SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After two false starts, the billionaires behind a plan to build an environmentally friendly city from the ground up are behind schedule and off to a bumpy start to presenting their proposal to California voters this November.
Former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek unveiled the closely guarded ballot initiative for the proposed community between San Francisco and Sacramento in January; This was a plan that envisioned 20,000 homes, public transport infrastructure, schools, workplaces and green space for an initial 50,000 residents. It has since changed the law twice to address concerns raised by Solano County and the neighboring U.S. Air Force base.
Thursday is the last day for the county attorney’s office to provide a title and summary for the ballot initiative; This will allow signature gatherers to take to the streets to find the 13,000 people they need, and preferably thousands more as pillows. The delays mean the campaign has only two months to collect signatures, not three, if they want to give election officials maximum time to verify signatures.
“You get into this math game about time and getting people to sign your petition,” said Jim Ross, an Oakland-based senior Democratic political consultant. “Losing a month is a big deal.”
But campaign spokesman Brian Brokaw said he was confident there would be a vote on Nov. 5.
“We’re walking a line to make sure we’re doing this right and at the same time realizing that the clock is ticking,” he said. “At the same time, we believe the changes we made to the measure will help significantly increase our chances of success in November, and it was absolutely worth the additional time it took to get this right.”
Sramek is allowing urban development on rural land his company has been secretly buying for at least $800 million since 2018 to build what he envisions as a walkable community with a quaint downtown, good-paying jobs and affordable homes for up to 400,000 residents. It needs Solano County voters to give it. The state urgently needs more housing, especially affordable units.
Sramek did not say how much he was prepared to spend on the effort. The California Forever company can rely on the deep pockets of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, including philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
But a lot of money does not always mean voting success; In 2022, California voters rejected two efforts to expand gambling despite at least $460 million spent by supporters.
Critics say the delays amount to an unorthodox campaign that has run in secrecy for years, avoided local input and now wants to break ground on farmland that voters in 1984 chose to protect from urbanization.
“What we see from this is that there is some carelessness in the processes of actually engaging with people,” said Sadie Wilson, director of planning and research for the Greenbelt Alliance. The environmental advocacy group is part of Solano Together, a coalition that includes farming and open space interests and environmental groups.
Opponents of the plan say it makes grandiose promises but is surprisingly light on details.
Wilson said the sustainable way to build more housing is within existing city limits, rather than rushing into massive development on 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) of land in a county of 450,000 people with fragile ecosystems and an already limited water supply.
Local people have been wondering for years who took the parcels where cattle and wind farms are located. Last summer, Sramek and Silicon Valley investors were stunned to learn that they wanted it for a new development (as yet unnamed) that could become a city or remain part of the county.
Sramek then went on an apology tour of sorts that included meeting with two angry congressmen trying to find out whether foreign enemies or investors were behind land purchases between Travis Air Force Base and the Sacramento River Delta city of Rio Vista. Representatives John Garamendi and Mike Thompson still oppose the project.
In January, Sramek held a press conference to outline the ballot initiative, submitted it to the county elections office, and then withdrew it — all within the same day — after county officials requested language that would clarify the process.
California Forever could have avoided this if the campaign had shared its proposal with local officials in advance, consultant Ross said. “This is more of an outsider approach,” he said.
Solano County attorney Bernadette Curry said officials are seeking technical amendments to clarify that the county has discretion to approve a development agreement with the company before building. Previously, the initiative included language requiring approval from county supervisors.
The initiative states that the development agreement will include 10 guarantees from California Forever; these include $400 million to help county residents and Travis Air Force Base families buy homes in the community and $200 million for the county’s existing urban centers. An environmental impact study will also be required.
The campaign once again withdrew its initiative after base officials raised concerns, including the ability to conduct flight operations. The revised initiative creates a larger buffer area between the development and the base.
John Gardner, the county’s deputy registrar of voters, said there is no firm deadline for submitting signatures. But the Solano County Board of Supervisors only has until Aug. 8 to approve its inclusion on the ballot, and election officials have 30 to 90 days to verify signatures.
That 90-day window means the campaign must file its paperwork in early May.
Solano Together’s Wilson said the approach taken by California Forever raises national questions about how decisions on development, farmland and climate resilience are made and who can circumvent the rules.
“This really deserves more attention because of the wave it brings and the precedent it could set for other parts of the country,” he said.