenos sued influential Las Vegas lobbyist Harvey Whittemore, accusing him of embezzling millions from a joint real estate venture called Wingfield Nevada Group Holding Co.

Whittemore countersued Albert Jr., accusing the father and son of threatening him and his family of failing to repay millions of dollars in alleged debts from a real estate partnership that fell apart in 2011. Whittemore sought $1.8 billion in damages from Albert III and his brother, accusing the Seenos of racketeering, extortion, grand larceny and threats of bodily harm.

No criminal charges were filed, and the lawsuits were settled confidentially in 2013, months before Whittemore was sentenced to two years in prison for illegal campaign contributions to Senator Harry Reid.

“[Whittemore] filed a frivolous, baseless lawsuit that went nowhere and was dropped,” Louis Parsons, president of Seeno-affiliated Discovery Builders, told The Real Deal.

But Whittemore wasn’t the only one to make accusations of intimidation against a member of the Seeno family. In 2017, Ayman Shahid, a high school friend of Albert III and former president of Discovery’s sales arm, alleged that the younger Seeno issued him a “chilling death threat,” according to court documents. The alleged threat had to do with Shahid agreeing to assist the FBI in a probe into alleged mortgage fraud tied to the family business.

“Hey [expletive]. You’re going down! I’m going to kill you!” Shahid accused Seeno III of saying, according to court filings.

The charges were ultimately dismissed due to lack of evidence of a credible threat.

“There is no evidence that Shahid was ever in any actual danger,” federal prosecutor John Hemann wrote to the court. “Though totally and completely inappropriate and potentially retaliatory in nature, it appears that his former boss was venting anger rather than actually threatening death or harm to Shahid.”

The FBI’s investigation into mortgage fraud started in 2010 and ended in 2017, with a federal raid of the Seeno family’s headquarters in Concord. Investigators alleged that Seeno companies misled bank underwriters about the true value of homes, according to an FBI spokesperson. The alleged misconduct took place between 2006 and 2008 when Discovery took steps to avoid losing its position in the market, according to court documents.

The filings revealed that Discovery incentived new homebuyers by funding their down payments and subsidizing their mortgage payments. The company’s employees and others worked to ensure these incentives were not disclosed on mortgage loan applications.

While no member of the Seeno family was charged, Shahid pleaded guilty to bank fraud and Discovery Sales was fined $8 million and ordered to pay $3 million in restitution. Albert III denied any involvement.

“The U.S. attorney’s office confirmed after years of investigation and interviewing hundreds of people that there was no evidence that Albert Seeno III or other leadership knew or participated in the actions by rogue [former] employees,” Parsons told TRD.

Even though Shahid cooperated with the federal investigations, he still received a 46-month prison term in 2017.

“It’s important to me that white collar defendants believe if they act this way they will suffer serious custodial sentences,” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rodgers said at the sentencing.

Throughout the various accusations, it has always been the Seenos on the same side. But a new lawsuit between father and son has changed that.

Daddy issues

The recent lawsuit filed by Albert Jr. claims that Albert III was terminated as CEO of two of the family companies: Seecon and Seecon Built Homes. It was a role Albert III was elevated to in July of 2020. Albert Jr. claims he attempted to fire his son in February and March of last year, but his son did not comply. Albert III instead argues that there is language in his employment agreement that states he can only be terminated if he commits a felony that affects his father’s businesses.

Albert Jr., however, claims his succession plan was to promote his son without immediately ceding his own control over the companies. The lawsuit also alleges that the younger Seeno, along with Parsons, retained attorneys to draft an employment agreement with language that could force his father and other shareholders out.

Not long after the agreement was drafted, Albert III allegedly began “coercing, intimidating and then bullying” his father into fulfilling the contract, according to the lawsuit.

“Seeno III intimidation tactics included, but were not limited to, attempting to bully and denigrate his father. When these tactics failed, Seeno III resorted to pressuring Seeno by telling him that if he did not sign the employment agreement, Seeno would never see his three grandsons again,” the filing reads.

Albert Jr. has also accused his son of blocking him from accessing company records and using Seeno Companies employees for Discovery Builders projects.

In one example, the lawsuit alleges that Discovery Builders used the Seeno Companies’ name and trademarks on a project to bring 252 single-family homes to Brentwood.

Albert III has denied all of the allegations in the lawsuit, according to Parsons.

“This is reflective of some natural tensions with succession planning that are often typical, unfortunately, and in my opinion, hardly newsworthy,” he said.

Albert III countersued his father in October, disputing claims of roughly $100 million of debt allegedly owed by Albert III and Discovery Builders.

Albert III alleges that funds from a trust his parents set up were used to pay down Albert Jr.’s debts without his permission. Albert III also accused his father of attempting to interrupt operations at Discovery Builders in the lawsuit.

The family feud has not only pitted father against son, but it also sent a warning shot across the Bay and played a role in killing a major project for the firm.

A partnership between Discovery, Lewis Group & Cos. and California Capital and Investment Group was selected to transform a former naval station in Concord into 16,000 new homes and more than six million square feet of commercial space. The partnership known as Concord First Partners was approved by the Concord City Council in a 3-2 vote in August 2021.

But after a two-hour special meeting on Jan. 28 of this year, the council voted to cut ties with the group, citing concerns over the Seeno family feud and why it wasn’t disclosed sooner.

“Where’s the integrity, where’s the information to let us know?” Concord Mayor Laura Hoffmeister said during the meeting. “We had to read about it in the newspapers, that’s not what I’m looking for in a partnership arrangement.”

The development team believes the city’s decision to halt negotiations was misguided.

“A lot of the questions are personal and aimed at personalizing the issue,” Capital California’s Tagami said. “It didn’t have to do with the term-sheet specifics or the deal point, but rather addressing accusations that were made through editorial comment that were in the local papers.”

It’s another issue the father and son duo will have to sort through as the future of one of the last family-run development firms in the Bay Area hangs in the balance. While the court can settle their business dispute, it’s up to Albert Jr. and Albert III to squash their personal differences. Otherwise, it will be an awkward Thanksgiving for the Seeno family.

CONCORD/CONTRA COSTA BACKGROUND:
BENICIA BACKGROUND:
CITIZEN BACKGROUND:
CITY OF BENICIA
City of Benicia North Study Area (Seeno property)

For current information from the City of Benicia, check out their North Study Area web page, https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/northstudyarea:

Benicia CA, Benicia Public Works, drinking water

Water main break leaves Benicia residents without running water (Update!)

Benicia Public Works Director promises to restore water service at St. Dominic’s and impacted homes, even if it takes all night

Map of impacted residences and buildings
This map shows impacted homes and businesses left without running water, as shared by the City’s Instagram post. | Uncredited image

By Nathalie Christian, May 17, 2023; updated May 18.

From the Benicia City Government’s Instagram account:

Early this morning, there was a water main break near the 800 and 900 blocks of East 5th Street. St. Dominic’s School and homes in the area are currently without water (see map of affected area). St. Dominic’s is closed for the day and parents have been notified. Public Works has begun working on the repair to restore water service as soon as possible. The repair is estimated to take several hours depending on the severity of the break. We will update the community when we have more information.

Responding to a request for an update, Public Works Director Kyle Ochenduzsko shared the following:

Crews are still working on the leaking pipe. Unfortunately, I do not have an estimated time to fix. If need be, our crews are prepared and ready to be working throughout the night to restore water as soon as possible.

As someone who has personally seen Mr. Ochenduzsko and his team in action, working tirelessly to fix a water issue that impacted my own home, I have full confidence that this issue will be resolved as swiftly as humanly and safely possible.

Benicia’s Public Works Department has consistently gone above and beyond to ensure essential infrastructure and services are safe and operational for Benicia residents. They deserve our support during trying times like these.

Status update

At 10:25 am on Thursday, May 18, Mr. Ochenduzsko provided the Benicia Independent with following update, available through Benicia City Government’s Twitter account:

Yesterday morning, a water main line break was detected on East 5th Street. City of Benicia Public Works crews worked around the clock to repair the line and restore water to affected residents this morning. Thank you to our dedicated crews!

Thank you, Benicia Public Works crews and staff!

A separate post announcing this update will be created and shared shortly.

Air Monitoring, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Benicia Community Air Monitoring Program (BCAMP), Valero Benicia Refinery

Save the date! Valero CAP open to public June 13

Valero’s Community Advisory Panel (CAP) invites Benicia residents to learn about air monitoring and incident response at Benicia Refinery

The Valero Refinery in Benicia was one of four refineries in the SF Bay Area that did not meet air quality requirements for compliance with the Bay Area Quality Management District. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)

By Nathalie Christian, May 17, 2023

Save the date of Tuesday, June 13, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. for a peek behind Valero’s curtain

Benicia residents have received a very special invitation from Valero’s Community Advisory Panel (CAP) to learn about how Valero’s Benicia Refinery monitors air quality and responds to incidents. Please see the image below for the full ad distributed by Valero’s Benicia-based Director of Government Affairs and Community Relations.

Marilyn Bardet, a CAP member representing the Good Neighbor Steering Committee (to name just one of her many community-facing roles), wrote the following regarding this rare opportunity:

The subject will be air monitoring and Valero’s incident reporting as per the current [memorandum of agreement] governing the City’s obligatory relation to Valero vis a vis emergency response, incident reporting, et al. […]

I urge you to attend (via Zoom or in person), especially if you are concerned about air quality in Benicia [and the] transparency and accuracy of Valero’s [monitoring and
reporting].

Of the five San Francisco Bay Area refineries, only the Martinez Refining Company has met the minimum air quality requirement for compliance with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Putting the ‘fine’ in ‘refinery’

In a recent post, Benicia Community Air Monitoring Program Board Member Kathy Kerridge said that after her trip to Valero’s Benicia refinery several months ago, she’s “not surprised” that it and the three other refineries that failed (Richmond’s Chevron and Phillips 66 and Pacheo’s Tesero) were non-compliant with Air District and EPA requirements – despite the ongoing threat of fines.

“Fines are trivial to them,” Kerridge said in the article. Indeed, oil companies like Valero have enjoyed astronomical profits these last few years as they capitalize on the worldwide energy crisis, raking in billions while customers pay more at the pumps.

Such fines include the Benicia Valero refinery agreeing to pay $1.2 million for multiple Clean Air Act violations, including one dangerous incident in 2017 that led to a shelter-in-place order at two elementary schools in Benicia.

When Valero had an adjusted net income of $3.1 billion in the first quarter, nominal payouts for dangerous events impacting Benicia’s most vulnerable – elementary-aged children – can feel “like a direct slap to the face with the community,” as Kerridge has put it.

You can’t spell ‘refinery’ without the word ‘fine,’ after all.

So what do we do when we have community concerns and don’t feel that fines leveraged by the EPA and BAAQMD are having the desired impact?

We should show up to events like these.

A reminder to attend will be posted closer to June 30. Presumably, Zoom details will become available as we approach the date.

Valero CAP Announcemnet
Click image to enlarge.

 

[Conflict of interest note: In full disclosure, I recently encouraged a family member to apply to sit on Valero’s CAP. Truly, their intentions were honorable – this family member has a much brighter outlook than I do and really felt Valero could be a great community partner here in Benicia. Alas, they were not selected. One must wonder if our shared last name and my activity here factored in that decision. Thankfully, Marilyn sits on this panel as our representative, and we’re in great hands with her!]

Read more! As Air Quality is so essential to our health, you might want to check out these resources:
Benicia, Benicia Police Department, Benicia School Board, Benicia Unified School District

BenIndy’s New Serial: Sheri Leigh on ‘La Migra’

It’s No Game – The Profound Danger of ‘La Migra’

A wall is spray painted with the words 'No One Is Illegal'
Photo by Miko Guziuk on Unsplash.

By Sheri Leigh, May 12, 2023

I’ve lived in Benicia for ten years. Until recently, I was working a demanding job as a school counselor first in Antioch and then in Petaluma, and I had little time to focus on my own community. Benicia was my haven away from the pressure of work where I could stroll downtown on a weekend or a day off, enjoying the cute shops, a glass of wine by the water, and live music. 

Last July, I took the big leap and retired from the public school system. Although I am still working part time, I’m based at home, and I can now pay more attention to issues within our local community and get to know our town leaders. 

It was just this year that the annual ‘La Migra Game’ that Benicia’s high school students are orchestrating hit my radar. 

The title ‘La Migra’ conjures up images of immigration raids […] targeting desperate people who don’t have any resources and are trying to get into this country so that they could have a better life for themselves and their families. It conjures up xenophobia and cruelty. 

I heard a vague reference to the game in passing, when one acquaintance laughingly said, “If Benicia’s biggest problem is that a kid every now and then gets dropped off at Lake Herman as part of a game, then we don’t have a problem.” I didn’t completely understand what she was referring to until I read a statement of ALERT in my email from the Benicia Independent on March 30 of this year. The article was brief, but it cited the physical and emotional dangers of the game and how it taps police resources. 

ICE Agents menace a parade
ICE’s enforcement practices tear American families apart, undermine community trust in law enforcement and create racist narratives primarily targeting Latino individuals. These issues are echoed in and reinforced by the Game. | Uncredited image.

What is ‘La Migra?’

I started investigating and soon learned that the Game has been going on for decades. What I heard initially was that the junior and senior high school students of the community were tracking down younger students, primarily students of Color, kidnapping them, and releasing them in remote areas on the outskirts of town. As a counselor, as a mother, as a grandmother, and as a human being, I was sickened to learn that this was happening right under my nose. 

The title ‘La Migra’ conjures up images of immigration raids on businesses harboring undocumented workers or round-ups near the Mexican border targeting desperate people who don’t have any resources and are trying to get into this country so that they could have a better life for themselves and their families. It conjures up xenophobia and cruelty. 

I was starting to wonder if some of the Benicia high schoolers are engaging in their own miniature, gamified version of weeding out those who are different from themselves. If so, this is a problem – and a big one. 

The pursuit and disposal of those who are different or vulnerable is hardly a new concept. As recently as 30 years ago, the police in Saskatoon, Canada were picking up individuals from the Cree tribe and dropping them off in the night in remote areas during the winter months, when the temperatures sometimes dropped as low as 10-15 degrees below zero F, leaving them to find their way back or freeze to death. I was starting to wonder if some of the Benicia high schoolers are engaging in their own miniature, gamified version of weeding out those who are different from themselves. If so, this is a problem – and a big one. 

I discussed the Game recently with Mario Giuliani, our Interim City Manager. Although he does not in any way condone the Game, he initially responded to my concerns with a reference to the voluntary nature of it. 

I did more research, and yes, there are some students who willingly play the role of victim, probably for the excitement and challenge to reach safety before being captured by the ‘ruthless’ upperclassmen. But I still felt uneasy.

Here are the rules of the Game, as I understand them. Those who are playing the game meet at a predetermined area and time. The self-designated targets are given a 10-minute head start, emboldened with the goal of making it across town to a “safe area” before they are captured. The younger students are on foot, while the upperclassmen, posing as ICE officers, roam Benicia in vehicles, trying to track younger students down, in order to . . . what, exactly? 

The pursuers are caught up in the excitement of the chase, and anyone young and vulnerable out on that night is just another potential target. Or victim.

The rules, the danger and the victims

On the surface, the rules of the Game seem moderately innocent, with consenting targets who have a good chance at making it through the game safely. But when a target is captured, the punishment can be severe and dangerous. For just one example, I learned that one captured student was dropped in the City of San Francisco with no money and no cell phone. Others have been shot with ice pellets. In some cases, the Game has taken on a racialized aspect, with offensive slurs and abuse flying alongside the ice bullets.

Another unfortunate consequence involves the victimization of young people who are not engaged in the game, and may not even be aware of it. The upperclassmen who are in the role of pursuer do not always know which students are participating and which are not, and sometimes they are not even concerned about the difference. The pursuers are caught up in the excitement of the chase, and anyone young and vulnerable out on that night is just another potential target. Or victim.

A lawn with kids running away.
‘La Migra’ is slang for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is the name used for this controversial game based on ICE agents deporting undocumented immigrants. This image is from a 2018 video showing footage of the Game starting.

The possible dangers of this game are endless. There’s a lack of attention to traffic and public safety on both sides. There are unwitting victims. There’s the trauma of being captured, assaulted, and/or whisked away to an unknown area alone, whether voluntarily engaged or not. There’s the natural cruelty that arises in many humans when they take on the role of predators (those of you who have read Lord of the Flies know what I mean). And so on. 

I need to know more. And I would like for you to know more.

If you would like me to hear and share your perspective on the ‘La Migra Game,’ please contact me through the Benicia Independent.

Starting with this initial editorial, I will be writing and collecting a series of articles reflecting as many perspectives as I can gather and, although I am personally horrified by the Game, I will try to present each perspective as objectively and without judgment as I can. 

To that end, I would like to speak with anyone with any experience with the Game, including law enforcement, anyone involved with the school district, parents, witnesses, and students who have willingly participated on either side, as well as anyone who was out in public on a Game night and affected. 

We all have buy-in.

These are our children.

This is our community. 


As a former school counselor, and an actively engaged mother and grandmother, equity in education and in society have always been a focus of mine. Anyone can become an agent of change towards the betterment of my community and humanity at large, and I consider myself such an agent. 

I would ultimately like to see the La Migra Game disbanded forever or at least morphed into something that satisfies the need for healthy competition but is safer, more cooperative, and confidence-building in nature. 

If you would like me to hear and share your perspective on the ‘La Migra Game,’ please contact me through the Benicia Independent. Remember that it is your story that is critical for others to hear, not your name, unless you would like to be identified. I promise to honor your story and perspective to the best of my ability, and to work toward a safer and more equitable Benicia.

Reach out to Sheri: benindy@beniciaindependent.com
Leave a voicemail for the BenIndy: ‪(707) 385-9972‬

(This is not a live line. You will be sent straight to voicemail.)

LEARN MORE ABOUT ‘LA MIGRA’

For safe and healthy communities…