[BenIndy comment: Vicki Gray’s letter sets the Flannery land-grab / fantasy-$-city into historical context. Brilliant, and reminiscent of Rachel Maddow’s way of examining history as illuminating background for current breaking news.]
Remember the Bechtel/Shell plan a decade ago to build an LNG terminal in Vallejo?
It was announced as an apparently done deal in a Times-Herald headline “Welcome to Energy Island” three days before the Vallejo City Council was to meet to give it a go-ahead.
Well here in Solano County we’re about to embark on another long, costly fight against another crop of outside investors — this time a group of young Silicon Valley billionaires intent on building a “utopian” city just east of Fairfield. They style themselves “California Forever” and are headed by venture capitalist Jan Stramek who, despite an itinerant career in London, New York, and Silicon Valley, now claims he is a Fairfield resident.
All we know so far is that the idea “tickles their fancy.” They have been secretly buying land for six years but have only now started on a Bechtel/Shell-like flim-flam game designed to convince local residents to buy their pig in a poke. A few weeks ago, we received a slick flyer with appropriately utopian images ostensibly seeking local input in an undisclosed plan in which they’ve already dumped millions of dollars, presumably to be able to say that their plan — whenever it is disclosed — reflects local desires.
And now they’ve recruited a “Community Advisory Committee” of potential cheerleaders spearheaded by the Napa Solano Labor Council’s Jon Riley, who shilled for Bechtel/Shell so long ago. Can a pliable minister or politician be far behind?
Among the many hurdles facing this project is Solano County’s long-standing slow growth regulation. Stramek’s group hopes to side-step that by gaining voter approval for its “plan” on next year’s ballot. Only problem is there is no plan, at least not one they’re willing to reveal, and there’s a January deadline for submitting a plan to include on the ballot.
Enter the United States Defense Department, which objects to a large portion of the land purchased by California Forever, land that if in private hands would endanger the security of Travis AFB. So now the young Silicon Valley tycoons have given Fairfield and County officials until Dec. 31 to agree to a land swap that would enable them to draft a concrete plan to put on the November ballot — six weeks after six years of secretive land purchases! The hubris of Mr. Stramek and his cohorts is exceeded only by their chutzpah.
I hope our local officials have the strength and wisdom to tell California Forever, “We don’t accept ultimatums. Come back a year hence after you have leveled with us about your plan and we have had ample time to exercise due diligence in considering it.”
Do we want more cars on the I-80 commute? Higher techie-driven housing costs? Environmental spoliation? Increased demand on our water supplies? If like me you think not, please contact Fairfield Mayor Moy, our county supervisors, and U.S. Reps. Thompson and Garamendi and urge them to put a stop to this ill-considered pipedream.
And thank you, Times-Herald, for your dogged, informative reporting unveiling California Forever’s machinations. Keep it up!
$1B Silicon Valley-backed utopian city ‘California Forever’ facing national security probe: pols
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.
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.
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 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 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.”
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 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)
Swap with City of Fairfield, Solano County and Solano County Water Agency would complete 15,000 acre prairie reserve near Travis AFB
A herd of horses walks in a pasture south of Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield. A group of investors, California Forever, which describes itself as the parent company of Flannery Associates, has been purchasing plots of farmland around the Air Force base from Suisun City to Rio Vista along Highway 12 in hopes of building a new tech city. (Chris Riley/The Reporter)
California Forever sent a letter on Monday to Solano County, the City of Fairfield and the Solano County Water Agency proposing a land exchange of thousands of acres near Travis Air Force Base.
The company has offered to swap 1,573 acres of high habitat value land on Jepson Prairie near Travis Air Force Base, for 1,403 acres of pasture with medium agricultural value six to 10 miles away from the base, mostly east of Rio Dixon Road.
“We believe this exchange proposal is a win-win transaction that makes good sense for all sides involved,” the letter reads.
A map included in the California Forever Letter shows the land involved in its exchange offer. Parcels shaded in yellow currently belong to the company, and parcels shaded in other colors currently belong to Solano County, Fairfield, or SCWA. (Courtesy image California Forever).
The letter also indicates that California Forever would provide $1 million to fund the completion of the Solano County Habitat Conservation plan. The land being offered by California Forever is the last land on the Jepson Prairie which is not currently publicly owned, according to the letter. creating the opportunity to unite one uninterrupted habitat.
“This exchange would therefore become the capstone achievement that substantially completes the preservation of the Jepson Prairie ecosystem, and creates a fully contiguous open space reserve of approximately 15,000 acres” the letter says.
The Solano County Water Agency has a meeting scheduled for Thursday at 6:30, which will be available both in person at 810 Vaca Valley Parkway and on Zoom. Its agenda, released before the letter was dated, includes an item titled “Water Supply Portfolio and Discussions with California Forever.”
The entire proposal is conditional on the approval of California Forever’s development plans in the area by the voters next November and by relevant regulatory agencies. The company said it is currently undergoing a listening tour, taking feedback from the community on how to make its plans work for Solano County residents. A more comprehensive plan, which will go in front of voters next November, will be released in January.
“Put plainly, if the voters or any regulatory agencies whose approvals would be required later do not approve our plans, the exchange agreement would terminate, we would cover all legal and other costs of the public agencies incurred in negotiating the exchange, and everything would remain the same as it is today,” the letter reads.
The offer is only on the table until Dec. 31, the letter explains, so that all of the changes can be reflected in the January plan.
“The reason to agree on this transaction now is to ensure that we can propose a more orderly plan to the voters, so that if the voters and regulators approve the proposal in the future, then the exchange automatically and immediately closes,” the letter reads.
Sramek said the REPI report and habitat plan were the main drivers of this proposal, as California Forever had no knowledge of both of those factors before the purchase of this land. Four weeks ago, when it learned of the REPI, he said, it started to think of how it might be able to get that land under Travis AFB’s control.
“I think what we want people to understand is that we are serious about the fact that we want to protect and strengthen Travis,” he said.
Sramek also said the company feels similarly about protecting open space and contributing to ecological projects in the area.
“We’ve been saying that for two months,” he said of commitments to the base and the environment, “and this is a step where we are going to change it into actions.”
The proposal would allow public shareholders to take over land of higher ecological value, and to consolidate their holdings into one place, California Forever said.
“We hope this transaction is the first of many ways that California Forever and local stakeholders can work together in a productive and collaborative fashion that benefits everyone involved,” the letter said. “We look forward to working with all stakeholders on this multi-benefit transaction, and attending public meetings where this matter is discussed to answer any questions.”
BENICIA – The Benicia City Council will consider at its meeting Tuesday whether to sell or lease two city-owned buildings to be used as shelters by SafeQuest Solano, a nonprofit that provides domestic violence support services.
A proposed resolution on Tuesday’s Benicia City Council agenda does not say how much the city would charge SafeQuest to purchase or lease the property, which totals about 3,100 square feet across both buildings. Another nonprofit, House of Hope, which focuses mainly on rehabilitation facilities, would help operate the shelter, according to the resolution.
SafeQuest has faced eroding support and calls for an investigation into its practices after a Vallejo Sun investigation published in June reported that former employees said that its existing shelters were sparsely used and SafeQuest allowed an attorney for the organization to live at a shelter rented from the city of Fairfield for $1 per year.
Benicia City Manager Mario Giuliani and community development director Suzanne Thorsen did not respond to a request for comment. SafeQuest Executive Director Mary Anne Branch did not respond to written questions.
The contract with Benicia would come as the city of Fairfield considers cutting ties with SafeQuest. Following the publication of the Sun article, Fairfield issued a request for proposals to find a new operator for its shelter.
However, only SafeQuest submitted a proposal, according to Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy. SafeQuest has sought a long-term extension of their lease since last year, but amid questions about how the property was being used, has remained on a month-to-month lease.
Moy said that she has no plans to bring a new lease for a vote by the City Council and that Fairfield City Manager David Gassaway “continues to be uncomfortable with extending the contract.”
According to Moy, Branch met with Fairfield city officials to dispute the Sun’s reporting on its shelters. SafeQuest has declined to answer any questions from the Sun and has not sought any corrections to the articles.
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