The candidates debated in a lively forum in Benicia moderated by the Solano County Black Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee. | Ryan Gellar / Vallejo Sun.
The candidates debated in a lively forum in Benicia moderated by the Solano County Black Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee.
BENICIA – Candidates for the District 2 seat on the Solano County Board of Supervisors exchanged barbs and trumpeted platform points as they answered questions in a forum moderated by the Solano County Black Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee at the Benicia Veterans Hall Monday night.
Incumbent Monica Brown and challengers Rochelle Sherlock and Nora Dizon responded to individual questions posed for each candidate by the forum moderators, PAC chair Charles Lee and local business owner Tara Beasley-Stansbury. Candidates were allowed short responses to their opponents’ answers.
Sherlock, a business management consultant who previously ran against Brown in 2020, took her first opportunity to challenge Brown’s record by saying that Brown had voted to dissolve several advisory committees, including the Agricultural Advisory Board, the Alcohol and Drug Advisory Committee and the Solano County Historical Records Commission.
The issue came up a second time when moderators read questions collected from an audience of about 40 people. One attendee asked if candidates would work to reinstate the commissions.
Brown said that the board had valid reasons to dissolve the committees. She said that the Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board was folded into the Behavioral Health Department to fit the statewide model and the board felt that Farm Bureau was a better fit to represent agricultural interests.
In regards to the Historical Records Commission, Brown said that the county received very few requests for records from the archive and they wanted to devote staff time to more widely used services.
But Sherlock fired back, saying that the dissolution of the committees was an assault on democracy. “I’m going to do everything I can to restore those advisory committees,” she said. “If the county Board of Supervisors are making major decisions and they are not getting input from the people that those decisions are impacting then we have got a problem.”
Sherlock said that the committees had served an important role in monitoring the effectiveness of county programs and tracking the use of county funds. She said that she would work to build greater collaboration and citizen participation at both the city and county levels of government.
The Progressive Democrats of Benicia to Host Zoom Candidate Forum Tuesday, January 9, at 7pm
The Progressive Dems are hosting a virtual candidate forum for District 2 Supervisor Candidates tomorrow evening. All are welcome to attend and the event is free.
Monica Brown (left) and Rochelle Sherlock, Democratic candidates for Board of Supervisors in District 2, will speak.* The club asked the candidates to answer a few questions, and what answers they have received are now available on the Progressive Democrats of Benicia website, with the specific page linked below:
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,86273821941#,,,,*528756# US (San Jose)
* Per PDB’s by-laws and as required by chartering authorities, the club may only endorse registered Democrats for office. Candidates registered to other parties are not eligible for the club’s endorsement. You may learn about all the candidates for this office, including non-Democrats, at the Vallejo Sun’s excellent article covering all candidates in the March 5 Primary Election.
Click the image to be redirected to the Eventbrite page with more information and tickets.
With apologies for the late notice, here is your first opportunity to hear from and learn more about the candidates for District 2 Supervisor – and let them know what you want to see in Solano County in the next few years. The Democratic candidates for supervisor are Monica Brown (incumbent) and Rochelle Sherlock. Nora Dizon is a third candidate. (We were unable to find Supervisor Brown’s campaign webpage.) Supervisor District 2 covers Benicia, parts of Vallejo, and parts of Fairfield. This is a free event that appears to be open to the public, although it looks like you can get tickets at the Eventbrite page.
Click the image to be redirected to the Eventbrite page with more information and tickets.
[Disclaimer: the BenIndy was not asked to promote these events and is not affiliated with the PAC that is hosting them in any way. This simply seems like a good opportunity for voters to learn more about the candidates.]
$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)
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